Looking for Advice/Similar Experiences: Ordered a Table Saw from Grizzly, Came with a Wobbly Base

It is definitely not “operating procedure”. I don’t own any Grizzly products, but have heard similar complaints about their service department. When you spend serious money on an item, you should not have to “re-engineer” it before it can be used. Personally, i would never buy any machine from an online dealer. All the machines I have, I have bought locally where I can examine it well before buying it. If it means driving hours to do, it’s time and money well spent. I also prefer that I am the one to move the machine. I don’t like depending on a trucker to move it. It may leave the showroom floor in good condition, but by the time it gets to the buyer, it may be seriously damaged. That is when the expense comes in. The machine you paid $1000 for may end up costing you $1500 after adjustments, replacements and endless arguments with service reps ensure. I know it is not always possible to buy locally. That is when I would start looking for a used machine locally. It may not have all the new fangled bells and whistles, but it will be a long lasting machine that was built to last when it was built. Sorry for your bad experience.

Yes, its very common to have to shim a machine. Floors are seldom perfectly flat. Ive worked in heavy industry for 50 years and all of the big mill’s, drill presses, and lathes are shimmed and leveled, before bolting to the floor. I had to shim one corner of my PM66 because the concrete floor was not perfectly flat, no big deal, its rock solid now even after 25 years.

-- Colombia Custom Woodworking

Thanks for the responses guys. I ended up working the base with a rubber mallet after checking angles of the lip. Sits flat on the ground now and I know I can shim it if I move.

How have you like the saw? I’m considering this model…

There you go. The value stuff is gonna need tweaking a lot of times. If it was a powermatic, they’d be picking it up again and again until it was right.

-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.

Are you sure the ground was flat?

Boomer34 – After working the base, I am really enjoying the saw. I upgraded from an old Ridgid contractor’s saw that I bought used and had some issues. This one has much more power, sounds great, is relatively easy to tune, and will hold adjustments better than the contractor’s saw. I recommend it as of now and don’t see that changing. If you’re still looking in a few months, hit me up for an updated review.

TheFridge – You’re right on that point and I’m fine with that reality now that I got over the initial concern.

bgilb – The ground was flat. tried it in multiple positions on two different slabs and on a mobile base that offers a little give via adjustments. No matter where I placed it, the base rocked the same direction and the same amount so I’m certain it was the base. Also, I fixed it with a mallet to the base and it sits flat now.

Thanks for all of the feedback guys!

The more you spend the more you get. You can’t pay Grizzly price and get a SawStop quality. I wish we could. Even the higher quality machinery can something have problems. Sometime is best to just fix it yourself if you can.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

I own a Grizzly 1023 series table saw, a Grizzly helical head jointer and a floor model oscillating spindle sander. I have had very good luck with Grizzly customer service, and all of the other Grizzly folks that I have interacted with. The tools have given me nothing but excellent results and I am very happy with them. No equipment line is without problems, some more than others; but that is the nature of manufacturing worldwide. Snej, I am glad that you worked through your difficulties and are happy with your new table saw. It’s always fun to get new tools! Good luck, Work Safely and Have Fun!

-- "Now I'm just another old guy wearing funny clothes"