# Craiglist Gloat- 8" Grizzly Jointer, basically never used!



## Sailor (Jun 17, 2009)

I found a 8" grizzly jointer on Craigslist. The next day, drive about an hour and ten minutes and pull up to this guys hideaway with pole barns, old wooden barns and all kinds of stuff. I see an old trailer with about 6 Grizzly tools on it, a shaper, big bandsaw, dust collector, big lathe, big 20" planer, and my 8" jointer. All of these things had rusty tops but other than that they looked great.

Got to talking with him and he said he just got them three days ago from a 80 year old widow women down the road. Apparently they were pretty well off financially and back in 1995 her husband wanted to start a woodshop and bought all of these tools brand new from Grizzly. Unfortunately right after the purchase the man got sick and passed away leaving these tools sitting in his barn. Well, fifteen years go by and the tools just sit there. A few days ago the seller hears about this and he was wanting a new bandsaw so he went over to check it out. He came home with all of the tools only wanting one and planning on selling the rest (not sure what he paid for them but I bet it wasn't much, he told me he felt a little guilty).

Anyways, the tools may have never been turned on, he said he and his nephew looked through the tools and couldn't find a bit of sawdust so the widow's story must have been true. On the bandsaw, you could see where the miter gauge had been sitting for years because the metal looked great under where it sat. Anyways, I bought the jointer off of him and hauled it home and unloaded it into my shop with a forklift. It's a 1.5hp 2 phase machine so I think it should work nicely, should be a good first jointer anyways.

Oh yeah, it also came with an HTC mobile base that looks great. I see on the internet these things are going for around $180! I think I lucked up, or he did!














































Todays project is to get this thing cleaned up, tuned up and milling some of that oak I bought!

My question is, I watched the Wood Wisperer's video on setting up a jointer and it was very informative. Although, my jointer doesn't have the same tuning properties as his big ole powermatic. It seems it just has those long rods inder each table and a few other adjustments where the tables meet in the base. Does anyone have some experience with tuning this bad boy? I have the manual in like new condition but it doesn't explain everything in first time jointer owner english.


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

Sailor,

That's a real piece of junk. You don't want that cluttering up your shop. Just put it out on the curb and I'll swing by to pick it up and get it out of your way. <grin>

Seriously, that's a great deal. I don't know anything about alignment or adjustment but I'm sure somebody does and will chime in soon.

Craig's List can deliver great deals if you watch it and strike quickly. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a 10" Craftsman contractor tablesaw for $40. No fence or miter gauge but cast iron top and wings… I have plans for updating/upgrading it…

Good luck with the joiner.

Herb


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## mattg (May 6, 2008)

Nice score!!!


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

Very nice score! I'm glad to see it has a good home too. I just purchased a 6" Grizzly jointer with spiral helical blades and it makes a glass like finish on even the hardest woods. Have fun making great projects with this.


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## wiswood2 (Apr 12, 2008)

Good buy. I have 12 of their tools ,never a problem some are 14 years old. good luck. I clean my tops with a 5 in. orbetal sander works great.
Chuck


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## TulsaWoodSmith (Mar 17, 2009)

Nice hit! I have the same jointer in my shop. It works like a charm. Well Done!

Michael


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Way to go Sailor! Great price for a great machine. Don't you just love Craiglist! I found a 3yr old G0593 w/Spiral cutter last month on the local Cragslist for $700. Even considering the spiral cutter head, you still probably got the better deal! Congrats!


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## hokieman (Feb 14, 2008)

Keep an eye on your post office as you picture will likely be on the board. You stole this jointer!


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## dbol (Mar 11, 2010)

I'll bet you're glad you didn't get that ridgid or powermatic 6" jointer you were thinking about getting a couple weeks ago.
Nice score!!!


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## docholladay (Jan 9, 2010)

With a find like that, all I have to say is "YOU SUCK." Great find. I'm sure that will prove very useful for you. I'll just have to continue with my big old No. 7 plane for now I guess.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Looks to me like you would "tune" this up like any other jointer. Just explore the workings a little.
Nice score I'm sure you will be happy with it. If by some chance you still have a problem tuning it up. Call Grizzley they will help(which is more than you can say for some of the others)


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## Sailor (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks for all of the replies guys, I really am lucky to have found this thing. I used the site Craiglook to find it, it's trully a wonderful tool of a website. You can search an item and it will show you ones within a predetermined radius of your zipcode/city. I have been checking it nearly every day hoping one would pop up.

Yestarday I messed with it for about 45 minutes and I have a little over halve of the fence and table done. It's not a mirror finish but it's good enough for me I guess. I wil follow up with more photos of the cleaned up machine.


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

Nice score dude! Half my shop ( Delta Unisaw table saw, Powermatic drill press, 1 HP Steel City dust collector,Jet 14" enclosed stand band saw, Kreg prescesion fence, Veritas shelf pin drilling jig) is made up of awesome Craigslist scores! That is a great jointer solid as a rock. If you paid a ridiculous amount for it you might want to chuck the knifed head and buy a helical cutter head. Grizzly sells three different kinds, and they retrofit onto all their jointers. They vary in price, but if you got the jointer for a song then you might want to think about it. Index-able spiral or helical cutter heads are the ********************! No knife sharpening or aligning EVER….and glass smooth finishes, and the best handling of figured woods…period. You get a nick or they just get dull, you rotate the little square cutter head to a clean side! That top will clean up nice. I would take the fence off and maybe work them both with some wet/dry automotive paper with your ROS and a little lube. Work your way up through the really high grits and that thing will look like a polished mirror!


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## patternmaker (Jul 22, 2010)

Good deal Sailor,it looks to be in fairly good condition. Check the ways, if they are rusty maybe some rust eating solvent and some lube may work. If that doesn't work you may have to take the tables off and clean the ways real good. Check the jibs first, make sure they loosen when the lock screws are loosened…more rust eater. A good straight edge long enough to across both tables is needed to check for parallelism. If they are not parallel then the cut will not be straight. Check the belts, they may need to be replace if dry rotted. The bearings should be ok since the jointer had not been used much. Jointers are great machines, simple in design and easy to work on, I've never owned a Grizzly but have had several jointers over the years. I had an old American 16" jointer I used in my pattern shop that I rebuilt and used fo many years. In my home shop I have a powermatic 8" jointer that I was quite impressed with. Good luck with your new jointer.

Mark


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

That's an incredible score! Enjoy!


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## CampD (Nov 8, 2008)

SCORE!!!!


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Hm. I MIGHT just have to hate you 

Congrats ! Great price on a great tool !!


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## brunob (Dec 26, 2006)

Wow. That's great. You might not have to do much tuning. Mine was fine out of the box. I've had it several years and not had to mess with it.


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## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

It's official, YOU SUCK


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## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

Good thing you have a mobile base. The power cord is waaay to short. 
Lee


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

I'm not sure how I missed this, but it looks like we have the same jointer. The only difference is that I think mine got a little bit of use about 10 yrs ago. Not sure if you plan to blog your clean-up process, but I'm planning to blog mine. So far I've got the before pictures:

http://lumberjocks.com/HokieMojo/blog/18097

I got the machined surfaces cleaned up this weekend but it is nowhere near a mirror finish. In fact, I'm 99.9% sure it didn't have a mirror finish to start with. I'd be curious to hear how yours went.

Even if you choose not to blog it, keep me posted. I'd really like to hear your experiences. I should have an update posted of mine soon.


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## restored (Sep 2, 2012)

5 Years later, now 2015, I punch in CL wood jointers, and this great story comes up, you hit the jack pot. Besides your table saw, this is the most important tool in your shop, may be even more important. Without it glue ups are near impossible. Okay, I know way back in the day it was all hand work, that takes years of practice to master, not to mention just learning how to sharpen the tool. You don't even see one in most wood shops today. Back to yours, what made me giggle, just a bit, was after looking at the photos (with envy) you say not you have to clean it up. If that is the condition you got it in, I thought it looked like it just came from the store. 5 years later, I'll give you 400.00. Simply give me your address and if your within 500 miles of NH. I can be there in 48 hours. I have heard some complaints about Grizzly tools, but never one about their jointers. Actually what I have heard is don't spend 40% more for the same size jointer, when you can buy a Grizzly. I owned a DJ20 and it was my favorite tool in my shop. I traded for a 6" plus cash, to me, after a couple of major back surgeries. It's near the top of one the the 10 most stupid things I have ever done. I have jumped up to a turn of the century 10" machine with an 8' bed, with everything working as it should. Only have to add a safety guard. Has a nice welded bottom frame with heavy concealed casters so it can be moved around easy. All done by buying and reselling jointer's, on CL. I can't imagine a deal like this. The seller hd to feel very guilty, double what you paid would have been a steal. Good for you.
Nothing is impossible to the man who doesn't have to do it himself!!


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## Skippy906 (Dec 16, 2012)

Great find and you suck!!!


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## MashMaster (Feb 12, 2011)

I officially hate you


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

Congrats on the new planer/jointer


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

This is a five year old thread fellas.


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## Picklehead (Feb 12, 2013)

> This is a five year old thread fellas.
> 
> - firefighterontheside


It's NEVER too late to hate somebody for getting an 8" jointer for $300!


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## TheWoodenOyster (Feb 6, 2013)

Nice Score! As far as tuning it up… I've tried and failed. Good luck. I'd just use it as is and hope the boards are flat. I'd rather run a marathon than tune my jointer.


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## distrbd (Sep 14, 2011)

> This is a five year old thread fellas.
> 
> - firefighterontheside
> 
> ...


Or for not buying the rest of the tools.


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## Sailor (Jun 17, 2009)

I have a confession to make…........

I still haven't gotten the jointer tuned up so I haven't used it at all really other then when I first bought it and turned it on…..... The nuts that hold the blades in are nearly impossible to tear. I started to round one off, then another so I just stopped.

My plan is to buy a spiral head for it I guess. Hopefully what Grizz sells now will still fit this one. When I have had the money I have spent it elsewhere so this just hasn't been high on my priority list.


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