# First impressions of the Anniversary Edition G0555 14" Band Saw



## ralbuck (Mar 12, 2012)

Thanks for the review!

Eventually we will be getting a large bandsaw; not for a while though.

If we run onto a "FSNTASTIC" deal, it might be sooner.

I will keep in mind the review. Our Wisconsin "Wood-Chuck" friend says "Grizzly tools" are great also.


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## dansnow (May 8, 2013)

You're welcome.
This was one of those tools that we'd been discussing for well over a year. It was based on evaluating our needs vs wants, since in some cases a light duty bandsaw was fine, but there were more and more situations coming up where a larger heavy duty band saw was what was needed. Since I've lost a source of free wood I had, I'll need to have the ability to buy larger/thicker wood at a lower cost and then resaw it to the sizes I use for the toys and other projects. Plus there were projects I wanted to try, but needed the capabilities of a larger saw to attempt them.


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## lumbermeister (Dec 24, 2012)

Congratulations on your new saw! I'm not sure I agree with your comment re. a cast iron frame being more desirable than stamped steel; i.e., iron is relatively soft and malleable, while the stamped steel, being formed to a wide cross-sectional area, offers greater rigidity (as you go up in price on bandsaws, note whether the frame is cast iron or aluminum).

At any rate, there is little doubt that your received a fine saw. Many happy blade rotations!

-Lumbermeister


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## English (May 10, 2014)

Good review!! Great looking Saw.

I purchased the Grizzly riser kit and installed it on a 14" Craftsman. You will love the flexibility it gives you.

John


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## Rxmpo (Feb 23, 2008)

I always scratch my head when I read tool reviews and there are such glaring errors by the manufacturer on the finished/shipped product. Seriously, we are not talking about a harbor freight product here, so how do these things happen with such regularity? Sorry for speaking out loud what is going through my brain, but extremely disappointing for a customer who has been waiting for this tool to find such a gross error.

PS~ I have a grizzly 14" Ultimate BS and love it… Thankfully, no problems came with mine.


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## retfr8flyr (Oct 30, 2013)

I have the Shop Fox W1706, which is basically the same saw with a different base. I have been very happy with mine and I think you will enjoy yours very much, once you get to use it some. I also have the riser kit on mine and have resawn up to 12 inch boards without any problems. I use a 1/2 inch 3 TPI Timberwolf blade for most of my work, especially the resawing and I recommend it.


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## Fishinbo (Jun 11, 2012)

That's a great bandsaw. Thanks for the review. You should buy good quality blade, should serve you well.


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## dansnow (May 8, 2013)

I was wondering about blades. We had pretty good results on the old 12" Craftsman with Bosch blades. Tried an olsen 3/8" blade and on the third or fourth project it broke at the weld!


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## whitebeast88 (May 27, 2012)

congrats on the new saw.i've had mine for 6 months now and love it.i believe its a well made saw.thanks for the review!!


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## Surfside (Jun 13, 2012)

Normally, if the weld broke, the error is on the manufacturer , weld is not good. You should ask Olsen to send you another blade. I am using TW, haltbar and HWW blades now.


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

nice saw, make lots of dust


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

Congrats on the saw, glad to hear the Grizz stepped up


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## dansnow (May 8, 2013)

Received the new table last Friday and got it installed yesterday. I got the fence system mounted, it was a very simple installation. Now that everything is mounted I can take my time and carefully go through the setup to make sure everything is properly adjusted.


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## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

I have this on just not the anniversary model. I put the riser kit on it and love it. Great saw for the home woodworker no doubt.


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

good review … my 30 yr old AMT is still kicking, but when it dies, I will be shopping for a Grizzly


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## dansnow (May 8, 2013)

Finally got pictures of the fence system after installation. I'm impressed with the ease of installation, and the many adjustment features allow accurate installation relative to the blade. Made a few cuts with it and I like it.

So my over all impressions:
Fit and finish are excellent. The assembly was fast and assembly instructions were complete.

The saws power is great. It zipped through a 4" thick piece of oak like a piece of 1/2" poplar. The only adjustments I had to make were to tighten up the gaps on a couple of the guide bearings. The blade release is fantastic, making changing the blade quick and easy.

I found the fence system accurate and easy to use. Like all good tools, it took a few minutes to adjust, but once set it seems to be holding its accuracy.

Bottom line I don't think it will be easy to find a better bang for the buck. At a little over $600 delivered you get a powerful, easily adjustable, accurate saw capable of resawing up to 6" thick. Add the $80 riser kit and you can resaw up to 12" thick.
I would recommend this saw to anyone looking for a home shop bandsaw that should handle anything you want from it.




























Finally got pictures of the fence system after installation. I'm impressed with the ease of installation, and the many adjustment features allow accurate installation relative to the blade. Made a few cuts with it and I like it.

So my over all impressions:
Fit and finish are excellent. The assembly was fast and assembly instructions were complete.

The saws power is great. It zipped through a 4" thick piece of oak like a piece of 1/2" poplar. The only adjustments I had to make were to tighten up the gaps on a couple of the guide bearings. The blade release is fantastic, making changing the blade quick and easy.

I found the fence system accurate and easy to use. Like all good tools, it took a few minutes to adjust, but once set it seems to be holding its accuracy.

Bottom line I don't think it will be easy to find a better bang for the buck. At a little over $600 delivered you get a powerful, easily adjustable, accurate saw capable of resawing up to 6" thick. Add the $80 riser kit and you can resaw up to 12" thick.
I would recommend this saw to anyone looking for a home shop bandsaw that should handle anything you want from it.


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## EricLew (Aug 29, 2014)

Based on this, and the other great comments I have read about this model I ordered mine yesterday. Taking advantage of the Christmas sale Grizzly is running where they are offering either free shipping or $80 off (the same thing) many of their band saws. It will be my first band saw, I'm really looking forward to getting it.

I debated getting the riser kit now or waiting, because I don't know that I have a need to resaw anything bigger than 6 inches to start, but don't want to waste a lot of money on 93 1/2 blades that I wont be able to use. On Timberwolf's website they have a 3 blade assortment pack with a 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch for scroll cutting, ripping, and resawing which is $57. Based on what I have seen price wise, that looks like buy 2 get 1 free. I'm going to order that, which should give me a nice variety of uses, and experience. If i end up needing the riser block I will add it in the future.


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