On Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:01:10 -0400, "Lee Michaels"
leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net wrote:



"RonB" wrote

At the end of the day, folks who try to rank Grizzly in a category
with Harbor Freight are uninformed. No comparison. And no, I am not
a Grizzly-only shop. My cabinet saw and planer are sitting among
Powermatic, Jet, Delta and other machine tools. The Grizzly machines
are in the same class as all of them.

So There! :O)

You tell'em Ron!

All this talk about Grizzly. I guess I will have to chime in. I live 90
minutes away from the Grizzly headquarters and know a bunch of people in
that area. They were the ones who told me about them. Before I ever got a
catalog or bought anything from them, I saw the green tools in many shops.
And there were working shops, building houses, furniture, musical
instruments, etc. The number one message I got from all of them was "bang
for the buck". The tools were a good value. And far less expensive than
many other, more prestigious names.

I set up a shop with Grizzly tools over 25 years ago. Good price on
everything. I did have to do some work to align the table saw. But the
walked me through it on the phone and sent me complete instructions. Every
thing else was fine out of the box. Since that time I have bought many more
of the tools. Some for me and many for other people. Both for woodworking
and metalworking. I bought several of their drill presses.

Having had this experience, I will say this about Grizzly.

1. Yes, at one time there was some tweaking required. Over the years,
their quality has greatly improved. But to this day, I find some tweaking
necessary (or desirable) on almost anything.

2. One thing that greatly impresses me about Grizzly is that they are
incredibly responsive to their customers. I remember talking to some of the
guys who bought their early table saws and how they told the folks at
Grizzly what they wanted to see on the saw. Grizzly went to work and
designed new saws. Something they do to this day. If they get enough
requests for a certain size and cost of a tool, they will manufacture it.
How many companies can you name that will do that for you?

3. They have an incredible number of models of many of their tools. Many
of their tools are designed for commercial use. That means if you are a
hobbyist, you can buy a serious machine at a reasonable cost. If you are a
businessman, you can buy something that will do the job without mortgaging
the tools. And it gives you a Choice!! Even if I can't afford it, I like
the idea of actually having a choice of the tool I want. Many suppliers
have one or two models. Grizzly has many models of many tools.

4. One of the old timer tricks that the guys in those shops taught me was
to first figure out what you wanted. Then figure out what you could afford.
Then buy the next one up the list from there. By going to a tool just a
little better, bigger, etc than what you figure you needed, you would end up
getting something that will take care of you well into the future.

5. I know I mentioned this before, but there are some serious bargains in
the scratch and dent department. I bought several tools from there are good
prices.

I have not bought any tools from them for awhile. And mostly I have helped
other people buy tools form them recently. I am impressed that they are
constantly increasing the number and variety of tools. They may not have
the prestige and status of other tool brands. But they offer a good
selection, excellent support, good value, a massive website and ugly green
paint too. Again, I learned bout Grizzly from people who made their living
from these tools. I can't think of a better referral than that.

Your and RonB's posts today belong in the Wreck FAQ. Excellent, guys!
Well done.

P.S: Griz Green is Gorgeous compared to Ooogly Gray pieces of metal
which belong on some damned Naval ship. Ptui!

--
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
-- Jimi Hendrix