Customer Reviews

Grizzly G0555 The Ultimate 14" Bandsaw

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I searched and searched and finally came to the conclusion that for the average home woodworker's budget, there are three types of bandsaws. Cheap ones that you will wish you didn't buy (think 12" saws made in China and sold at the big box stores), medium priced saws that are ok but have some serious shortcomings (think of the Delta and Jet low-medium priced models), and saws that are good but expensive (Powermatic and Delta X5). After reading absolutely everything written on the subject in the past 5 years (I am a librarian after all) I decided that this Grizzly saw deserves a category of its own. Though it is priced closer to the "cheap" category than the other two, it sports features and performance that are much closer to the "expensive" saw category.

Now that I own this saw I can say that my experience supports my research and vica-versa. Once it was properly set up, this saw has minimal vibration and I quickly came to appreciate features such as a great stand, excellent blade guides, a decent sized table (ground to a nice finish), blade quick-detentioner, a smooth running powerful motor, and a lightweight yet strong and accurate fence and rail system. Did I mention the stand? I am almost embarrased to go on about it, but from the pictures I was expecting a cheapo thin sheet metal stand that I would replace asap. Boy was I wrong. This stand is HEAVY gauge metal and bolts together quickly and perfectly to form a rock solid platform for this saw. I will never bother to change it. I am also well pleased with the power of the 1hp motor. I almost spent hundreds more for the Jet 1.25hp model and am really glad I didn't. With the 6" riser block and an average quality Olson resaw blade installed I have been able to resaw some HARD, 12" wide old growth pine into beautiful bookmatched pieces without so much as a stutter. I wasn't terribly gentle with the feed rate either. It has also handled resawing 6" white oak and walnut with ease.

Overall I can't say enough good things about this saw. The power is excellent, the features all exceed the hype, and the price is outstanding compared to the competition. I highly recommend this product and give Grizzly an A+ for offering high quality at such a great price.

After many months of agonized research, the decision was made to purchase this saw. I figured that because it was less expensive, it must be inferior. That is simply wrong. This saw has now been in service for over a year. It has run two-to-four hours a day, 5 days a week, for 13 months. The saw has never had a mechanical problem. The fence is still dead on. The motor has NEVER stalled, even when ripping 8/4 oak. I saved enough money buying this saw a year ago, and am so incredibly impressed, that now I am buying a second one. The second saw will have cool-blocks and keep a 1/8 inch blade permanently mounted. Both saws will cost less than ONE Delta. And the delta does not even have a fence.
Also, the blade tensioning and release is much superior, and the dust collection is a a 4 inch port instead of 2 1/2 inch plastic piece that gets in the way.

The saws arrived with one 3/8's inch blade that is 92 1/2 inches long. The only vendor that I have found for that lengh blade is Grizzly and it now seems that they are discontinuing their stock.

The table tilt mechanism works well for a saw of this size. The rails for the fence are long enough to be able to mount the fence in FRONT of the blade when the saw is tilted. This was a very pleasant surprise.

The handle broke off of the miter in the first months after my purchase. Customer service was fast, and accurate, and professional. The replacement part arrived in less than 72 hours.

All-in-All... This is the best saw at this size on the market today.

I have delayed writing this review because I wanted several months and board feet under my belt before making comment. As my title suggests, it is a fine band saw for the money -- certainly a lot better than my old Craftsman 14"er that it replaced.

I'll get my complaints out of the way first:

1. The blade it comes with, and the other Grizzly blades I bought, are poor, poor blades. They go dull very, very quickly. I ended up buying a 3/4" 3tpi Lennox 92.5" Classic bi-metal and things improved dramatically.

2. The saw does not have a light to illuminate the blade and cutting area. Even my old Craftsman had a decent light to help see the work in progress.

3. Dust collection is barely adequate - even with the 4" chute and my 4" collection hoses. It leaves a lot of dust on the table and around the saw.

Now to what I like about it, in no particular order:

1. I love the table and fence system. The fence is easy to move and remove and accurate enough for my needs.

2. It is fairly quite and vibration free.

3. It handles re-sawing (with the Lennox blade) with ease. I re-saw 3" maple and walnut, and 4" Western Red Cedar, and the saw/saw blade handles it well.

4. Centering the blade is very easy with a handy knob that can be turned to adjust the blade and then locked in place.

5. Set-up was straight-forward and fairly easy.

6. Access to the blade and wheels is easy via the pop-open doors.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this band saw. I would buy it again, and would recommend it to my friends.

Key Points:
+ Hard to beat this deal - best mix of price and features for 14" bandsaws
+ Quiet, smooth running
+ Good quality of cut after tuning

- Quality control issues at factory - wheels were ¼" out of plane
- Hit or miss customer service / tech support
- Tires were far from smooth and caused vibration
- Should include block guides in addition to roller guides for smaller blades

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Significant research led me to purchase this saw and the 6" riser block in early January of this year. The G0555 has several features that make it a good deal compared to other 14" bandsaws - included fence, roller guides, and of course, relatively inexpensive. Grizzly also has a decent reputation for customer support - the president of the company takes the issue personally.

The saw was shipped within 48 hours of being ordered, and was available for pickup within 5 days of being ordered - outstanding considering it is shipped via freight carrier. Although the saw was packed efficiently packed and there was no damage, Grizzly could probably save some money on damaged returns by adding additional Styrofoam to the packaging.

Unfortunately, the riser block was shipped via UPS and took almost a week longer to arrive. After it did arrive, it was missing the extended guide post. Over the next three weeks, I made over 7 calls to Grizzly to check on the status of the replacement part - although they were courteous, I never received a straight answer on when I could expect it ("It takes a couple of days . . .") Finally, on my last call, I got patched through to a tech who seemed rather upset that the part hadn't been shipped out yet (at this point, I had the saw for over a month but had not been able to complete setup). He asked me if he could call me back and hung up. 10 minutes later, he called up to say the part would be in the mail either the same day or the next day at the latest. True to his word, the extended guide post arrived 3 days later. Apparently, I am not the only one who ran into this problem (i.e. missing extended guide post) - another reviewer ran into exactly the same problem.

With the extended guide post, I was able to finish setting up the saw (again, after having it on hand for over a month). During setup, I realized that the two wheels were not coplanar - they were 1/4" out of plane. Ideally, the two wheels that the blade runs between will be directly in line with each other; the bottom wheel was significantly behind the top wheel. At this point, I also noticed that the motor pulley was not in line with the wheel - the belt squeaked as the bottom wheel rotated.

I contacted tech support about the problem. Because the saw was so far out of alignment, shimming the bottom wheel would only be half of the solution. As noted by another reviewer, they recommended that I pull the pins out of the riser block. Also as noted by another reviewer, this is impossible to do (they are swaged) - fixed this problem with a grinder (the pins are not necessary to holt the top to the bottom - although they do aid alignment). After adding in the shim (washer) and tweaking the alignment of the top wheel, I moved on to fixing the motor pulley. Tech support thought the pulley was swaged onto the motor - they recommended using a puller to get it into line. After looking at the pulley, it is actually held on by two allen-head screws. A few minutes later, the wheels were coplanar.

Quick note on the blade included with the saw - spend the extra money on a Timberwolf or Wood Slicer (understand that Grizzly throws the blade in for free with both the saw and with the riser block).

After tensioning a Timberwolf ½" blade, and adjusting tracking, I fired up the saw. Quickly noticed a slight vibration in the saw. Checking the setup, I realized that the rubber tires that came with the saw were not smooth - there were several low spots on both tires.

Installing two urethane tires from Rockler eliminated the vibrations that were caused by the rubber tires - the saw ran perfectly smooth with no noticeable vibration. Finally, the saw was ready to cut.

With the Timberwolf blade installed, I was quickly able to make excellent cuts. After adjusting for drift, I was able to cut some veneer with a consistent thickness of 0.015 inches (about 1/64th of an inch) - pretty good by any standard (way thin - but did it just to see if I could do it).

The fence is easy to adjust for drift and is sturdy enough for most operations. On the negative side, it doesn't lend itself to easily attaching another face for reswing taller wood.

The bearing guides, as noted by others, are relatively noisy (particularly compared to Carter guides), and should only be used with blades ¼" of thickness or greater. Fortunately, replacement holders that use guide blocks can be purchased for under $10 from Grizzly - Grizzly should just include them in the package. If you plan on using a blade smaller than ¼", they are a requirement.

Despite the problems I had with initial setup, this is still a great saw for the price. However, if you aren't prepared to deal setup issues that may occur, I would stick to buying a saw from a store where you can either inspect it before buying or return it without dealing with shipping.

I now have three bandsaws... From 11" 12" and now the Grizzly 14".. and I must compare them all and my Jet 12" is a superior saw for general use... The Grizzly Ultimate is a close runner.. The Grizzly Ultimate 14" saw is not as smooth as I would have expected it to be.. A good product none the less and if it were my only saw I would have graded it at least 4.5 stars but since I can compare I've got to say the Jet 12" is a better, smoother, cleaner, quieter and more handsome saw.. (Just for comparative reasons alone) The Grizzly Ultimate does have some vibration and is a little more noisy.. Also, the saw is not what I call properly balanced on it's stand... Can be tilted forward (towards you) with ease.. Outstanding features on the Grizzly however... The rip fence and miter is super and works great... resawing is a breeze even at a max height of 6".. My saw arrived in perfect condition, easy to assemble and setup... Was up and running in less then an hour.. comes with a crappy blade installed but good enough for setup and general sawing I spose... No wheel brush but has a large 4" dust port.. All and all for the price and quality of the saw is super. Sorry Grizzly, you'll have to settle for Silver on this one as I have to place my JET in the Gold.... If only I hadn't compared this saw I wouldn't have known better..

I spent weeks trying to decide which bandsaw to pick. I'm outfitting a garage shop, nearly from scratch. I have a cheap router table and a decent Delta tablesaw along with the usual hand/power tools. Now I'm adding a bandsaw, planer, sanding station and eventually a drill press and jointer. I'd set an immediate budget of $2K for additions. I like nice stuff, I was seriously considering a Laguna 14, but it would eat over 1/2 my budget.

I did a comparo on: Harbor Freight, RIKON 10-320, JET JWBS-14, DELTA 28-206, Bridgewood, Grizzly G0555, several other Grizzlies and Woodtek. The Rikon looked interesting, but the company lacks presence, history and a strong network (so far as I could discover). The Jet and Delta could be built in the same factory as the Grizzly for all the immediate differences I can see now that I've had a chance to compare them (there is a store in town that carries the Delta and Jet). Besides, the Delta, Jet, Bridgewood and Woodtek cost nearly as much as the Laguna. It was sort of like this; if I wanted the BEST 14-inch saw I could afford, it was the Laguna. If I wanted the best VALUE in a 14-inch saw, it looked like it was probably the Grizzly G0555. Everything else was below the line on a scatter plot with those two at the nexus points.

I like being able to look at and try out a tool if I can before buying, but the Grizzly spooked me, since there wasn't anywhere local I could walk in and 'kick the tires' of one. But I took a chance, partially based on reviews, partially based on the fact that if it sucked, I'd ship it back

No Worries. For the price (for twice the price, probably) it is a good machine. Nicely outfitted with sealed bearings, roller guides, blade quick release, fence, miter gauge and a flat table. Decent horsepower, good fit and finish, all the parts were there, and everything appears straight and true, right out of the box. I was afraid that it would be a sister to the Harbor Fright machine. Not the case, much better, not even cousins. Probably related to the Jet Family.

Are there better machines out there? Certainly. For the price, uh-uh.
Weaknesses.
Blade: Buy a couple of good blades (once you figure out what you'll REALLY be using the saw for). The one that comes with the saw is very plain Jane. Save it for when you let that moron of a brother-in-law use the saw, since he'll gink it anyways. Actually, the starter blade is fine, since everyone will probably have a different preference, why spend extra to equip the saw with something than nearly everyone will want to change. Still, a new carbide tipped blade will speed things up a little.
Packaging: Just barely adequate. I'm very lucky that my saw wasn't damaged in transit. Oh, it's packed well enough for getting here in a shipping container from Asia and to the Grizzly warehouse, but its that last few hundred miles, with the Neanderthals kicking the box around, and playing forklift soccer with it that will punch a hole through the package and ruin your day. It's not that Grizzly wont' make it right, they probably will, but who needs the aggravation. I'd have paid ten more bucks if you had wrapped it in two more inches of Styrofoam with a PVC rail down the sides.
Blade guides: The roller guides are pretty good, not quite `state of the art', but much better than no guides or poorly executed and engineered blocks. I'm not sure that the additional cost of ceramics would be justified unless you were doing the most precise of work, and really needed the control. If you need that level of precision, a bandsaw probably isn't the right choice, consider a scrollsaw instead.
Table and Miter gauge: I think it would have been nice if the slot in the table accepted a `T' gauge. Small thing, but really, for consistencies sake. (Note: the miter gauge that came with my JET sander looks suspiciously like the miter gauge that came with the Grizzly bandsaw (like nearly IDENTICAL!))
Trunnions: Probably all right, cast aluminum. They seem like they should be beefier, but maybe I'm being fussy. They had to cut corners somewhere to make that price, and aluminum trunnions and blade wheels are a sensible place to `lighten' up the product without really hurting performance.
No chip brush: I'll be cutting the head off a `soft' toothbrush and making a widget to hold it in place.

So, in closing. Don't be afraid. I was a little, since I hadn't bought anything from Grizzly, and hadn't seen any of their gear. But I'm pleased; I've done a bunch of curves, some re-sawing and such. The saw is virtually vibration free, quiet and reasonably easy to assemble, set up and adjust. The only question that leaves is overall durability, and only time will tell regarding that issue.

This saw came with very clear and accurate setup instructions and the blade tracked perfectly right from the start. The roller guides for the blade are easy to adjust and keep the blade cool and steady. I very much enjoy the clean smooth table, useful miter gauge, and splendid fence with magnified viewer for the scale. The stock blade is a good general choice, which cuts quickly and smoothly (I resawed a scrap of 2x4 and got a clean 1/16th cutoff), and the assembly tolerated a <2" curve without complaint with the same 1/2" blade.
The motor is very quiet and seems to have loads of power for handling whatever you send across the blade.
I am also pleased with the 6" riser block kit, it came with everything needed including extended safety guards, and is sturdy enough to maintain the strength and rigidity of this saw.
The saw is also nice and sturdy, with a well designed base. The whole assembly is pleasantly heavy so it withstands heavy stock and effort without shifting.

I heartily recommend this to anyone who needs a 14" bandsaw, it seems unlikely that we'll see a better one for less anywhere.

I ordered the G0555 bandsaw along with the riser block kit and another blade, since I was planning to resaw some wide stock. Assembly of the saw went smoothly for the most part with a few exceptions, noted below. In general the saw seems very nice. It is strongly built and runs very smoothly and quietly. It makes a nice addition to my shop. I would recommend this saw to anyone looking for a good low cost band saw. But learn from my mistakes:

1. The riser block kit comes with a longer post for holding the upper guide block. They mention in the instructions that you should push the old post out while sliding the new one into place. The reason for this is a spring-loaded ball bearing that keeps the post aligned. The ball rides in a V-groove along the length of the post. If it pops out, it's very difficult to get back in place. I followed the directions, but the ball popped out anyway. It took me over an hour to get the ball back in place with the new post. The chamfered ends of the posts leave a gap where the ball bearing can pop out.

2. With the new riser block installed, the upper and lower wheels were non-coplanar by about a quarter of an inch. No problem, just add a couple of washers to even the wheels out. But they forget to tell you that the bolt holding the lower wheel is left-hand threaded. I found out when I sheared off the bolt head. I had to order a new bolt from Grizzly, since the local hardware stores don't carry any left-threaded metric bolts. The washers were a little bit of a problem, too. In order to clear the bearing without interference, the washer closest to the bearing needs to be about 1 inch outside diameter and 3/4 inch inside. Luckily I had a thin washer with the right inside diameter, and was able to cut it down to a smaller outside diameter with some snips. For the remaining washers I used fairly standard hardware store variety (with notches filed on the inside to clear the shaft key).

3. I ordered a 3/4 inch wide, 105 inch blade for resawing, and received a mislabeled blade that was about 150 inches long. I called Grizzly and arranged to send the wrong blade back and get a replacement. They were nice about it and made the process easy.

4. In reattaching the switch assembly after installing the riser block, I found that there is no place to reattach the cable clamp that held the wires in place. This is not really a big deal and I'm not going to worry about it. However, the lack of a hole to reinstall the grounding screw bothers me a little. I may drill and tap a hole to make sure the switch enclosure is grounded to the frame of the saw, as it was before installation of the riser block. But for now, it's not stopping me from using the saw.

Anyway, despite my minor complaints, I really like this saw and expect to get a lot of use out of it in the future.

You absolutely get great value with this saw. Basically it's an old-school, Delta style, cast-iron 14" band saw. Just like my dad owns! But for 2/3 of the price, including shipping.

And it includes a nice solid, very usable rip fence - not easy to adjust for blade drift, if that's what you're into, though. Wouldn't necessarily recommend this saw if you're heavily into resawing fancy veneers.

1 hp motor is nice and powerful, no complaints there. Out of the box there was significant vibration, but after I tightened nuts on the main bolt holding the top and bottom castings together, this mostly went away. (the nuts are 24 mm, if you're lucky this is the same size as the collet wrench for your router).

As well, there's a blade tension quick-release. It's not quite as comfortable to use as an aftermarket version, but then again it's extremely desirable and, hey, didn't have to pay $150 extra for it.

Here's where grizzly should have quit. Because instead of the old reliable delta-type solid blade guides, they went with roller guides. Which sounds positive, except these are poorly made, don't roll freely, and, what's worse, if you want to install a very narrow blade where you can't use roller guides, there's no easy retrofit.

So you won't regret getting this saw, but grizzly should have quit while they were ahead.

This is my first Bandsaw, I bought it because of the reviews that I read, price was a factor though. I build Cupolas and needed a tool to resaw 6x6 treated lumber and resaw cedar for the louvers, the treated lumber was a desaster, the chemicals totaly gummed up the wheels, guides and blade, as for the cedar, this saw resaws wonderfully,I of course am using quality after market blades - 3/16, 1/2 and 3/4. The blade ball bearing guides are being replaced with high tolerance bearings, part number 608SSD21 from a company in Miami. The finish on this tool is very good, both in machining and paint. The blade tension release is great, so easy. Changing the blade speed is quick, but a long stem allen wrench makes speed change even eaiser. The table fence is a great beginning it's made in a way that adding a longer/taller face is simple. When I un-packed this saw all parts were there, and assembly was straight forward. After assembly and blade adjustment, this tool ran so quiet, all I could hear was the blade guide bearings as I was cutting yellow pine, this tool really kicks out the dust, a dust collector is a must, my shop vac in no way can keep-up. I would buy this tool again, it satifies all my needs.