Grizzly G0555X 14" Extreme Series Bandsaw

The Grizzly G0555X 14" Extreme Series Bandsaw. I have to admit that the first time I got to play with this saw I kept thinking "Wow!" It was on display at the International Woodworking Fair (IWF) in Atlanta in the summer of '08, and like several of the latest Grizzly products it showed major advancements in not only Grizzly's own design, but in the state of the art.

From the enclosed stand, to the HUGE cast iron table to the standard accessories like a light, fence and quick tension release lever, at first glance it was obvious that Grizzly had been burning the night oil.

But then I started to dig deeper.

When you've been looking at power tools for as long as I have you've seen a lot of gimmickry. Sears has been the master of this. They'd take a $99 saw and slap $29 in lights, flimsy guides and most recently lasers, and then slap a $199 price tag on it.

I was fearing the worst when I opened the top wheel cover. So far so good... there's a cast iron wheel! (See photo bottom right) This is great news because most of the saws in this class feature aluminum wheels. While an aluminum wheel isn't terrible, it doesn't do you any favors like the mass of cast iron wheels do in resawing. These wheels are not only cast iron, but are also computer balanced and the tires are solid rubber.

The upper guides are ball bearings instead of the old-time guide blocks, and a quick look beneath the table and... yep, ball bearing guides there too.

The saw can handle blades from 1/8" to 3/4" widths, and a 3/8" blade comes with the saw.

The motor is 1 1/2HP and can be operated on either 110volt or 220 volt power, so there's plenty of power for resawing. And speaking of resawing, the saw can cut stock op to 6" think, but with an additional bolt-on riser block kit she can cut 12" stock.

Keep in mind that if you expect to add the riser block at a later date you don't want to buy a bunch of blades now, because the 6" block will require you to use blades that are 12" longer.

More info on the next post.

Click here to purchase the Grizzly G0555X 14" Extreme Series Bandsaw from Amazon: Grizzly G0555X 14" Extreme Series Bandsaw

Here's a link to all the Grizzly Bandsaws available on Amazon

Click here to see Grizzly bandsaws currently for sale on eBay (Note that this link will also return Shop Fox bandsaws, as Shops Fox is a brand owned by the same parent company, and many of these items are being sold directly by Grizzly on eBay)