slabmaster

I'm looking to get a 19" 3hp. bandsaw for resawing.Is the Grizzly model GO514X2 a good one?Or is there a better one for the money? THanks,Mark

thekctermite

I have that saw and it has served me very well. Wired at 220v it has an insane amount of power and will take anything I've been able to throw at it. I do a lot of work with large timbers and it just blows right through them. I use timberwolf blades up to 3/4" and it tensions them just fine. I have always been impressed with how easy it is to tune the blades...The tracking has never had to be adjusted since I first set it up.

The guide bearings are ok, but are tricky to adjust with short allen wrenches. I use an allen socket and a 12" extension. I guess the bearings are ok, and they appear comparable to more expensive models' bearings. They do make some singing noise sometimes, and I've grooved the thrust bearing pretty badly over two years of use.

When I first got the saw I was cutting dozens of timber corbels and was starting and stopping the saw about twice a minute for nearly an hour. It didn't like that and the start capacitor blew. Grizzly hooked me up with a new one and a lesson about not constantly starting and stopping the saw...Now I leave it running instead of shutting it off for short periods of time.

The fence is nice, but lacks drift adjustment. Honestly, I've never needed it even though it seems that everything I read says I do.

The saw is very heavy. You'll wish you had a forklift when you unload it. It took three big guys to muscle mine from the truck to the garage, and it is so tall I had to lean it over to get it into the garage.

I looked at comparable saws to the Griz and other brands charged a heck of a lot more for the same features. I regret nothing about buying it!

antqcolltb

Hi thekctermite,
I was just curious about drift adjustment on the Griz GO514X2. I am also considering buying this saw and was looking at the spec sheet on their website and they say it is adjustable for drift. Is it possible you have an older model that didn't have that feature? Just wondering.