# Grizzly G0555



## cabmaker

sounds to me as though you may be running that blade with teeth contacting the guides thus quickly dulling them. You should not see smoke even with the provided blade. Doesn t take much metal contact to dull those teeth. Is that a plastic table insert or metal ? Again, I suspect you may have your guides set a tad ahead of the teeth.


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## Elizabeth

Can you take some close-up photos of the problem areas for us to look at?


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## mikema

1 & 3) I agree with cabmaker. You may also have put the side bearings to tight on the blade. They should contact the blade but VERY lightly. The side bearings should be behind the blade teeth enough that when you push the work piece into the blade the teeth are still infront of the bearings . The rear bearing should have a gap, about what a folded up dollar bill would take. Make sure the bottom guides are setup the same way. Make sure you CLOSELY follow the instructions provided with the saw, it illustrates how to set the bearings as I just described.

As for the gaurd, I have noticed that one I loosen and move it up or down it can twist, but as soon as you tighten the gaurd it moves back to where it is supposed to be.

2) This could be a blade alignment issue if its not centered on both wheels. The tracking for your saw maybe off, which will cause the blade to move and possibly causing the blade to make metal to metal contact. 30 seconds of that will completely ruin the blade. Also, if the bearings were too tight, it can cause the blade to warp which could cause this as well. Try a new blade.

3) The included blade, as with any new saw, is junk, and it is likely further trashed. I put a timberwolf blade on mine, and haven't regretted it.

Don't give up hope yet, I would be surprised if your saw is a lemon. Take some time, re-read the instructions, and follow them as close as possible for setup.


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## mushmouse

Thanks for responding.

@cabmaker - I was very careful to make sure the front edges of the guide bearings, both top and bottom, were behind the blade gullets (certainly no further than the edge of the gullet though it is more difficult to sight the lower bearings). And the table insert is metal. I'm sure I'm doing something stupid, but I can't figure out what may be misaligned.

@Elizabeth - not sure if these shots are good enough or what you are looking for (the lighting is not the best)


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## mushmouse

@mikema - I was careful with the support bearing too, I don't think the gap between the back of the blade and the support bearing was larger than 1/32 inch, probably less than that.

I noticed the same twisting with the guard post, my observations were made with the guard post fully tightened in both positions.

I believe the tracking was fine, I spun the wheels by hand and verified that the blade was centered on both the upper and lower wheels.

I did try a new blade (which probably wasn't much better than the original, but I'm not sure where to get a good blade from a brick and mortar store in my area of northern NJ, online would take several days at least), I think a quality blade like timber wolf is a good idea, I'll have to order one online.


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## Arminius

With Grizzly, it is probably best to think of as if you purchased a pretty good bandsaw kit. Get one of the good bandsaw books with a chapter about tuning, and work through it. Michael Fortune has done some good articles for Wood and FWW as well.


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## MoshupTrail

6 tpi is a bit fine for ripping, i prefer a 4 tpi for ripping long oak planks - just whizzes right through 'em - puts the table saw to shame (and is a lot safer)


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## mushmouse

@MoshupTrail - thanks, when I try another new blade I'll get 4 tpi, hook I assume.

Any other suggestions for things to check, no matter how offbeat, are welcome. I've done things like checking the wall voltage when running the machine (not so offbeat), even checked to see that the motor was wired for 110 volts (offbeat).


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## donbee

I have the same model Grizzly saw. It was right on the money right out of the box.
To show how "fixable" this machine is, I accidentally tipped it over on a rough spot in the floor. it crashed hard on the concrete, destroying a table trunion and badly bending the front fence guide.
Grizzy sent the needed parts quickly and within a few hours of work it was running like new.
I'm sure your problem can be corrected. The advice from Grizzly tech doesn't sound wrong, but it should have been caught in QC at the factory.
Keeping working, you'll get it.
by the way, my favorite blade for ripping is the Wood Slicer.

Don


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## mushmouse

@Don - I hope your right, but the help from Grizzly technical support has so far been limited to suggesting things to investigate (some suggestions were a little strange like telling me that maybe the G0555 is underpowered for my application), until they ran out of ideas. They tell me (I've spoken to several) they want a happy customer but are leaving me to deal with the problem. I get the sense they wish me to go away.

Would you like to trade machines?


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## JGM0658

1) I had the same problem with my 20" hammer BS. I did shim it and there are no other problems.

2) if the blade is not square front to back, that is really not a big deal, just put a washer on the trunion that is lower. Remember, these things are now made in China and are left for the customer to complete the QC.

3) As per the comments above, make sure the bearings are not touching the blade, but simply are an aid for the blade not to wander too much, make sure the blade is riding on the center of the wheels, that the blade is square on the left and right hand size (this is the reason you experience burning, the table is not square to the blade and you are trying to push the wood too fast) and really 6 tpi is for small fine cuts, you want to rip or cross cut fast, you need 3 or 4 tpi.

Also remember, a 14" BS is not one where you will be slicing through wood like butter, it should be faster but I am afraid you have dulled the blade putting the bearings too close to the teeth and too tight to them.

Hang in there, juts make sure the blade is square to the table on all sides and the guides are not touching the blade and soon you will be using it. I had similar problems when I got my first BS. It takes some time to dial it in so it works fine.


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## mushmouse

@JGM0658 - could you elaborate on what you mean by:

"that the blade is square on the left and right hand size (this is the reason you experience burning, the table is not square to the blade ..."

Is this another way of saying that the side of the blade should be parallel to the fence otherwise the blade will be skewed as it cuts the wood? And if this is what you are referring to, how do you make this adjustment?


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## Jimi_C

There are many videos online on sites like Fine Woodworking and The Wood Whisperer's site regarding bandsaw tuning. The common hint is to wrap a piece of thin paper (like cigarette wrapping paper or something similarly fine) and to adjust the side bearings. For the thrust bearing, some people use a playing card, others use the same thin paper as above.

There are also suggestions on using something like Pam cooking spray to lubricate the blade periodically to help with smooth cutting, or you can buy the lubricant strips they sell on just about every wood working site (Rockler, Woodcraft, etc.).

Just google "bandsaw tuning tips" and you'll find a lot of help.


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## Popsnsons

This article may have some helpful tips. http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/tools/archive/2010/03/15/tune-your-bandsaw.aspx


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## PurpLev

the Bandsaw is the tool that really does require the most work to set it up correctly - no way around that. shimming and adjusting things to make the blade square to the table, and to align the blade with the guides is normal - to a certain extent (as long as you are taking about adding a small shim and not relocating parts - obviously).

FYI - one thing to make sure- when the saw runs there should not be any contact between blade and any of the guides.

The only thing I am having trouble with your post is your reference to the slowness of the blade… if it's as slow as you describe I have a hard time imagining you being able to cut 6" into anything but if thats the case, then something is definitely not right there, and that shouldn't have to do with the guides, or the blade. maybe defective motor? (speculating based on your Really slow going description there)

burning marks as probably cause the board is pinched between blade and fence. at the point you are at - I recommend cutting freehand to validate the performance of the saw before you start finicking with the fence and alignment for drift.

Also, This does not seem much like a review for me - might be better fitting as a forum post to help you resolve the issues and cutting some wood. but that's just me 

hope it works out for you. a bandsaw is a real helpful machine to have.


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## donbee

The Grizzly G0555 is a two speed saw.
The belt may be on the wrong sheaves if its really running too slow.

db


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## Alongiron

Your entire guide assembly may be twisted. I have the same saw and I had to slightly adjust the screw that I am pointing to in the picture to help square things back up. It does not take much but can make a big difference.


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## Rick Dennington

What can I tell you…it's a Grizzly, and two words describes their products…...they suck..!!!! I'm talking from experience…..


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## maljr1980

what rick said… grizzly is the lowest end of industrial machinery, for a hobbyist it may be a step up from small bench top models, but its going to be a low quality tool. out of all the shops i have worked in ive only seen one piece of grizzly equipment, a small 6 inch jointer. personally i wouldnt mind having a fully functional shop at home full of all kinds of grizzly machinery, just for the reason i could do alot with a much smaller imvestment. but id also realize it wasnt a altendorf or holzer. i expect a grizzly to get 1 star. just the same way i would expect a black and decker drill to get 1 star, where as a festool would get 5


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## mushmouse

@PurpLev - sorry if I wasn't clear, the blade speed seems fine, it 's the feed rate of the cut - should it take 2 minutes to make a 12 inch cut in 3/4 inch stock? Also I believe the clearance between the blade and bearings is fine, the board is not pinched between the bench and the blade and the odd thing there are no burn marks on the wood - but once I start cutting I immediately smell burnt wood and about 30 seconds later the smoke detector goes off. And sorry, this is the first time I ever posted like this, I wasn't sure which would have been the correct forum (actually this did start off as a review and then degenerated into a call for help)

@Don - I checked, the belt is on the correct sheaves and there is no sign of the motor slowing down or laboring as I feed the wood into the blade.

@Alongiron - I tried that but the problem is that if you face the blade from the front, the blade and guide post are not parallel, so if I adjust that screw when the guide post is all the way down, it goes out of alignment when I raise the guide post up. Grizzly told me to shim the upper frame arm to realign the guide post but when I started to do that I realized that the blade will also shift (the wheel/blade and the guide post are both mounted to the upper frame arm) thus accomplishing nothing.

@Rick, maljr1980 - I'm coming around to your conclusion, I'm relatively new to woodworking but I can't understand how the majority of people that reviewed this saw (this forum, amazon.com, etc.) seem to love this saw. I hate to have to eat the loss, especially since I bought the resaw fence and the riser extension (and no, I haven't attached the riser yet) but I don't see what options I have left. I'll try one last time with Grizzly technical support and then,well, I'm not sure what.

What drives me crazy is that with all the helpful suggestions I've received and implemented, there just doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the saw by just observing it. It just works poorly.


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## Wolffarmer

No burn marks on the wood but you smell smoke? Have you opened up the covers and checked for something caught in there? Oh, guess you have if you have changed blades. I would try to track down just where the smoke smell is coming from. Has to be some place in there.


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## mushmouse

@Wolffarmer - It's not just me smelling the smoke, it's the smoke detector too - I consider that a pretty reliable indicator. And the smell is only generated when I feed wood into the blade. The whole basement (where my workshop is) smells from it - my wife is ready to shoot me.


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## 280305

I know that you said that the smoke smells like burnt wood. But, have you made sure that the belt is not slipping?


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## mushmouse

@ChuckV - I tried just letting the machine run without cutting, no smell and no alerts from the smoke detector.

I am embarassed to say that I did find one oversight on my part - I did not 100% completely remove all of the rust inhibitor on the table. When I did that (by using WD40), the rate of feed did improve, however, I feel the rate is still too slow, still had the smell and the smoke detector continued to alert. In my defense, the saw came with a manual that was revised in July 2007; I discovered a pdf file online that contained a much more detailed manual (including explicit instructions on cleaning the table) that Grizzly issued in June 2011.

I am contemplating another attempt with a new blade but I am not sure it is worth the continued aggravation and am reluctant to keep throwing money at it.


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## mrg

Question, do you have the guide just above the wood? Have you tried say a piece of pine or other piece of scrap to see if you get the same issue of smoke? Could you post pic of what you are cutting on the saw so that we can see exactly how it is set up and the group may see something you are missing or we are missing in not seeing a pic.

As stated earlier in the post the tooth count may be to high and you may trying to make the saw cut faster than it can. Let the blade do the work slow your rate down a little and see how it goes. It is all technique.

Another thing that has not been mentioned have you tried more tension on the blade? If you don't have enough tension the blade will try to twist and that can cause your smoke. You should be able to feed the wood through at a decent rate with little pressure feeding the wood when everything is set up. I had the same issues with my band saw and it was a bad blade.


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## NBeener

I had initial problems with my G0555X, but finally worked through them, with customer service.

I wouldn't give them a lot more time, before I said … send me a new one, and arrange to pick this one up.

Good luck !


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## NBeener

But … I totally agree with everybody who said … don't make any final judgments until you've tried the saw with a quality blade. The OEM blade … isn't worth a nickel.


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## Bluepine38

Just a suggestion, check the tension on the blade, the upper wheel adjustment, and then recheck the 
tension on the drive belt.


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## bunkie

Mushmouse,

I had the same poor experience with the stock Grizzley blade. I thought the saw was defective. I ordered a WoodSlicer blade and it utterly transformed the saw. NBeener is right, the Grizzley blade is awful.


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## patcollins

I don't know if its your picture or not but the teeth on your blade look round.


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## Soonerdg

I apologize if someone else covered this, I didn't read every post. Since you're making a rip cut I assume you're using the fence? Did you compensate for the blade drift. If there's enough drift it could cause the blade to bind and give the effects you're describing.


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## marcbousquet

Try using new blades for it from highland woodworking. I never even used the factory blade and just replaced them with woodslicer blades.


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## mushmouse

The feed rate was so slow there really wasn't any drift.

But I suspect that my initial problem was not sufficiently cleaning the table of the rust inhibitor, which may have caused to much friction which dulled the blade. Of course, once I cleaned the table properly, I still had a dull blade.

My next step, now that I believe everything is set right, is to get a new, quality blade and try again; in fact the last tech I spoke to at Grizzly today told me that the blade that comes with the saw is used only for setup, no promises are made as to its ability to cut.


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## greasemonkeyredneck

I'm with Pat on this one. I studied and studied the photos you've posted. While true it could be just a bad photo in bad lighting, if the photo is even remotely representative of the blade as seen in person, that blade has got to be the dullest I have ever seen one.


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## mushmouse

Yes, I know, I took a magnifying glass to the teeth and they are indeed rounded. It was new and that was only after cutting about 2 linear feet of alder.


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## FrankyFiveAces

I bought one of these bad boys and read all the reviews suggesting a new blade. My advice: get a new blade. The stock blade is garbage. Also, tension is key, make sure you tension the blade correctly according to the instructions and the gauge on the back of the saw. Keep in mind that a new blade (and saw) will stretch the blade in and you may need to adjust the tension often to get it to its happy place. I also agree with mrg, try some pine scrap and post what happens. Keep working at it; it's a good saw when you get to know it.


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## mushmouse

I had also bought with the saw the extension kit but had not yet installed it. The last person I spoke to at technical support told me the 105 inch blade that comes with the extension kit would be a good blade, unlike the blade that came with the saw. So I decided go ahead and install the kit and put on the new blade.

It seemed the saw did cut the 3/4 inch stock a little faster, though I felt I had to push it harder than should be necessary. I tried to resaw a piece of maple (about 6 inches thick) and absolutely nothing happened. In both tests my smoke detector went off. So either the blade that came with the extension kit is garbage too or I've done something terribly wrong which I just can't figure out. At this point I am at the end of my tether; if Grizzly has no more suggestions the saw is going back. Any recommendations for another saw?


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## Jimi_C

Have you bought a new blade yet? I don't believe them that the second blade would be any good. Get a wood slicer or a timberwolf blade before you go through all the trouble of returning it.


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## bgmdad

I think your wheel bearing guide might be too far forwarward. By the time you apply some pressure to it, the blade could be pushed back far enough for the teeth to be riding between the rollers. Try setting it back a little more and a new blade. Personally, I like my Grizzly stuff. I have a 8" jointer and contractor style TS. Very good machines. I think higher end stuff like Festool is fabulous but is overkill for woodworking. Just my opinion. Besides, I'm sure almost all manufacturers mess up sometimes. Good luck with your bandsaw.


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## Tomj

I have a 10" Craftsman Bandsaw that even with the stock blade it came with cut 4" red maple logs at a decent speed. I know better now and have a the widest, 3 teeth per inch blade it can handle and still track well and it cuts through mostly everything like butter. Most people I know who have a Grizzly bandsaw love it. That's what there supposed be known for. I have never heard a bad review about a Grizzly bandsaw. My point is if my bandsaw has no problem (even with a stock 1/4" blade) there has to be something up with yours. Sorry I can't think of anything, everybody else already stated the usual might be problems. Good luck. TomJ.


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## mushmouse

Well, I finally got my hands on a Wood Slicer and the difference was like night and day, very pleased with the performance. Since the Wood Slicer doesn't seem to come smaller than 1/2", I'm a little concerned about what to use when I need a smaller blade, will I have the same problem again with another vendor, especiially since Grizzly told me that the blade that came with the riser extension was a good blade but didn't work at all for me.


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## Alongiron

Highland makes smaller blades that work just as well as the Wood Slicers. I have a 1/4" and a 3/8" blade that work great in both soft and hardwood up to 1-1/2" thick. There is a little sanding that you have to do with these blades but like I say they cut like butter!


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## 280305

I would guess that you will have good results with any quality smaller blade. I have had fine results with TimberWolf blades from Suffolk Machinery. They have a wide variety of blades and their customer service is very helpful.

The last time I ordered from them, there was no online ordering. But when you talk with them on the phone, they will be very willing to discuss your blade needs and options.


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## aurora

seems you got some good advice. here would be my summary of an action plan, most of which was already mentioned
1-get a new blade, woodslicer is as good as any (an excellent blade will make any saw cut well)
2- order a 3 tpi blade, 
3-carefully center blade on tires, and run by hand to make sure it runs centered and does not contact the teeth, and i assume you know how to tension the blade.
4-use a square from blade to table
5-snug up your guides and leave only a piece of paper clearance between bearing and blade.
6-do not let any metal surfaces come into contact with the blade teeth ! (teeth on your old blade look terrible)
7- i would use a slower speed than 3200 fpm.
8-also, if something is slipping, belt, sheaf, etc, ..... feel around, .... slipping creates friction and heat, so the offending part will feel noticeably hotter. 
hardwood,thick wood, gummy wood, all clog the teeth gullets and prevent chip removal and you can get burning, as well as from dull teeth or too high of a surface footage. i believe that you are smelling burning.


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## cdzgardener

Two summers ago I purchased a Grizzly GO 555p bandsaw and could not wait to re-saw some 400 year old white oak that I had salvaged from a barn here in NEPA.High expectations were followed by low end results as I had purchased the timber king loop with it at 3tpi,and I could not keep the loop on the bicycle wheel no how .I called Grizzly's tech line and with the phone in one hand we went over the tensioning process step by step,all to no avail.The other issue was that the power was not there as I would lube the blade up and it would still smoke. I placed it in the local paper shop and sold it for what I paid for it.I am now considering purchasing Grizzly's GO 555X with the 1-1/2 H.P. to cut out 4 inch thick turning blanks for my lathe.


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## kdc68

Did you find a solution for the guide bearings and the alignment issues raising the guide post up and down? If so, please share


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## RobertsPlace

mushmouse - I read your post and the subsequent entries. Now, I'm intrigued. Were you able to resolve your bandsaw performance issues satisfactorily?


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## mushmouse

Hi WoodNDust - Truthfully, I'm not sure. I bought a 1/2", 3 TPI WoodSlicer and that worked very well. But recently, I ruined the blade trying to resaw some Brazilian Cherry (I don't think the blade was or is dull, but after attempting the resaw, the blade will not cut straight anymore. The front of the blade twists to the left forcing the wood to the right, even in pine).

Grizzly had sent me a new blade some time ago; this weekend or next I'll give it a try and see how things work. Will update when I get some results.


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