# Busy Bee Tools and Craftex?



## Justin1110 (Apr 9, 2010)

I've recently found out about busy bee tools. They seem to sell a lot of Craftex Products along with a few other brands. So here is my question.. what is the quality of Craftex and has anyone ever dealt with busy bee tools before? I was wondering this because I looked at some tools and the prices are really cheep but not sure of the quality. Thanks in advance.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

we've made a lot of purchases at Busy Bee. 
Our bandsaw is an Craftex as is our jointer. 
We don't give them a real workout but as it stands we are very pleased with the equipment.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

I've had one round about dealing with Busy Bee buy way of having a fellow woodworker from Canada send me a Craftex Blue Tornado blade across the border. The blade was obviously defective from the get go, so I contacted a Busy Bee rep, who put me in touch with the folks who could arrange for me to send the defective blade back, and get a replacement shipped to me in the US. Consider that they don't typically deal with the US market, and the chances of getting more sales from me were very slim, I was totally impressed with how well they handled the situation. The new blade worked pretty well as far as inexpensive Asian import blades go.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

My Busy Bee 14" bandsaw, though 20 yrs old, hums along nicely with no problems whatsoever! I'd buy more from them, when I have a new requirement.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I have a Craftex 3Hp DC from Busy Bee. I think for the price that it was a steal. I've had it for five years and it hasn't missed a beat. It did seem a little sluggish recently so I cleaned the fillter bag. Now it almost sucks the paint off the floor.


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

I am Extremely happy with Busy Bee tools ;-) 
You can,t beat the prices either !


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

I've bought a fair amount from Busy Bee over the years and nothings actualy disapointed
Not high quality in some cases, but the price is right, (except for shipping ;-( ..)
And they do have a wide variety..


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## Justin1110 (Apr 9, 2010)

Thanks for all the comments  I think Ill have to try them next time I get a chance to buy something. I have to agree their prices seem pretty good.


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## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

Busy Bee's kinda Canada's Harbor Freight..
I actualy brought out a mini plane set of theirs yesterday, 2 and a half inch long guys, brass sides, Indian Rosewood infill.. Blades are not great, but for rounding the handles on a couple of purpleheart tools the scraper plane actualy blew me away..woorked great..first time I'd actualy used it..
If memory serves right it was about 20 bucks for the set included a mini square and bevel guage, also brass and rosewood..
Lots of that sort of thing there..


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

A lot of times they have free shipping like this week for example ;-)


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## RexMcKinnon (Aug 26, 2009)

Busy Bee has some great deals. I plan on getting a DC from them soon. I have not purchased any large tools from them but as soon as I have the space I will. For us Canadians there are not a lot of choice. Lee Valley is another great source for woodworking stuff you will not find anywhere else here. I thinik some US (Grizzly, Rockler, etc.) companies are now shipping to Canada but I am not sure I would purchase a large item from them for fear of support issues. 
They have a range of very good products to dollar store quality products. Common sense will tell you the difference between them. Personally I give BusyBee 2 thumbs up.


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## DonH (Sep 8, 2010)

If you look at Busy Bee products and Grizzly…...


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## PapaBear6 (May 21, 2018)

I know that this is an old thread, but it is related to a couple of questions that I have about Craftex.

I have a Grizzly model G1028Z2 1-1/2 hp dust collector with an upper cloth bag. (The unit is 19 1/2" across.) I am looking at replacing the bag with a 1 micron canister.

The questions that I have are: 
Are the Craftex canisters as good a quality as the Grizzly canisters?
Also, does anyone know if they will fit the Grizzly machines?

Thanks
Randy


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## rad457 (Jun 15, 2013)

I had heard some time ago that the owners of Grizzly and Bust Bee were brothers, so there will be some cross over of products? Just call Busy Bee and have them measure it?
I replaced my filter bag with a cannister from Canadian Woodworker few years back on my General D.C. and also picked up a canvas bag to replace plastic on the bottom.
I see the prices have gone up slightly!


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## PapaBear6 (May 21, 2018)

Andre:
Thanks for your reply. That is a good idea about contacting them for measurements.
Do you think that most of the canisters are the same quality? Or would one brand be better than another.
I am starting to wonder if they are all made in the same place and just have different names stamped on them.

Interesting about the price. I had priced them out several years ago and thought I would hold off until I had a little more cash. Bad mistake as they have gone up quite a bit.


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## lumbering_on (Jan 21, 2017)

Randy, most of these are made in a few factories in Taiwan. They're pretty much the same quality and have almost the exact same designs.


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## PapaBear6 (May 21, 2018)

I kinda figured that, but wasn't sure.
Thanks I appreciate it.


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## PapaBear6 (May 21, 2018)

Thanks to Andre for informing me of a sale at Busy Bee. I purchased the CT030CHN canister for my Grizzly G1028Z2 Dust Collector yesterday. It works like a charm.

The rubber gasket that goes over the metal frame of the dust collector is a very tight fit (which prevents any dust leaks) and quite a chore to get on. I had to use clamps to pull it down all around the edge a little bit at a time but it did fit on.

The sale price was $280.00. The canister from Grizzly was $235 US, but with the exchange it worked out to $308. Can. I see that on the Busy Bee web page, it says that there is free shipping for this paticular canister.


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