In the package is the main unit, which is essentially the motor with the buffing wheel. There is another box that contains the main grinding wheel and a small bag with the locking knobs and angle finder. Assembly is super easy, just put the tool rest in, screw in the locking knobs and bolt the grinding wheel on nice and tight. This is a picture of it fully assembled.
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| From Grizzly Grinder |
After I assembled the unit, I filled the water reservoir and put it on. After about a minute, it was almost empty. That wheel will suck some water! You can see the water line in this picture.
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| From Grizzly Grinder |
I refilled the reservoir and slowly turned the wheel by hand to wet the whole wheel and let it soak in the water, then refilled again. Once that was done, I turn the machine on to see how it ran; it is really quiet and very smooth, it does not wobble at all. I've had other grinders that you have had to bolt down or they would bounce all around, so that was nice.
So after all that, I grabbed one of my Lowe's purchased Stanley chisles that had a little nick in it and went to town. Getting the proper angle on the tool rest and everything is much easier than I thought. The Tormek, and Jet, have a fine adjusting knob for the up and down height of the tool rest, but the Grizzly does not; which is a shame. The shaft does fit fairly tight though so it's pretty easy to adjust. After just a few minutes of grinding, the nick was gone and I had a new edge. From there, I prepped the buffing wheel and applied some paste. I buffed off the bur that they grinding wheel creates in just a matter of seconds and tested it on a piece of cherry. All I could say was "wow"; I don't think I've had a chisle that sharp, even by hand (for some reason). This is a shot of me taking a nice little curn off of a board, the full length.
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| From Grizzly Grinder |
The chisle just glided effortlessly and was super easy to control. End grain was no problem either; I was able to shave nice thin cuts without breaking out the back side of the board. Here is a shot of a thin shaving, the full length of the board.
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| From Grizzly Grinder |
All in all, I'm impressed with the machine so far. I havne't spent a ton of time with it, but so far it is super easy to use and should help me keep my tools much more sharp, quicker, than I keep them now.
I like your review, and Grizzly products are generally decent for the price, though far from top notch.
ReplyDeleteBut no product review is really complete with out an overview of the company and it's relationship to its customers.
GRIZZLY'S SERVICE ENDS AT THE SALE. Customer service is terrible. Return Policies are awful. CS reps will do nothing to help you, rather citing chapter and verse of bad policy. If you like to pay and wait and pay some more, do all your own return legwork and pay restocking fees up the yin-yang regardless of company error, dealing the whole time with unyielding CS representatives, than Grizzly is the company for you.
Sorry for the rant. I don't think any Grizzly review is complete without one. I am a woodworker in business for ten years and I will not do business with Grizzly any more.
BUYER BEWARE!!!
Will the Tormek profile stropping wheels fit on the Grizzly. If you look at the Tormek system leather wheels can be attached on the existing leather wheel to debur your gouges.
ReplyDeleteI have this grinder and after I had it for a year I started having problems and they replaced the unite. I have a GO 55X Band saw and after it was out of warranty I had a bearing go bad and they sent me an entire set of new bearings for the saw. They have been nothing but helpful. They take the time to answer any questions. I have had nothing but great service.
ReplyDeleteYour store looks really promising. Would you guide me about some items in your shop like their uses and advantages? store
ReplyDelete