Grizzly G0715p problem-blade parallelism changes with elevation

I returned an R4512 that was doing almost the same thing. Except mine would “kick right” at the back of the blade as soon as I started raising it. And go back as son as it started being lowered. I’d still call Grizzly.

The guts of the G0715P are very similar to those of the Ridgid R4512 and Cman 21833, which all have several similar reports of alignment problems. It might be possible to align it and leave the blade height set, but I’ve yet to read about someone actually fixing it.

My understanding is that Grizzly is aware of the issue….I’d be uneasy if they tell you otherwise. Contact them and see what they’ll do. The best solution I’ve seen yet is to upgrade to a G1023RL, G0690, G0661 or G0713, all of which cost more, and some of which require 220v. Otherwise, unless they have a new fix to offer, your options are to return it (on their nickel), and buy a different saw. Good luck and please keep us posted.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Made a call in to Grizzly and their tech was totally stumped and an advanced tech is supposed to call me back soon. Evidently this is a common issue with this saw. Once I get through all the layers and escalating I’m going to as for a refund or the right to upgrade to a real Grizzly cabinet saw.

Charlie, Mine kicks to the right as it is raised or to the left as it is lowered.

Here’s a couple videos:

Here it is with the blade high:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U7amj8sCrE&feature=youtu.be

Here it is with the blade lowered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRmGy3SOrmU&feature=youtu.be

I have this saw, as well. Just got it about a month ago. I actually emailed Griz before I ordered it and asked if they had addressed the issue. I was told that they had in fact addressed it at the plant and some such. I have not had the problem, but asked the question just in case I got into your situation. As Knotscott mentioned it is pretty widely known about in Grizzly. Best of luck, I have been happy with the CS at Griz and hope you get treated right.

What’s the date of manufacture on yours? I think I got an old one. i ordered 3/2012 and mine was built 2/2011.

Same thing happened to me.

http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2137

ROBZ71LM7,

Yup. On my R4512 the back edge of the blade would kick right when raised and go back to the left when lowered.
When you raised the blade, it would be in its “kicked right” configuration. As soon as you stopped applying “up” pressure on the height adjust wheel, the back of the blade would go left. It was an issue in the height adjust mechanism and Rigid told me it can’t be adjusted out. They said I could take it to a repair center and they can fix it under warranty. Well the repair center they referred me to was about 2 hours drive, but …. so I called and they said they stopped doing business with Rigid warranty ( they claimed Rigid shorted them on payment regularly ) so essentially I had no service center. I ended up returning it.

If Rigid had sent me the parts, I’d have repaired it myself as I really liked the saw, but if it won’t make repeat cuts for me then it’s kinda useless. And Rigid would not send me parts to fix.

Hence the Steel City. :) which is also a very nice saw and has cabinet mounted trunions which I didn’t think was a big deal until I had them. heheh

Charlie, I know it’s unlikely but did Rigid tell you what they thought the cause is and what would need to be replaced?

As I understood it a few months ago, Grizzly didn’t have a specific fix for the G0715P: I wonder how this problem came to be solved and whether there is a retrofit of any sort that makes sense.

northeaster,
All they’d tell me on the phone was that it was a problem with the blade height adjustment geometry.

As a former millright, here’s my assesment…

I think the castings were machined “green”. Cast iron really needs to age before being machined. It can (and does) move a little as it ages. Just in the beginning. There’s a surface that’s machined flat (on the trunion half) and against which the arbor assembly travels when raising and lowering the blade (Which also has a machined contact point). If that was machined green and as it aged it moved just little, it would get exaggerated as you got farther from the fulcrum or pivot point. It would only take a couple thousandths to do this. If you crawl under the saw, I think you can see the contact point between the 2 pieces. Take the blade off and get yourself a good light. At the bottom of the travel there’s a gap between the pieces. As you raise the blade (or arbor ‘cause you’ve taken the blade off) that gap narrows to nothing. SOMETHING in that trunion assembly is not machined correctly.

My guess would be you’d have to replace the whole trunion/arbor assembly to correct it in one shot. Otherwise you’re guessing at exactly which piece is the culprit and you don’t know what this pressure has done to the other parts.

That’s a guess. You’d have to take the main table with trunions attached off of the saw to really get it in position to measure where it’s going wrong.

Charlie, I think yours is the best (possible) explanation I’ve seen so far concerning a saw that has been the subject of a fair number of posts.

It would account for how much variation there is among individual saws, as well as for how Grizzly might reasonably claim the problem is solved (a cheap and easy solution that costs very little in production).

I appreciate that other machinists could say that there are a huge number of ways to get the same end, but it will be interesting to hear how this plays out.

Thanks!

Got a call from Keith yesterday and finally managed to get a hold of him today. Keith said he’d seen the post here and asked what I intended to use the saw for-in my custom picture frames and basic furniture. He did say that there have been issues with this saw, but upon seeing how far out mine was that he wanted to take the saw back and refund my money. I didn’t even have to ask for a refund-not to mention I’m beyond the 30 day period. He didn’t push me to upgrade but recommended the 1023RL for my use. I went ahead and ordered a 1023RL today. :thumbsup: I plan to buy a jointer from them this fall as well.

The 715p is basically just a contractor saw with enclosed cabinet and not what Grizzly would recommend for our uses. I’ll be shipping mine back with the pallet and packaging from the 1023.

Nice upgrade!

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....