I am in process of setting up my new Grizzly saw and would like to confirm that my experience is matching the stories I have been reading in the internet. In summary, the price performance is excellent, but there are some quality issues. It is still too early to say, if any of those issues has any impact to the results you can get with the saw.
Purchasing: First I did try to purchase the saw directly from Grizzly. I did need a delivery to my home address and moving the heavy (over 600 lbs) box into my garage. After several e-mails and phone calls, I could not get a confirmation from Grizzly that they can arrange an inside delivery. The plan B was to make the order through Amazon with the expectations that I could include the inside delivery as part of the package.
The Amazon order did not work. With the upgraded security checking, Amazon was not able (or willing) to charge my credit card. After two failed attempts, I gave up. Time for plan C.
I made an order on Grizzly web site and gave an instruction to contact me before the delivery. Grizzly was very fast in booking the order and confirming the shipment. Once I did learn the shipping company contact information, I did call them and requested the in-house delivery. They said that it can not be done without an authorization from Grizzly. Once again, I contacted Grizzly and got the same answer; they can support only the standard delivery. Call back to the shipping company and discussions with 5 different people in 3 different cities, I finally got a confirmation that I can have the in-house delivery and they will bill me later.
Delivery: I was at work and SWMBO got a call from the truck driver that he didn't find our address. He didn't even have a local map. The instructions through phone didn't work. Solution: SWMBO and the truck driver agreed to meet at a local 7/11 (Wawa) and from there the truck followed SWMBO to our home.
Unloading: Everything was going quite well when the tailgate started to come down. Two feet's before the crate was on ground, the tailgate started to tilt under the heavy weight. And my dear saw fell down. The box was not very strong, but the tank like saw construction took the beating without any visible damages. My first concern was that the trunnion or table top alignments were harmed. Luckily the motor bracket and the styrofoam block kept everything in place.
Cleaning: WD40 was quite efficient in cleaning the table top and the wings. There were some paint like dirt that resisted my paper towels and repeated WD40 treatments. The dirt was not strong enough to fight against a sharp chisel.
Table top attachment: This was the first quality fault I did find in G5959Z. One of the M10-1.5 x
30 bolts was almost without threads. Another bolt had a "hole" at the top. The bolt with the hole is a design fault in this construction. I guess that the original G5959 had different measurements. When they changed the tilting from right to left, the table top attachment bolt is sharing the same coordinates with a rear rail attachment bolt. If the rail is in place you can not turn the table top bolt. My plan is to shorten the bolt by 1/4 inch.Moving the saw to basement: My workshop is in basement and I did start to move the saw there in pieces. The table top and the wings were not too bad; I was able to move them by myself. For the cabinet, motor, and trunnion, I will need some help. I am planning to leave the base bolted on the shipment crate and either slide it or trolley it down the stairs. There should be one or two extra inches in the door opening for the crate.
The fence: I have not yet installed the fence, but it is heavy and looks very solid.
Electricity: Before I can really enjoy my new baby, I need to get 220 V in the basement. The electrician has promised that it should happen during this week.
If there will be any significant observations, I will share my experience in another posting.
Cheers, Ollie