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I looked at Jet and some of the other shapers of similar design and price. Wired for 110 -- it draws a lot of amps but works fine on 20 amp circuit. Bolted them together and, when checked with straight edge and feeler gauge, they came out to.002" with some fiddling. Very pleased. The hold-downs could be a little nicer, but they work fine. The unit arrived without a blemish and all parts were in the package. Settled on the G1035. The extension table is a must.
Curb-side delivery was as-advertised by Grizzly. Instructions were good, the unit went together without a hitch. Replaced the fence with HDPME from McMaster-Carr to smooth up feeding (my first use of the shaper was to break the edges on the feeds). All-in-all, this was money well spent and freed up my router for other tasks.
So, my made-in-2007 shaper had both a defective and an obsolete (supposed-to-be-for 2005) adjusting screw. This would be adequate for 220 volt operation, but undersized for the higher (2x) current draw at 110 volts. As a direct comparison, I have a much older Grizzly shaper that's far better with respect to vibration. There's no adjustment for the bearings, according to Grizzly, so the entire bearing assembly was defective.Second, the unit came set up for 110 volts (it's a dual voltage motor), but both the power and switch to motor cords were only the metric equivalent of about 18 gauge. This defect could lead to a fire in your shop, especially if the shaper is used for long periods of time and the cord heats up and breaks down.Third, one of the fence adjusting screws had a "drunken" thread.
But in my recent experience it appears the company isn't paying much attention to quality control either from its Chinese suppliers, in its own State-side assembly, in parts service, manual descriptions, or even catalog descriptions. That said, the unit I received had numerous quality defects -- one of which merits a safety recall and two others that make the unit unfit for use. The new ones, according to Grizzly, use a 3/8" adjusting screw. Sadly, you can't trust the catalog or Web site to be accurate, and judging from my shaper experience a call may not get you accurate information either. It turned out the fence they sent me was an old style (2005 vintage) with a 1/2-13 screw. Apparently Grizzly either doesn't know its own bill of materials or its supplier isn't building to it.
First, let me say that I like the basic design of this shaper. First, the spindle bearing unit had excessive end and side play. It vibrates more and is noisier than any of dozens of other power tools I own, some many decades old. They tried again, but just sent another undersized cord.When a proper fence adjusting screw did not arrive, I called again to hear what was going on. I called Grizzly to outline the three main problems. The thread was completely bunged up in the middle (probably a broken cutting tool during manufacture in China) and the fence could not be adjusted.There were other minor defects. However, with the tighter bearings of replacement spindle the shaper vibrates excessively and walks a bit on the floor. For example, I had to rework the spindle mounting clamp in order to get it to clamp without a wobble.
I've spent a couple sessions with Grizzly to fix the problems, but most of the problems still remain.There were three main defects upon opening and assembling the unit. Quite simply the wrong part and yet another quality of service issue. So, despite several calls, some effort on the part of Grizzly, and lots of wasted time on my part I have a machine that vibrates excessively, whose fence cannot be easily adjusted, with a cord that could burn up in prolonged use. The HVLP spray gun was described in both the Grizzly catalog and in the enclosed manual as having both fine and regular spray heads. To their credit, they had me return the old spindle and then sent a new spindle.
Grizzly sent a properly sized line cord, but the wrong cord to go between the switch and motor. The dimensions on the planer blades were wrong. If properly manufactured and assembled, it would pack a lot of capability in a small footprint. Both were improperly described in the catalog. At about the same time as buying this shaper, I also bought a HVLP spray gun and a jointer blade system from Grizzly. It only had the regular head -- and Grizzly basically said too bad, we're not going to stand behind our description. Grizzly was one of the better importers of tools in the past. What they sent was a three conductor cord.
I could literally move the spindle back and forth and up and down. If this trend continues, will Grizzly have their customers calling China to get missing parts. I suspect that Grizzly is using very cheap bearings, based on the bit of play in one spot on the new spindle and also the vibration. In order to allow reversing, this should be a five conductor cord. They actually told me to try my luck with Campbell Hausfeld, their supplier. You may get a good machine as others have, but also be aware that your chances of getting a "lemon" from Grizzly may be fairly high.
The instructions are not very good, they told me to loosen and drop the moter so that I could put the wiring and switch over the moter, I did this and it would not work, after I droped the moter again and moved the switch and wiring back to were it was and reinstalling the moter, the switch and wiring slid under the moter and was able to be intalled with out any fuss. I have bought 5 large pices of eq. I wasted at least an hour following the directions. It would have taken maybe 15 minits to intall the wiring and switch if you just slid under the moter. from Grizzly and I love there products for what I paid, but have had problems with the directions on every one of them. It seems that as time has went one the design may have changed, but the directions have not.
Easily reverse directions with flip of a switch. There is nothing to complain about. Chip removal shoot can be used with a shopvac - that's all I have and little to no clean-up afterwards. This shaper does a very nice job, no bogging down on panels. The extra wing is a must. The fence should have the quick adjustment levers, if it doesn't already. Bottom line, if you don't like the shipping rate, try to find a comparable product for the same price $$$ or make a trip down to MO or WA.
The 1 1/2 HP motor is strong enough although larger raised panel cutters will require an extra pass or two. I recently purchased a G1035 shaper to primarily edge profile and it does a great job of this with the 3/4" bore shaper cutters I use. Both the fence and table insert adjust well. I installed the optional 3" dust collection port and it works well. I have the machine wired for 110V and use 20 Amp service.
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