Just picked up my new Grizzly G0526 6" jointer yesterday - and have a few observations and a couple of questions.
This is their "6th Anniversary Edition" spiral cutter head jointer (it was my Christmas present from SWMBO - they just started receiving these items into their warehouse). The jointer comes in 2 boxes, the first one, weighing around 90kg, contains the jointer bed, fence and misc. parts. The second box, weighing ~50kg, contains the base and magnetic switch arm. I was able (with some creative swearing) to fit both boxes in the back of a RAV4. Once home, I managed to wrestle the boxes out of the car into my shop, and started the process "some assembly required". Once I got the components out of the box, I spent about an hour removing all the cosmoline (or whatever they use to keep the metal from rusting on the boat ride over). Next was to lay out all the parts and read through the instruction manual.
While the manual is well written, there are some differences between reality and the manual (and since this is a brand new model, I would not have through that there would be differences). The fence is shipped unattached from the bed - which actually makes cleaning the anti-rust gunk a lot easier (the manual states to remove the fence to clean the sliding parts). The base is the new whitish color, powder coated, and is very stable. I had to call my neighbor to help me get the bed up onto the base (it only takes 3 bolts to hold it on - but you need some tiny hands to get the bolts to go from inside the base up into the bed). The next step is to install the v-belt, ensure the pulleys are aligned, install the dust port, install the fence, and then the safety cutter head cover - and here is where my first problem manifested itself. The safety cover is supposed to be installed through a hole and make attachment to a spring-loaded device underneath the bed - the theory is that when you push a board through, the safety cover moves out of the way (counter-clockwise) and then springs back. However, for the life of me, I cannot get it to function as it is supposed to. I even took the spring device apart and cleaned and oiled it, but to no avail. The orange safety cover pivots, but does not "spring" back to its original position (guess I will stop by the store and talk to them - I live about 25 minutes from the Springfield, MO Grizzly showroom/warehouse).
Does anyone else have this jointer yet - and if so, did you get the safety cover to work correctly?
Next was to install the hand wheels, the v-belt cover and mount the magnetic switch arm. I am a bit reluctant to attempt power yet until I get the problem with the safety cover resolved. The spiral cutter head appears to be pretty massive, and the indexed cutter blades appear to be very easy to rotate to a new cutting edge if they become dull or get chipped - certainly easier than setting a blade ;-)
Included are some extras such as; 2 orange push blocks - kinda of cheap, but hey - at least they did not come with a HCA enrollment ;-), 5 extra cutter blades in a cute little plastic box, 5 torx drill bits sized for the cutter blades (not sure why 5), extra cutter blade screws, and open end wrench that has the correct mm ends for all bolts that you need to turn to assemble.
All in all it seems like a well built unit - very sturdy and attention to detail seems pretty good - - however I will save my final analysis until I actually run some wood through it.
Regards,
-George-