Jet 14BS vs. Grizzly G0555

[Rich Stern]

I'm getting ready to choose a bandsaw. I've considered a bunch of models incluidng the Jet 12" model and the Harbor Freight/Cental Machinery 14" 4 speed model, up to some of the 16" and 17" models by Jet, Delta, Grizzly and Shop Fox. My primary need is milling 4/4 and 5/4 stock for furniture proejcts. Resawing is a distant, secondary consideration.

It seems that Grizzly's ultimate model comes very complete (roller bearings, fence, 4" dust port, 1HP 110/220 motor) in comparison to many of the other 14" saws. I would prefer an enclosed cabinet. I also prefer light colored paint on shop machines, and strangely, the Grizzly is half light. The scary Grizzly shipping stories drive me nuts, but I can deal with it.

The Jet 14BS is intriguing because it has the enclosed base, seems to have a good reputation, and is available for reasonable $ from Amazon, including free shipping and a couple of rebates. It doesn't come with a fence. I don't like the looks of the Jet add-on fence, so I am interested to hear impressions of the Jet fence and any others that might be useful for this machine.

Any comments on these or close equivalents appreciated.

I'd love to get a closer look at the newest Shop Fox models (the ones with cast iron wheels), but nobody seems to have them yet. Anyone seen them in person?

P.S. before you direct me to Google or Dejanews, I've already read most of that stuff. Just looking for up to date opinions.

[Mr Re]

I just bought the G0555 and the shipping was flawless. Everything went just as it should have. I purchased the riser kit and it arrived the day before the bandsaw did. I plan on purchasing the 6" jointer from them next week.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Until you get the saw and find the you can use some thin strips for something. Resawing is a nice feature to have.

I have the Jet and it works well for my needs. When I bought the saw, it came with the fence as a part of the package. There may be better, but I have no complaints with it. When I resaw, I put a fair amount of pressure on it and it holds in place. If you add the riser block and resaw 12" stock a higher fence would be a good idea.

Never use the Grizzly so I can't comment or compare. Ed [e-mail]

[Greg Millen]

I'd be looking for cast iron trunnions, cast iron fence and a minimal gap from the guides to the bottom of the table.

[Vic Baron]

Rich -

I ordered my G0555 with the riser kit about a year ago. Got it in a reasonable time ( they were backordering the initial shipments when they released it) with absolutely no problem with shipping or any damage. Some of the early packages didn't take into account the length of the tensioning knob which protruded above the saw. With no protection, it generally got bent pretty badly - thus a lot of the initial problems.

The fence is well made and accurate. The thrust bearings are easily worth another $100 as an addon to other saws. I particularly like the quick tension release lever.

The riser kit was a snap to install. Installing a new Timberwolf blade was the final tweak.

So far so good - no vibration to speak of. With the add-ons that come standard, I don't thnk it can be beat. So far from what I've read, the people complaining haven't bought one - they just pass on rumors.

Other than the Harbor Freight, I considered the same ones before I bought mine - too much bang for the buck to pass up.

HTH,

Vic

[Jerry]

[Wayne Brissette]

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 22:12:32 -0600, Rich Stern wrote (in message ):

In December when Grizzly had a special on their shipping for things, I ordered the G0555 bandsaw. The box arrived with a few dings, but it is packaged pretty well inside a lot of molded styrofoam, and came out of that without a scratch. The saw itself was a breeze to put together and after replacing the horrible factor stock blade with a Timberwolf, I have a bandsaw that cost less and comes with more than the JET or Delta. It's hard to argue with that.

As far as open verses closed designs. Some magazine did a review of a bunch of them (last year???) and one of their comments was that they thought they like closed cabinets until they had to put all of the units together. It was at this point they decided that the open design had a lot to offer during setup... After setup of course there isn't going to be much difference between the open and closed base design.

Wayne

[Kevin B]

I've got the Jet 14 inch, 500 bucks for saw, fence, cool blocks, miter gauge. Good deal about six months ago. Installed riser kit, King Koil tensioning spring, and link belt. I use Suffolk Machinery blades, which are superb, and the saw is absolutlely fantastic. I do almost all of my ripping on it instead of the table saw. Really nice saw and the fence is more than adequate for my needs..

Best wishes,

Kevin B.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Another magazine touted the closed base as being more stable with less vibration. They down rated a couple of models for that reason. Ed

[Doug]

I'm glad you started this thread. It gives me a chance to also weigh in on Grizzly GO555. I just received mine on Friday. I'm relatively new to WW, and I not only have never owned a bandsaw before, but I never even used one prior to receiving this one. That said, I have done quite a bit of research and have seen many of the other models close up. The Grizzly is definitely on par with the others for fit and finish (for whatever that is worth). I'm also just generally impressed by the construction of the whole thing. The guides are solid looking and easy to adjust. The unit worked very nicely out of the box, easy to set up, as others have stated.

Shipping suggestion: I had Grizzly ship the unit to the nearest distribution center for the carrier that services my area. My unit arrived there a day and a half after I ordered it! The guys at the dock loaded the saw (1 decent sized box) right into the back of my truck. This approach is both faster, and prevents more handling of the product by the shippers. Mine arrived in perfect shape, and unit is very well packed.

complaints: the saw does not come with brushed, though I will install some on my own, as it is, the wheels get very dustly almost instantly. The open stand for this unit could be a bit more solid, though I will aslo find a way to remedy that, I'm sure.

Overall: I'm very please so far. No vibration to speak of, good fence, good miter gauge, very good price. I've seen the harbor frieght unit close up, and was surprised at how decent it looked for the money, but I still think the grizzly is a better deal, I also didn't think the Rigid offering was even in the same class!

[V.E. Dorn]

Perhaps I can help. I have a G0555 and have done quite a few bandsaw boxes made of both Oak and Maple. Essentially, it's all resawing because the boxes are made by laminating 6 or 7 boards together. Then, you must resaw the back off while on edge, then turn it the other way (still about 4 1/2 to

6" deep) and cut out the drawers, then the outside of the box, then scoop the drawers out that are on edge. In short, almost the entire cutting process is resawing. The saw has held up fine as far as power.

That said, if I had to do over again, I would either get the G1019 like I had before or go with a Delta. I know everyone seems to love the G0555 but I'm the exception - it works alright, but that's about it. It's precision is not what I've had with other saws and if you get a riser kit, you better be ready to reset the roller bearings anytime you move the top assembly over

4". Like I said, it's just not the precision tool I thought it would be. I went with it over the 1019 due to the blade tensioning lever, the fence (which is nice), the height of the adjustment knob and the 1 hp motor. Those things it has, but something had to give and it was precision, at least in my opinion.

D>

[WD]

I'm still not convince until you or someone else guarantee me, they have resaw

4/4 or 6/4 hard maple or oak "FLAWLESSLY?

I'm still debating whether to buy the 14" OR the Grizzly 16". Further, I don't own a truck how do you get the bandsaw into the garage from the terminal?

[Mr Re]

I have a couple of pieces of hickory a friend cut at his sawmill for me they are 8"x8"x24", I was interested to see how well the saw would handle it so I used the 3/8" blade that came with the riser kit, and cut one of the pieces into 8 1x8's, although I did have to take it slow, it made the cuts. For me this saw does what I need it to do and at a price I can afford.

[WD]

Thanks, for your honest reply and I really appreciate it. I should have said I am still debating whether to buy a Grizzly G0555, 14" or Grizzly G0513, 17" Bandsaw - 2 HP.

I made a mistake once before buying an under power old Crapsman TS and I wanna make sure that Grizzly G0555, 14" can resaw hard 6/4 hard maple or oak, otherwise I better go with Grizzly G0513, 17". I know some of you might suggest I get a Minimax, blah, blah... I really don't want to spend two grand for it!

Thanks again.

[Bob G.]

============================= I AM NOT flaming you Kevin... Honest I'm not...

But using a band saw to do most of your ripping instead of your table saw tells me that either you are nuts or that you own a really poor tablesaw....

Bob Griffiths