My Day at Grizzly
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.
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.