Grizzly - GO555LX 14" Deluxe Bandsaw, 1hp TEFC Motor (Rating: 5)
Absolutely fantastic piece of machinery. I originally purchased a 14" Porter Cable BS from Lowe's, brought it back the next day, not that it was junk, just limited to 1/2" blades vs 3/4 specialty blades with the Grizzly. This model was their upgrade from the previous G0555 and it was on sale during Christmas.
PROS -
CONS -
OBSERVATIONS - (neither pro nor con)
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT?
Abso-friggin-lutely and twice on Sunday! I would also recommend the Shop-Fox caster assembly for this unit, makes it very nice to have in my 2-car garage converted woodworking shop.
Absolutely fantastic piece of machinery. I originally purchased a 14" Porter Cable BS from Lowe's, brought it back the next day, not that it was junk, just limited to 1/2" blades vs 3/4 specialty blades with the Grizzly. This model was their upgrade from the previous G0555 and it was on sale during Christmas.
PROS -
- This BS runs so smooth and quiet, in fact you need to be sure it's OFF, my RIDGID shop vacuum I hook up to it is louder than this machine.
- Included fence is super accurate, square and precise.
- Alignment is simple and stays put for the upper wheel, upper & lower thrust & side bearings, etc.
- Smooth rack & pinion depth set.
- Easy blade width adjuster and smooth blade tensioner.
- Tracks true & straight, no blade drift workarounds needed to cut straight, align everything per the instructions and it performs as designed.
CONS -
- The cast iron table could be a little bigger, that was the only nicer feature on the Porter Cable, it had a big 16×16 table, but that was the only advantage I found.
OBSERVATIONS - (neither pro nor con)
- This model could use better upper band-wheel bearings. The inner sealed bearing on the upper wheel went out yesterday, replaced it with a shielded vs sealed higher end bearing, both inner & outer for good measure and it's quiet as new again.
- Finally by design they should make the table trunion handles a little easier to access, minor thing and it's no more than turning your hand one way vs another really, but I have noticed other BS brands make theirs a little easier to acess.
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT?
Abso-friggin-lutely and twice on Sunday! I would also recommend the Shop-Fox caster assembly for this unit, makes it very nice to have in my 2-car garage converted woodworking shop.