Last weekend I made the 120 mile journey to Grizzly’s Pennsylvania showroom. I wanted to see their tablesaws first-hand. With the promise of an hour’s unemcumbered shopping at the Lycoming Mall, my wife bravely kept me company.
I was exceptionally impressed with the G0690 and G0691 saws. The G0691 had free shipping and they were offering a discount on the pickup price. Normally $1350, it was $1195. The G0690 was not on sale. We had driven out there in our sedan, so I had no immediate plans to buy a saw that day.
Fast-forward to this weekend. With the winter closing in and the visions of a new saw dancing in my head I kept checking the Grizzly site. As many of you know, just yesterday, they reduced the prices of the G1023 series saws. I still wanted either the G0690 or G0691 because of the riving knife and the quick-release blade guard. Better, they had extended the free shipping to the G0690 saw. I called yesterday to learn that they did not have the G0691 in stock, but they did have the G0690. I asked what the pickup price was and they were unable to tell me, but the very nice woman I spoke with assured me that I would probably get at least $100 off the list price.
With this information in hand, I arranged to borrow a friends pickup truck. This morning, off I went. After a long journey, I arrived. When I got there, I learned that there was no discount on the G0690. I was disappointed, to say the least. The fellow who was helping me made a phone call and came back with the offer of $50 off. Considering that the discount on the out-of-stock G0691 was $155, I was still not satisfied. I’d come a long way and I didn’t relish the prospect of leaving without a saw so I took another look at the G1023SL. At $795, it’s a criminally low price for a true cabinet saw. My biggest issue with this saw was the non-quick-release blade guard. I had a close look at the location of the bolts holding it in place and decided that the $400 price difference made the prospect of loosening some bolts seem somehow small. So then and there, I made my choice.
On the one hand, I’m a little disappointed that Grizzly wouldn’t extend the same deal to the G0690. Had they done so, I would have taken that saw. Frankly, I could afford the extra $100 but the curmudgeon in me couldn’t do it.
Life is full of compromises. This compromise left me with some room to buy a few extras such as the tenoning jig and a zero-clearance insert and still have money left over. Tomorrow, I’ll set up the saw and I’ll do a write up on the experience. This evening I’ll dream of my new saw and the projects I’ll make with it.
-- Altruism is, ultimately, self-serving
11 comments so far
a1Jim
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89151 posts in 1775 days
#1 posted 1341 days ago
I’m sure you will have a happy ending once it’s all up and running.
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
Lenny
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1055 posts in 1725 days
#2 posted 1341 days ago
Sweet dreams there Bunkie. Nothing like the joy of a new table saw. Congratulations on your purchase and best wishes with it.
-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI
Dez
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1097 posts in 2275 days
#3 posted 1341 days ago
Very cool. I have built a couple of speaker systems and a stereo amp and preamp. What is the power limit on these? I have a very high quality system that I traded some work for, unfortunately the speakers weren’t included. It would be nice to have some good speakers for it.
-- Folly ever comes cloaked in opportunity!
Karson
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34396 posts in 2598 days
#4 posted 1341 days ago
Congratulations on your saw purchase.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
dustbunny
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1149 posts in 1493 days
#5 posted 1340 days ago
I also drove to Grizzly with my heart set on a certain band saw, 6+ hour drive only to find it was OUT OF STOCK.
It all works out though, the one I did get was better anyway. I am sure you will be happy with your new saw, and congratulations : )
-- Imagination rules the world. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte ~ http://quiltedwood.com
bunkie
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411 posts in 1345 days
#6 posted 1340 days ago
Hi Dez,
I’ve used these woofers with an Apt power amp which had 100 RMS watts per channel and they were fine. I never worry about power handling.
-- Altruism is, ultimately, self-serving
huff
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2597 posts in 1483 days
#7 posted 1340 days ago
Bunkie, Congrats on your new saw. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy it. My sister lives about 50 miles from the Grizzly showroom in Willamsport, PA. I have to drive by it every time we go north. I’ve stopped there a couple times to see their showroom. The people always seem to be very nice and helpful. I’ve never bought anything, but it’s like a toys-r-us for the woodworker. Good luck with your new saw and let the saw dust fly. We’ll be expecting some new projects in the near future!.
-- John @ http://www.thehuffordfurnituregroup.com
stefang
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9728 posts in 1532 days
#8 posted 1340 days ago
Congrats. I hope you enjoy your new saw. Maybe you can figure out how to make a quick or quicker release for your blade guard.
-- Mike, American in Norway
Dez
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1097 posts in 2275 days
#9 posted 1340 days ago
Bunkie,
Thanks. I checked the one site for speakers and they didn’t have the same woofer but did find a similar unit.
Now all I need to do is save up the money for the parts I need.
-- Folly ever comes cloaked in opportunity!
bunkie
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411 posts in 1345 days
#10 posted 1340 days ago
Dez,
It appears the the Vifa woofer has been discontinued and replaced by this one:
Vifa PL18WO-09-08
PartsExpress.com has it. Looking at the specs, I think it will work well in the cabinets I designed.
-- Altruism is, ultimately, self-serving
bunkie
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411 posts in 1345 days
#11 posted 1340 days ago
Well I completed the removal of the saw from the truck and got it assembled and aligned.
First of all, I think I might be getting too old to muscle these heavy things. I had to do it myself. I had planned for this, so I had a hand truck and a ramp. I opened the box in the truck, removed all the loose parts (saw wings, motor cover, etc.) and then I removed the saw table. I then used the hand truck to gently lower the saw to my driveway.
I have a walk-out lower level which is where my shop is located. There are two set of natural stone steps leading down to my shop. My only mishap occurred when the saw slipped off the hand truck and collected a scratch and a small dent on the side.
Setup went fairly well. The saw itself was easy to assemble. It took quite a bit of effort to assemble the Shop Fox mobile base. It’s installed in-place and that makes it a bit problematic when you don’t have a helper. I reinstalled the top, mounted the extension wings and lined everything up. Using my straightedge I was able to get the wings levelled without having to shim them. Here’s the cabinet saw payoff: blade-to-mitre-slot alignment is an absolute joy! It took me all of three minutes to align and tighten the bolts. All without bending over or lying on my back trying to access the trunion bolts as with my two previous cabinet saws.
The Shop Fox fence went on fairly easily. It also aligned easily. Test cuts went well. Now I’m exhausted and sore from all the lifting, bending and sitting on the floor.
So far so good!
-- Altruism is, ultimately, self-serving
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