Grizzly comes through! In a big way! A recall.

[etpm]

I'm pretty sure a lot of DIY folks here know about Grizzly tools. Their wood and metal lathes especially. Anyway, A few months ago Grizzly issued a recall on a few of their wood lathes. Apparently the tool rest or faceplate could come apart during use with the result being human body parts drawn into the work resulting in injuries. Or tools being drawn into the work which are then subsequently thrown out where they again contact those pesky body parts. Resulting again in injuries.
I have a G0462 lathe that I bought about 20 years ago. It has performed adequately and I have been happy with it. But the recall worried me. I like my intact body parts. Apparently enough people have been injured for Grizzly to issue a recall. So a few months ago I signed up for the recall. I expected nothing because I bought the lathe so long ago. But Grizzly came through. Not only did they give me replacement parts for a machine I bought around 20 years ago, the parts are excellent! Much higher quality than the original parts. Grizzly deserves kudos for their response to potentially faulty parts. They didn't lawyer their way out. According to the emails I received from Grizzly they had to make patterns so that they could cast new and better parts. Then the parts needed casting and machining. As far as I am concerned they stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park.
I am a retired self employed machinist so I know a little about the obstacles Grizzly encountered. The new parts are better in many ways. The original faceplate was either a casting or a forging. It was then machined. And not very well. The new faceplate is machined from bar stock and is heavier. It also runs truer. The rest of the parts are heavier than the originals and the machining is better. The original tool rest support assembly rocked a bit on the lathe ways because the machining didn't result in flat surfaces. The replacement is flat and locks down rock solid.
So, I am very happy with Grizzly, they fixed a mistake and fixed it properly. It must have cost them a bunch of money but they did the right thing. Good for them.
Eric

 

[big bubba]

glad Grizzly came through for you. have a full set of wood working machines from Grizzly as well, (incl spiral cutter head 8" jointer & 20" planer) but not the lathe. & yes, they've been supportive for a few issues i've had. i'm a retired machinist (& teacher) as well, best regards

 

[YanmarFever]

I have a 6x48 belt sander and a 12 disc sander by grizzly, bought them back in 1988, made in Taiwan.
Still runs great and I would buy it again.

 

[EddieWalker]

I inherited a bunch of Grizzly tools from my brother, including two lathes, who passed away about a year and a half ago. Some of his tools have never been put all the way together, others he used fairly often. So far, they are all just sitting in my garage, taking up room with the rest of his stuff. I've never used Grizzly tools before, so I'm interested in hearing what others think about them. Eventually I'll get them all together and working. My biggest concern is if I'll be able to get missing parts for them when I'm start messing with them.

 

[dstig1]

I have several of their tools. These days, they are close to the only game in town for reasonably priced WW stuff as so many other brands have basically shut down. Overall I've had good luck but there are always some corners cut it seems. A lot of times the cuts are no big deal but sometimes they can interfere a bit with happy operation. They are quite good on parts availability, even for older stuff. A lot of times they have revised the old tools but new parts still fit just fine.

 

[gsganzer]

One of my best friends is the regional salesman for Grizzly in the TX area. He's a retired high school wood shop teacher and travels around to all the schools to support them. I think he told me they sell the tools to the schools at cost as a way to support the schools and build future clientele. It really sounds like a standup company.