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Craftex?

12K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Dustmite97 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Does anyone have any experience with the Craftex brand? I saw a few reviews on here but not many. This seems to be Busy Bee's "house brand" like Mastercraft is to Canadian Tire. Is this just a Canadian version of Grizzly, I know that Busy Bee and Grizzly had a non-compete agreement, I think it had something to do with two brothers but not sure on that one. I am looking at getting a jointer and planer (both with helical head) and while looking at the planer I noticed an uncanny resemblance to the Grizzly model.

Grizzly Model

Craftex Model

There are minimal differences in physical appearance. Any feedback would be great, thanks.
 
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#2 ·
AFAIK, Craftex is the store brand of Busy Bee. Also AFAIK, Busy Bee is the company that Grizzly has a no compete clause with, supposedly b/c the owners are brothers, but I'm not positive.

Regardless, it's quite possible that the two machines are made in the same factory….that won't make them identical but the designs and castings could be the same. FWIW, I've got a Craftex Blue Tornado 40T saw blades that's a decent bargain blade.
 
#4 ·
Grizzly would be my ultimate #1 choice but unfortuneitly I cant get it in the country I call home. For a while I was focusing on Steel City but I have been hearing mixed reviews on them, Don't want to go back to Delta as I have had a choppy relationship with them in the past, thinking about General and I want a dealer that is close to me, I am running out of options. Thanks for the input guys.
 
#5 ·
I have called Grizzly and they would not ship to Canada and when asked why they confirmed the agreement with BusyBee. There are ways to get the product here if you want to go through the trouble. Grizzly customerservice explained them too me but for me it was too much trouble. First is if you have a US address and you go pick it up. Probably not the case for most of us. Second was apparently there are places you can get products delivered then send a Canadian transport company to go pick it up and carry it across the border. In the end I would gamble craftex before I would take that route. I was in a place where they make hardwood flooring recently and they had a few craftex tools in their shop. Source Wood Products. They told me they were happy with the equipment.
 
#7 ·
I have several friends that have Craftex power tools. One gentlemen is a cabinetmaker by trade and would not recommend Craftex table saw because of the inability to do any fine adjustments with the fence. He likes his Jointer and Planner. He's also satisfied with his drum sander.

I have a 3hp. Craftex dust collector that runs on 220 and I am very satisfied with the product. I also have some of their bits as well as a Craftex universal fence for my Dela Band saw.

Guy
 
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