Grizzly G0444Z 10" Table Saw, Shop Fox aluma-classic fence - Woodworking Talk

jodiemeglio · 10-07-2007, 12:38 PM

After a lot of debate and a trip to Grizzly I bought the 444Z table saw. List is $625 but it was $525 when I bought it during the tent sale. It came with the Shop Fox Aluma-Classic Fence and I bought a shop fox mobile base. I also bought a Forest Woodworker II blade for $110.
Total I spent about $750 with tax on everything.

I was planning on buying the G0478 Cabinet saw but it is a hybrid and the top is the same as the 444Z. I couldn't justify the extra money just for a base which for the price difference probably isn't that great anyhow.

This saw replaced a Craftsman 10" Flex drive saw "2HP Max Developed" which had the oringinal junk fence and a wobbling blade that would never stay straight.

The saw took 2 hours to assemble and another 1 hour to get the table level. I spend about 15 minutes assembling the base and about 45 minutes putting together and squaring the fence.

So far I've cut all my wood for an end table and a bunch of trim. I can't believe the amount of time I save. I made some fluted trim with the shaper and the saw. I fluted the wood and moved to the table saw to cut it out. My old saw would have never cut the trim out straight and I would have had to cut it big and joint it down to size because of the burned edge. I cut 2 fluted pieces in seconds, this would have taken me a good 1/2 hour before.
I also cut a bunch of rabbits and dados with ease. My old saw would have been struggling and the cut would be terrible.

The saw came with a plastic pieces for the bottom with a 4" port for the dust collector. This works very well, I'm not sure why all manufactures don't throw one of these in with their saws.

The fence is great, I set up the micro adjustment once and my cuts are straight everytime. I'm used to measuring the front and back of the blade and adjusting the fence until it's either on the mark or good enough.

As for the saw I'm extremely happy.

I really like the fence but it didn't come with any lock washers which I'm probably going to add. I don't see how the bolts won't come loose after time.

Jodie

jodiemeglio · 10-07-2007, 12:39 PM

Here's a link http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0444Z

I also forgot to mention that I haven't used the miter guage yet but it's pretty basic.

edp · 10-07-2007, 03:07 PM

As is typical with most manufacturers, they leave it up to the aftermarket guys to come up with good fences. There are two I would recommend to you. First is the Incra 2000 which is the one I use. Second and probably my preference is the Osbourne.

Ed

**TexasTimbers** · 10-07-2007, 03:45 PM

Never heard of an Osbourne fence. I better Google it.