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Doc's Tool Review or "The Wall of Shame"
My rating system is simple. I want a tool to work, right out of the box and to last longer than a couple of years, and give me accurate results. My milling machine was made before I was born, so was my metal lathe. They both work perfectly. A = Avoid B = Buy C = Cheap (and it works some of the time) D = Decent
Grizzly 12 Disk Sander. I purchased this about a year ago. I needed to sand the ends of my bowl segments. The disk had so much run out that I just could not use it. I contacted Grizzly and they were real good about it. They said "it's under warranty" so I boxed it up and sent it back. They shipped it back to me and said the run out was acceptable, and if I wanted machine that runs true, I needed to buy their $500 sander. Right! Sure I will. I removed the disk and turned it true on a lathe. Now it runs true but it is so out of balance that the sander shakes everything (including itself) off the work bench. I bolted it to the table, and bolted the table to the floor, so now it shakes things off the shelves but at least it stays on the table. No mail order the next time, I want to see the disk spin before I take out my wallet. 1/12/08 Today the on/off switch broke. I am looking for a good used 18-20" sander/grinder. Anybody have experience with the 20" model they sell at Harbor Freight? They price is great but I fear the quality may be the same as this Grizzly. Rating = "AAA"
Grizzly 14" band saw. I've had this one for about two years. I don't know why they call this a 14" saw. It will only cut a little over 12" unless you remove the fence and then It will only cut a little over 13" I'd call that a 13" I have the 6" extension on it. That went on without a problem. but if you cut anything close to 12" thick. (Its capacity with the extension) the saw is grossly underpowered and will stall the motor if you put anything but the lightest pressure on the stock. In my opinion the table is too small, and the locks for the tilt are pure junk. They just do not hold the table tight enough and the table needs to be adjusted constantly to keep it square, if you are cutting big stock. The bearings are constantly freezing up on the lower blade guides. I suppose this is because I cut a lot of green wood, and the moisture gets into the bearings. I will replace them with a domestic sealed bearing and see if it helps. Note: I found that roller skate bearings are exactly the same and are cheap. I bought about 50, so I will replace them regularly. Rating = "C"
Grizzly 13 Plainer/Molder
I've had this for a few years. It was the first planner I have used/owned so I did not know what to look for in a planner. Now I do. I like this tool except for two things listed below. I cut 6" off every board to get rid for the snipe and burn it. You get lots for firewood with one of these anyway. Note: if you need a 6' board you have to start with 6.5" or 7'. I use rollers on both end. See my note below.
Rating = D I would not buy this again. Except for the snipe it works fine, But for the money I spent I'm disappointed. This was NOT cheap.
Grizzly 6" jointer This has been the best of my grizzly tools. It is about three years old. The only thing was that the stock belt was junk and made the machine vibrate and rattle. A good quality belt fixed that problem and the machine has worked perfectly for me. Rating = "B"
Craftsman 10" table saw I've had this for over 20 years and use it constantly. After about 18 years the motor went bad but the local motor shop fixed it. It will never win an award for being a super accurate tool, but it has paid for itself many times. This will be the next tool in my shop to get replaced. I would not recommend a tool with an aluminum table, the table leaves marks on light colored wood. Rating = "D"
Delta Knife Sharpener I got this to sharpen the knives on my planner and jointer. It is a nice machine, but setup gave me some trouble. The table was so far out of square I had to machine the parts to get it to work. ( I have a milling machine, surface grinder, and metal lathe) Once I corrected the problem it has worked fine. Rating = "B"
Craftsman 12" Wood Lathe I bought this used from an uncle. It was in very good condition. It works good and I use it daily. The tailstock could use lots of improvement. I think it is the worst tailstock arrangement I have ever used. This one has a 1/2 HP motor. I think it would be much better with a 1 hp motor. The lowest speed is also too fast. I think it is about 650 RPM should be about 200. I may replace the motor with a bigger one that has variable speed. I paid the going price of 100.00 for it. It was worth that. Except for the things listed, it works okay. I use it for finish sanding and applying finish. Rating = "D"
Atlas 10" metal lathe converted to a wood lathe I got this lathe from my dad. It has been in our family for almost 50 years. It had been used as a wood lathe in a factory maintenance shop before that. I made a banjo\tool rest for it and it works very good for wood. I use a Vicmarc 3.5" chuck. It (The Vicmarc chuck) is great! I once saw an ad on EBay advertising one as a "Heavy Duty Metal Lathe" I don't think so, I worked in a machine shop for years. The tool carnages on these were very light duty and flexed with anything but light cuts. They were nice little hobby lathes. Today they are cheap and really do make a nice wood lathe if you strip the cross feed table stuff off (or just wind it out of the way to the far left and put the tailstock to the left of it.) Rating = obsolete
18" Wood Lathe I built this lathe in my shop. it has a 1hp DC variable speed direct drive motor and a 18" swing. I built it for coring bowls. It works great and I use it all the time. I need to get a tailstock for it. I use a Grizzly chuck on it. I used it because Vicmarc does not make a 1.5" adapter and Grizzly does. Turns out the Grizzly chuck is a clone of the Vicmarc. I'm not sure how Vicmarc feels about Grizzly cloning their chuck, but I bet they are pissed. I may build a new one (lathe) and make it a 20" There where a couple of things that I learned building this one that I would do differently next time.
8.5" Master Mechanic Miter Saw My wife bought me this for a Christmas gift a coupe years ago. The blade guard fell apart, and I run without it. :( Other than that it has been a great tool. very accurate. Rating = "B"
Van Norman # 10 Milling Machine I got this a couple years ago.. It works good, I use it to make fixtures and stuff around the shop. In its day it was the Cadillac of mills (Power feed even) , it is still accurate. It converts from horizontal to vertical. I like it and it was affordable. (I got it just outside Philly. I have spent a couple hundred dollars in parts for it. It still needs a few things. I would like to set it up with variable speed. Rating = obsolete
Boyer Shultz Surface Grinder I got this to cut stone for my bowls. Also for making fixtures and stuff in the shop. It works good but it takes some muscle to rock the table back and forth on this one. I think if you used this thing all day long you would get a very big left arm. I saw an aftermarket upgrade to convert the ways to ball bearings a few years ago, I will try to find one to fit this machine. Rating = obsolete
Dust Collector. I bought this new on EBay cheap. No name brand on it anywhere. Has a 1 horse motor, and two vertical bags. I run a separator and a 30 gallon trash can to catch the chips before they go to the bags. I have a plastic pipe system running to each machine with a gate on each. I keep the collector and separator in a separate room so I do not have to hear it running (its noisy) I use a wireless remote (Wal-Mart Christmas tree unit.) to turn it on and off. Works good as long as I only open one gate at a time and the bags don't get too dirty.. I may look for a way to hot rod this some to get more suction when I get time. Only problem with having it in the room is that I sometimes forget to turn it off when I leave the shop because I can hardly hear it. I may put a light up to remind me when it is running. Rating = B
Other woodworking tools in my shop include a belt sander over 30 years old and going strong, a drum sander, a press and a drill press. I still have My great-Grandfathers wood lathe that I learned to turn on in the 60's but I don't use it anymore. It has sleeve bearings, and will only turn 8" diameter. I have tried a few powered metal gouges 2030 & 20060. I like them, they hold an edge very well. |
Copyright © 2005-2008 Data Output Company/Woodland WoodturningLast modified: 07/09/08
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