Grizzly G1023SL 10" Table Saw 3 HP Single-Phase 220V Left-Tilt

Disclaimer
I’m an amatuer woodworker with about 3 years of experience. I am not a professional, and I’m not paid to do this kind of work. Also, my entire shop measures roughly 11’ x 22’, and includes some storage as well, so I may be more cautious about sizing and portability compared to your average woodworker.

Introduction
I originally purchased this saw in June of 2007, and as this is July 2009, I’ve got 2 full solid years of use of it it so far, and it is still going strong. I didn’t check the arbor runout, or mic off any other various measurements when I first bought it, and I don’t think it would be terribly fair to measure it now, after 2 years under abuse by an admitted amateur. That said, the saw cuts extremely cleanly.

Like most industrial cast iron tools, it comes in pieces and covered in preservative that must be washed off. I find a plastic paint scraper, goo off, and many other various materials can be used to remove the bulk of the preservative. I strongly suggest a post-cleaning waxing of the table before you get to work.

The grizzly instructions are acceptable, and grizzly does include all of the necessary tools for assembly, although I found a socket set far easier than the cheap open ended wrenches, on many occasions.

Electrical
It comes plug-free, so it behooves you to prepare an appropriate 20Amp 220V plug and receptable for the saw, but this is the industry standard for the most part. It requires 220V, and is not 110V compatible, nor should it be. The magnetic switch does work well, but is a pushbutton, rather than a outside paddle style. I expect this to be on Grizzly’s feature list for it’s next generation of saws.

The Table
The cast iron table is quite well machined, and with feeler gauges and a 2 foot starrett rule, I was not able to find any significant low spots. It comes with a regular and dado blade insert, adjustable via allen screws, but neither are zero clearance. It is not terribly difficult to manufacture a ZCI using double stick tape and a pattern bit on the router table. I suggest new owners make that change a priority. The table extensions on the right and left are bolted on with 3 hex head bolts, and have some wiggle room to adjust. The fit of the sides to the table is quite snug.

The Fence
The Shop Fox is a well executed Biesemeyer-clone fence. Instead of laminated surface, it uses UHMW surfaces on the fence, which makes for almost no friction. The fence’s drift adjustment is via 2 allen head screws, and the fence must be lifted off the table to adjust them. As I purchased the SL, rather than the SLW, my fence is listed as being a 30 inch fence. This is a bit different, as most saws list 36” and 52” fence options. Note that these measurements are the considered to be the largest cut possible on the right side of the blade while still maintaining proper fixture distance. You’ve got a few inches of fence room on the left side of the blade, but I’ve honestly never found a reason to put my rip fence there. The fence slides back and forth quite smoothly and has enough clearance that excess dust won’t throw it off. This is one of the best fences I’ve ever used.

The Guard/Splitter
This is probably the only area of the saw in which I am disappointed. The guard attaches via 3 hex bolts, can be finicky to adjust, and is a pain to remove. It does a pretty bad job of catching dust, and generally ejects it out the front (right at the user) and to the rear, and on either open side. I rarely, if ever, use the supplied guard, and instead have replaced it with the Shark Guard splitters (but not a shard guard itself). If I do not upgrade my tablesaw in the near future, I’ll probably either design or purchase aftermarket above-table dust collection.

Dust Collection
This has a standard tablesaw’s dust collection, which is a inclined cabinet bottom leading to a single 4” duct. It works fairly well at that, but improvements to above-table dust collection are necessary to truly remove all of the produced dust. The supplied guard provides little to no improvement. Some re-engineering in this area would go a long way.

Mitre Gauge
It works, mostly. Cast iron, not terribly impressed. You should assume that you’ll be replacing this. I recommend one of the Incra ones, or a Woodriver/Jet/Rockler gauge.

Modifications and Addons

• Sliding Table: I added (but eventually removed) a Mast-R-Slide sliding table. This required quite a bit of fine tuning, and the holes on the sliding table attachment had to be machined wider to fit, but eventually I got it dialed in fairly well. Due to a lack of space, combined with very little sheet goods work, I removed and sold the table and put the money into other tools that I use more.

• ZCI: I made (via the method described above) my own ZCIs.

• Mitre Gauge: I’ve replaced the stock mitre gauge with a Jet branded gauge. Far easier to work with than the stock version. I expect that when I move on to my next saw, I’ll upgrade to an Incra.

• Bar Move: Not reall an aftermarket part, I sacrificed nearly all of my left-of-blade cut ability to increase my right side cut range by roughly the length of the left side extension table.

• Outfeed Table: I manufactured a 12” deep outfeed table, which prevents the smaller cutoffs from hitting the floor. When I cut longer stock, I utilize portable rollers for stock support.

• Splitter: As I mentioned, I do not care for the stock guard. A lot of the cuts I do are crosscuts on a crosscut sled, making the stock guard mostly worthless. I don’t feel comfortable without a splitter though, so I purchased a set of 3 aftermarket Shark Guard Splitters. They do a great job. The medium size is bar far the most frequently used size.