looking for imput and Grizzly drill pres
dennis2
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I have been thinking about buying the Grizzly radial drill press (model g7945). It got a good review in F.W. this month, and appears to have been a best buy in Popular woodworking.
However, the reviews from owner on the internet have been terrible. They complain of poor customer service from Grizzly to shoddy construction of the drill press.
I would really like to hear from other owners of their experience.
Any help would be appreicated.
Dennis
Replies
Oh my, you have no idea what the history is here at Knots vis a vis the subject of "Grizzly drill press." You'll have to take my word, it's just too funny.
So, if you subtract all the bad press that one particular person gave Grizzly, are there still many disastisfied users? Were they disatisfied with that particular model? Were the complaints consistent (about the same problem or list of problems). If the answer is Yes to these questions, things look grim.
Hi Forestgirl:i used to follow this site (and badger pond) but found I was spending more time on the computer and less in the shop. I also got very tired of "which one should I buy Delta or Jet/"Anyway that really isn't my question. Usually if a tool is bad, everyone pretty much says the same thing. In this case Fine Woodworking magazine said some very positive things about the Grizzly g7945 radial drill press in this months issue (they even have a video on this web site.So is this correct?????Judging from the comments on the internet, Grizzly has poor customer service and their drill press is not well made. Is that correct????I am confused and would like a little help. If the tool is a little crude and needs some "tweeking" -- fine I can do that. If its a shoddy poorly made piece of "______" like Harbor Freight then I don't want to bother/Any comments from Grizzly owners would be appreiatedThanks is advance
Dennis
Hidden in my "ain't it funny" post were some serious questions about the feedback you've referred to. I did a quick search and found only one place where comments were made about that model. At least it wasn't our old nemesis going on and on and on. Good luck getting some feedback. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Forestgirl wrote this:
"I did a quick search and found only one place where comments were made about that model. At least it wasn't our old nemesis going on and on and on."Another cowardly, oblique reference to me. At least we have an admission that I'm not wholly responsible for all of Grizzly's negative reviews!I don't really care if people attack me for stating what happened. I'm certain that anyone buying Grizzly tools should take negative experiences with that company into consideration.
Edited 8/17/2007 12:49 pm ET by MatthewSchenker
Matthew,
Not that forestgirl needs any help from any of us, but you are the one being childish here.
She didn't call you out by name publicly, like you did her. I think it is you who is the coward, hiding behind a keyboard, no less. Sounds like you may have a case of "guilty conscience"
Lee
I love the logic of Knots. You know perfectly well that she was referring to me. Oh, but she didn't actually say my name, so that makes it all better.All right, let's play the game. I won't use an actual name either. That way, we can pretend I'm not referring to anyone in particular. Using your logic, that will mean I am more adult. Great!The reason "her" post was an act of cowardice is because "she" knew that I have essentially dropped out of this rat's nest for the past few months and was unlikely to notice what "she" wrote.It was also cowardly because, until "her" reference, I was not even part of this discussion.And you know what? If it were not for "her" post, I would not have been part of the discussion.
Heeeeeeeee's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!......Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
LOL!I wonder if I will be on someone's ah, em, "disagree"? list if I say that I have been happy with the three tools I bought from Grizz, the latest being a 8" jointer with a shelix cutterhead.Cheers,Peter
Hey Peter,
Watch it! You just may get suspended from Knots for a while.... just ask Nikkiwood
Lee
"Discussion is futile" to bastardize an old ST:NG phrase. Get out while the gettin's good, or put on your hip boots.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Oh, and one more thing...It shouldn't be long now before a certain person from the Pacific Northwest announces that she is ignoring me and therefore can't see my posts. Yet more cowardice.
Edited 8/20/2007 10:12 am ET by MatthewSchenker
"..is ignoring me and therefore can't see my posts. Yet more cowardice."To me it sounds like a mature way of dealing with an attention seeking child.
Edited 8/20/2007 3:18 pm by PeterDurand
Again, I just love the logic of this place.I wasn't even part of the discussion, until she decided to childishly call me out, and not just once but in two separate posts.Let me put it more simply for you: if she had not acted the way she did, she'd have nothing to ignore, or to "deal with" as you put it.But these actions constitute what people here consider adult. What a terrific forum. Really puts the "taunt" in Taunton.
Good EEEvening Dennis,
I have a G7946, bought it at the beginning of July. The '46 is the floor model radial. My only complaint with this press is the depth stop, it tends to jerk the head to the left (same side as the stop, facing the machine) when the stop---stops. I just set the stop a little more than what I need for depth, and stop downward pressure when I see I'm at that point. Other than this one flaw, I'm quite pleased with the machine.
I did notice a difference between the newer machines versus the older machines. The floor model was a 2001 and I wasn't too impressed. The salesman said the machines they sell/ship from their location (Muncy,PA) were all newer machines. Mine is a 2005. It is well made, went together easy enough, performs all its' duties quite satisfactorally.
It is definitely NOT to be equated with Harbour Freight--true Chinese junk.
Hope this helps ya,
Chris.
And a Good Eeeeving to you ChrisMany thanks to you and forestgirl for you help on the drill press. I have never seen a situation like the reviews on Grizzly. People seem to either like them or truly hate them. Chris I have a question about how well the drill locks in place. Since it has the ability to move forward and back as well as tilt, I would think that could be a problem. What has been you experience?thanks in advanceDennis
"People seem to either like them or truly hate them." My guess is, this is a sign of spotty quality control, something that Grizzly has gotten away from on bigger machines such as their jointers, bandsaws and cabinet saws.
My own personal approach with Grizzly is: the smaller the machine, and the closer to the bottom of the line of machinery it is, the more skeptical I am. That said, though, if someone is really trashing a model, it's quite valuable to know how long ago they had their bad experience. People can hold grudges for years, and Grizzly has changed alot in the last 15 years.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hello Dennis,
There's really no problem at all. The forward and back motion is abated by a 'shoe' that pinches against the shaft and with a good snug, that motion is stopped. As far as tilting goes, there is a grooved channel the length of the shaft which a pin fits into which ceases the tilting action, the same 'shoe' that ceases forward/backward motion also disables tilt in conjunction with the pin in the groove.
There is a scale where the sliding shaft meets the column for degree of tilt or if at zero. The scale is pretty accurate; zero, checked with a square (as recommended in the FWW video) is dead nuts.
I'm not sure what you intend to use your drill press for, mine is primarily for aiding in wood removal from the 'inside' of my carvings, saving time, wear on my gouges, and to keep my skin intact. It also performs more normal drilling functions without any problems(other than the stop thingy). If I were to perform continous precision drillng jobs, I would look at a traditional drill press.
Negative reviews need to be taken in context, did the person really get a piece of junk or were they thinkin they were gonna get more than they actually did. Was customer service really that bad or was it maybe how the person approached the problem. One would probably never really know for sure, but based against other reviews, and how long the company has been in business, you can kinda get an idea.
Hope this helps ya, Chris.
Judging from the comments on the internet, Grizzly has poor customer service ...
Hah! You must be reading the wrong part of the internet.
On another forum a couple of weeks ago, I told the tale of having my wife pick up some things for me at Grizzly HQ (she was in the area). Silly me never thought of the possibility that they might load the wrong thing on the truck and, my wife not being a woodworker, obviously could not be expected to catch any mistakes before accepting delivery. Thus my dilemma - I couldn't really spend $150 on gasoline just to return it and get the correct one.
The CEO of Grizzly responded to the thread that day, and said to call them on Monday ahd they'd do what it took to make it right. Before I had a chance to call, they called me, and said they were shipping out the correct item, no additional charge. It arrived the next day.
'seems like pretty good customer service to me.
Forestgirl wrote this:
"So, if you subtract all the bad press that one particular person gave Grizzly, are there still many disastisfied users?"Anyone reading this who has any history here on Knots knows very well that I'm the "particular person" Forestgirl obliquely refers to.I doubt very much that all the bad press Grizzly receives can be isolated to my negative experience! Grizzly regularly gets negative press from a lot of people.By the way, the one bad discussion I gave Grizzly does not compare with the diarrheal positive postings the company gets from "one particular person" here on Knots.Good day.
FG said: "My own personal approach with Grizzly is: the smaller the machine, and the closer to the bottom of the line of machinery it is, the more skeptical I am." That's hardly a "diarrheal positive posting" LOL!!
Did the thought ever occur to you that you're being used?? You "friend" who alerts you to the "callings out" no doubt revels in the de-railing of this thread and is getting quite a kick out of the diversion he's created.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You wrote this: "Did the thought ever occur to you that you're being used?? You 'friend' who alerts you to the 'callings out' no doubt revels in the de-railing of this thread and is getting quite a kick out of the diversion he's created."This is interesting, and falls in line with your history of discussing tools. Just like with the tools, you offer opinions with no actual knowledge or experience. Total fantasy.It's amusing to watch the phenomenon of Knots.
I would really like to hear from other owners of their experience.
My experience:
poor customer service from Grizzly to shoddy construction of the drill press.
Forget my model number but it's the short radial sitting on a stand. Maybe 6 or 7 years old. The experience with this has turned me off as a future customer of more items from them.
I have bought a number of things from Grizzly ranging from hardware to a 3hp cabinet saw. Everything met or exceeded my expectations. I very impressed with the saw. It was well machined, well made, was much less than comparable saws and each part was heavy and rock solid.
I owned the floor model three years ago. I was missing the handle to crank the table up and down. I called Grizzly and they sent me another one in a couple of days. I moved and sold it and would call it a middle of the road drill press. I have since then bought Jets top of the line and have found that it is a little more accurite and I really didnt ever need the radial part of the press. My Jet is a bigger machine and if I had the choice I would take my Jet.
Mike
Many thanks to all of you for your advice and experience regarding Grizzly and the radial drill press. I think this is what a woodworking forum should do and I appreciate the help.I'm going to buy the drill press and, since their Bellingham showroom is only 5 hours away I'm going to make it a "ROAD TRIP" I'm going to take orders from any guild members who want somthing and my wife will also be coming to visit some stores of her own. (This is going to cost me a fortune in kitchen equipment and dishes) Oh Well we all have our own toys.Thanks again and be safe.Dennis
Edited 8/15/2007 12:35 am ET by dennis2
OOOOOO YEAH!!!!
If Bellingham is as nice as Muncy, you're gonna think you died and went to heaven... you're also gonna wish ya brought a tractor-trailer and morrrre money :-} .
Have fun and be safe, Chris.
I'm going to buy the drill press and, since their Bellingham showroom is only 5 hours away
What state do you live in? If it's one without sales tax and you tell them, you won't pay any in Washington, either.
Dennis, the Bellingham showroom is quite a fun place, enjoy. However, be aware that they are often out of stock on various items. Both big and small. It helps to be prepared for the disappointment. Find out from your buddies whether they want you to order out-of-stock items.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Better yet, call ahead to see what's in stock.
BTW -- I have a Grizzly jointer and received excellent service from Grizzly.
Edited 8/16/2007 4:41 pm ET by basset-hound
Thank you all for the good adviceChris:
I'll mention your name -- maybe they'll give you a finders fee.Barry O:
Yes im from Oregon, and the lack for sales tax is sweet. There is a dealer in Portland who handles big Powermatic and other such tools. They have quite a number of customers comming down from Washington-- I wonder why?Forestgirl, Basset-hound:
I've already checked to make sure they have the drill press on hand. Funny, they would not say how many were on hand (that appears to be confidential information?????????)Thanks again for all your helpDennis
Better yet, call ahead to see what's in stock.
That's not always accurate, either. The problem is that there is not number published for the warehouses themselves, only the central ordering 800 number. Once I called to "reserve" some items in Bellingham, and was told they were out of stock. When I showed up anyway, I pleasantly found out they had the items in stock.
You wrote: "Given my intimate relationship with the Lord, I'm almost certain that G-d and our fellow Knotheads will forgive her for this 'heinous' sin. 'Praised be the Lord who is blessed!' Amen."
Thanks robert! As always, you provide the best material to describe the irrationality of this board.
All hail the Knots Goddess, queen of the Grizzly Brigade! It is forbidden to utter her name or speak ill of her.
robert,
You can quote Biblical references all you want. Doesn't bother me. You're not ruining my discussion. You and your twin Glaucon are experts at ruining the few posts on Knots that do pretend to be about woodworking.
For anyone curious about my last statement, Glaucon and Robert1 are the same individual using two different forum identities.
Good grief man, if you place any value on your time, you've blown double the $180!
We could take up a collection for you. Maybe even get you some chees to go with your whine! How'bout some Curd?
-- author unknown, but probably written by Frederick Heide. Appeared in the program notes for "Belgians in Heaven," a musical play performed outdoors in Peninsula State Park by the American Folklore Theatre in more than one summer season.
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Cheese curds, booyah and beer,That's what I like to hear.I may be kinda pokey, But I say "okey-dokey!" To cheese curds, booyah and beer.
– from "Belgians in Heaven," by Frederick Heide & James Kaplan RegardsBob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
You wrote this: "Good grief man, if you place any value on your time, you've blown double the $180!"Yeah, I don't spend much time in Knots any more. Time, as you point out, is far too valuable to waste.If you want to see what wasting time looks like, take a peek at Forestgirl's profile. I'm not joking -- 3165 posts in 4.5 years!
I don't see how Forestgirl would develop a crush on me, as we've never met. But your theory does make sense, since she did call me out in two consecutive posts, even though I wasn't even in the room and not part of the discussion. Either she felt it had been too long since I responded to her, or it was a slow day and she had not yet filled her quota of Knots posts.
Anyway, good job robert1/Glaucon for sidetracking another Grizzly discussion. Any time now, all this will probably be deleted. I'm actually surprised the heavy hand of Taunton has not already been lowered on this beleaguered discussion. After all, someone has dared to challenge the Grizzly Brigade!
Primary sore or ulcer at the site of entry of a pathogen------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Matthew, I haven't had anyone react with such paranoia toward me since 1972, when a lady pinned me against my car with her bicycle and accused me of being with the CIA. Get a grip, dude! I did NOT "call you out" for pity sake. SheezzzzLouise.
Great apologies to the OP for his thread being ruined by this nonsense. Perhaps if he has more questions, he'll start a new one, I'll just sit it out.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
So,...what you're saying is,...you're not with the CIA? And never have been? Ever? Sorry,...just goofing off. I have some writing to do today and I am procrastinating. This thread amazes me. The phrase "bee in the bonnet" doesn't really do the situation justice. Back to work! Or (since I haven't started yet), To work!
The culture of Knots is odd. In respectable forums, people can recognize when a biting reference has clearly been made to another member, whether the member was literally named or not. Only here do people say something in a veiled manner, bend over backwards to claim they didn't actually say what they said, then pin the blame on the person who calls them out. Then a band of like-minded members jumps in and rallies behind the original claim. It happens repeatedly on Knots.What fascinates me is that Taunton never used their leadership to truly create a different kind of culture for this board back when there was still hope -- before a certain cluster of individuals congealed and defined who's "in" and who's "out." At this point, Knots is nothing more than a stain on Taunton's otherwise fine reputation.It's too bad, because back maybe five or six years ago this board was terrific. I remember several great connections with members back then, and very little backbiting. Most of those members are long gone from this place, which tells you something.The saddest part is that the most active people on Knots honestly don't seem able to imagine how it could be different.Anyway, I really don't care much about Knots any more. The only time I look at it, or post, is when a friend lets me know I've been named or cited. I'm essentially checked out of this place and generally observe from a distance, with amazement and sadness, what it's become.
Edited 8/23/2007 10:20 am ET by MatthewSchenker
If your reflections are anywhere near accurate then that is truly sad.
That to me means that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE loses, including thos who have vacated.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Don't take this the wrong way but you are among the most easily baited individuals I have ever come across, live or online. You have pretty much dissed this forum and anyone currently here, so why do you care to defend yourself further? If you think that little of us, why bother?
Yes, I knew exactly who FG was referring to. Yes, it made me chuckle when I thought of that thread growing exponentially, and I thought of how you kept coming back for more to prove a point no one was willing to concede. It just made me wonder what your motivation was.
FWIW, what I took out of that discussion was not that there are Grizzly partisans who will brook no criticism of Grizzly products (there certainly are, just like there are Festool partisans), but that the thread continued to beat a very dead horse and people couldn't understand why it kept going.
3000+ posts in 4 years ain't much...how much time does it take to moderate a Yahoo user group?
Anyway I've probably said too much already. Don't even know why I chimed in.
Most nights are crystal clear, but tonight it's like he's stuck between stations.
Edited 8/23/2007 12:00 pm ET by JJV
You wrote this: "Don't take this the wrong way but you are among the most easily baited individuals I have ever come across, live or online. You have pretty much dissed this forum and anyone currently here, so why do you care to defend yourself further? If you think that little of us, why bother?"Reasonable points. But I'm not really defending myself, as the other side's arguments are so pathetically faulty, as they know perfectly well. It is a fun exercise, however, to present reason and see how it gets processed in Knots the way pet food goes through a Chinese factory: it goes in as something useful and comes out poisonous.You wrote this: "3000+ posts in 4 years ain't much...how much time does it take to moderate a Yahoo user group?"Interesting point. I just went back and checked the numbers. Even running my own forum, my total posts in the last four years are 3461. In essence (if you are bringing my activity in for comparison) Forestgirl has posted on Knots the equivalent of a forum owner. Take from that anything you want. I'm just citing the numbers (although I know Knots members love to argue simple facts, again like those Chinese pet-food factories).This is a lot of fun!Good day.
Meander over to Breaktime if you want to see some eye-popping post totals. Or visit Sawmill Creek-one of the mods has to be well over 20k posts by now. And that's in about 4 years too.
Most nights are crystal clear, but tonight it's like he's stuck between stations.
And now to the original question.
I do indeed have a Grizzly drill press. I think it's their standard floor model and I paid $179 for it back in 2002. While it's not shoddily constructed you can see that it's not made to extremely fine tolerances. And you know what? For $179 I didn't expect it to be. I expected it to work. And with some tweaking it has. I don't use it all that much, but if I had to use one on a daily basis I probably would have gone with a Delta or something.
I have never needed to take advantage of their customer service. I do know however that the president of the company sometimes hangs out on other forums and takes all concerns seriously, or at least appears to, and things appear to work out in the purchaser's favor.
It helps to keep in mind that "Best Buy" usually means good value for the price-i.e. good features or manufacturing for what you pay for it, but by no means the overall best (sometimes this does happen, but rarely).
If you are looking for a decent, reasonably priced drill press that will be used occasionally, I can endorse the Grizz. If you are looking for an accurate-out-of-the-box or heavy-duty production machine (or just like The Best Tools), I would say look elsewhere.
Most nights are crystal clear, but tonight it's like he's stuck between stations.
robert1/Glaucon,
Ah, what would a Knots discussion like this be without your off-kilter interpretations!
You wrote this: "The person whom you are sympathizing with has a competing website, hence a significant conflict of interest exists."
Oh yes, you are correct. A significant conflict of interest!! That's a good one. Now that I am not laughing, let me say that I never thought of Knots, a general woodworking forum, as competing with my forum. Far from seeing Knots as a competitor, it's been a great source of new members for my forum.
I would ask you to tell me what you think the "significant conflict of interest" is, but perhaps it's a bad idea, as I'm almost afraid of watching you twist yourself in a knot "explaining" it. No, you know what, I will ask you to explain it. Your explanations are always a great source of humor.
This is fun.
Matt and others,
The real loser here is the poor chap who posted the original question about the grizzly drill press.
With respect, show some maturity and bow out of what will surely turn into a name calling, festool vs. ez smart discussion. Let's get back to the subject at hand.
Matt, if you have negative experiences with grizzly, by all means let's hear them. But let's stop the accusations here and go on with the discussion.
Everyone else, if you have positive experiences with grizzly, let's hear them, specifically about the drill press.
Let's drop the other BS.
Lee
Lee,
Absolutely.
I wish I could offer something but I don't own nor have any experience with Grizzly tools/service.
I am interested in a radial drill press and was hoping to get some inputs in this discussion.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 8/23/2007 1:01 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Hi Bob,
I am hoping to get some useful input here as well. I have a total of 2 experiences with grizzly:
My brother bought a grizzly contractors saw about 10 years ago. Not a great saw, but useable. I think he bought an upgraded fence and that was probably the weakest point, but it also had an underpowered motor. However, if you go by the saying "you get what you pay for", then it was a good deal at about $300 delivered. This was at a time when a Delta contractors saw was about $600 and a Jet was about $500.
I just took delivery (last week) of a brand spankin' new grizz 20" planer. Don't have it wired up as of yet, but after unpacking the parts and looking the machine over, it looks to be very well built. We shall see. I will say that the manual is one of the best I have ever seen - definitely written by someone with a firm grasp of the english language - and is very clear and concise. If the machine lives up to my expectations, I am planning to add grizzly's 12" jointer to my line up as well.
So, I am also interested in hearing any good/bad experiences also.
Lee
Lee,
Just to let you know, I have my latest box partially glued up with the corner clamps on the bottom and two band clamps for the middle and top of the sides. It's a fully mitred box (mitres on all edges, sides, top & bottom); top and bottom go on tonight.
Wish I had 4 now............... Birthday's coming up soon though.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 8/23/2007 2:48 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Lee,
A while back, I posted an extensive discussion about my experiences with a Grizzly drill press. I don't care much about this any more, as I have moved on to better tools and learned from my mistakes.Without totally reiterating the previous discussion, I'll summarize the key points here:
- The drill press was riddled with factory defects and damage.
- I wanted to return the machine, but Grizzly refused to take it back unless I paid for return shipping and accepted a 10% "restocking" fee.
- None of my discussions with Grizzly could move them from their position.
- In the end, I simply dumped the machine, as it was useless to me and no one would buy it with all its defects.My warning to anyone buying Grizzly machines is to avoid them if you must use mail order. Check the fine print of Grizzly's shipping and return policies.Now, if you can go to a Grizzly showroom in person, that's a different story. In that case, you can check over the machine to assess any obvious damage or defects; you won't pay for shipping; and you won't have to pay for return shipping when the machine turns out to be defective.That's my take on Grizzly.
I wish you would have just said so at the beginning. Specific bad experiences with a company, that I can relate to.Peter
Peter,
Believe me, I had good reason for not mentioning it in the beginning. My post about the defective Grizzly drill press was the basis for a huge blow-up on Knots. There was a lot of arguing between Grizzly supporters and Grizzly detractors. In the end, the whole discussion was deleted. So it's kind of a sore point.But I do hope that my experiences can help others avoid trouble.
Matt,
Points well taken. I must have missed the whole shebang when it was playing originally.
I pray that there are no problems with the planer, shipping that 920# beast back would not be fun, to say the least. And it seems like Grizz should have waived the re-stocking fee for your item considering you would have had to pay the return shipping.
I saw over on sawmill creek where a guy had a few small unrelated problems (bandsaw tires out of stock, a broken table saw part, etc) and posted his grievances on the forum. The owner (Shiraz Balioala or however you spell that) took care of the problem immediately, pulling parts off of in stock machines to overnight to the guy.
Sounds like a little forum heat goes a long way, at least over at SC. Maybe Shiraz doesn't frequent the Knots forums?
Lee
Shiraz actually had part of the back ordered parts shipped air freight to take care of his customers. IMHO Grizzly has great customer service. I have a Grizzly 8" jointer with spiral head and it is a great machine. I did contact tech support with some questions before purchase and they we very helpful. I have not needed any service in the four years I have owned it but if I do need to contact customer service I am confident they will be their to help me.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Lee,
You wrote this: "Sounds like a little forum heat goes a long way, at least over at SC. Maybe Shiraz doesn't frequent the Knots forums?"Well, my experiences were reported more than two years ago. Grizzly has expanded and changed a bit since then. In my original Knots discussion, Grizzly's president joined in, so he was paying attention. But they absolutely refused to help me out with my situation. I think Grizzly's attitude about these things has evolved in the past couple of years.It's unfortunate that the Knots moderators deleted the original discussion. But, as often happens here, instead of deleting the specific posts causing problems, Knots deletes the entire discussion, taking out the good with the bad. Some members have caught on, and use this to their advantage: any time someone raises a subject they don't like, they start hurling barbs knowing that the moderators will delete the whole thing. You can see it happening with this discussion.
Count me as "done" Lee. I have expressed my own reservations about this low-end tool, and suggested further research. Looks like some reports are coming in from far and wide, to help the OP. It'll be interesting to see what the concensus is among people who've owned it for awhile.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
My Griz DP I inherited. It's an older model (at LEAST 10 years) and I had to transport it 600 miles with a load of other shop tools. In the process something happened to the magnetic switch, trunnions that the table swivels on, and blade bearing assembly. The problem on the last two appeared to be poorly made pig metal stress fractures.
I called and emailed Griz Customer Service. They hooked me up promptly with the correct parts - even though I couldn't tell which exact model it was. Awesome service.
dennis2
Let me comment about service and help from Grizzly.
They are great!
I bought my first piece from them and was so happy that I bought 8 other major pieces and hundreds of attachments etc.. since..
My first piece was a 8 inch jointer.. it arrived busted from shipping.. I called and spoke to a nice lady who said that I could just refuse shipment and they'd ship out another one.. I asked if I had any other options and she said that if I told her what pieces were busted she'd send them out overnite.. That was the choice I selected because she said that if something was dmaged that I hadn't discovered they'd stand behind it and do whatever it took to make it right..
Well the parts arrived the next morning overnight express at my door. no charge, no paperwork, no return parts requested.. It took me maybe 40 minutes to correctly assemble it and since then I've run well over 40,000 bd.ft over it without a single breakdown..
I've had similar experiance with every single piece I've purchased from Grizzly..
It holds up to nearly 50,000 bd.ft. of hardwood with no failures and minimum of maintinace.. with all that wood I've broken exactly one belt and the local NAPA parts store had it in stock.. Not fancy or expensive but a durable simple honest company that avoids the middlemen.
( I suspect that some of the most vocal opponants of Grizzly are those who sell other brands or have some other vested interest)
frenchy,
You wrote this: "( I suspect that some of the most vocal opponants of Grizzly are those who sell other brands or have some other vested interest)"Why is it that Grizzly fans assume that when someone reports a bad experience with Grizzly, it must be for some "other" reason? Could it be that people who report bad experiences with Grizzly do it because, well...they have had bad experiences with Grizzly?Can you give examples of "opponants" (sic) who have other vested interests?
Matt
Frankly your experience is so opposite mine that I have difficulty accepting what you claim.. I can substantiate my purchases by giving serial numbers on the machines I own,, can you do the same?
We all have vested interest in the things we purchase..
Nobody wants to feel that they are bad at making purchase decisions. and often will support paying far more for something than they could have purchased the same machine elsewhere..
Sometimes those differences have merit while other times it's comments of a trivial nature..
It also may be expectations.. You see a fancy piece of equipment for many times the price asked for something from somebody like Grizzly and are let down when the piece doesn't meet the same standards of finish or features..
I bought a drill press from harbor freight once.. It was insanely cheap compared to other offerings so I didn't expect it to be as nice as those.. It was cheap.. but it's well over 20 years old and has served me with a couple of minor repairs adequately ever since.. I've built and restored many race cars with it and it has the required precision for going safely at speeds well in excess of 150 MPH and winning races. Working on wood is a cake compared to those requirements..
frenchy,
You wrote this: "Frankly your experience is so opposite mine that I have difficulty accepting what you claim."This kind of comment is precisely what caused battles in my original Grizzly drill press discussion. Namely, your assumption that, because my experiences are different from yours, what I say is suspect. That's an unbelievable attitude. I could just as well say that I'm suspicious of people who report positive experiences with Grizzly, because my experiences were so negative. Of course, I wouldn't say such a thing, because it's preposterous. Positive and negative experiences are legitimate, just different.You wrote this: "I can substantiate my purchases by giving serial numbers on the machines I own,, can you do the same?"Again, the suggestion that my experiences are invalid. In the original discussion, the president of Grizzly joined in at some point. Even he substantiated the claims I was making. But wait -- I didn't publicize the serial numbers, so therefore...what? Anyway, why would I have the serial numbers for a machine I junked about two years ago?As far as that whole thing about expectations, I suppose you have a point there. People should certainly have lowered expectations when they buy Grizzly machines. I replaced the Grizzly junk with a Ryobi drill press. It has performed very well, at a fraction of the cost of the Grizzly.I have no reason to question your positive Grizzly experiences. But let's stop this ridiculous game of suggesting that my experiences are somehow suspect.
Edited 8/24/2007 9:29 am ET by MatthewSchenker
Hi Dennis,
I've been following this discussion, trying to focus on your original question(s) and it seems to me that the radial drill press is a good tool, at least for the most part. It seems that most of the negative issues revolve around damage due to shipping.
Any chance of actually trying one out, or at least seeing one in action? Have you looked at other brands? It's very difficult to make a decision on a major tool purchase without actually road testing it yourself. Being able to do that IMHO is the best way.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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