Grizzly 30" sheet metal machine

[49degreesnorth]

Hey, all,

Has anyone had any experience with this machine:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/item...emnumber=G4011

Seems too good to be true: shear, brake, sliproll, all for less than $300? Is 22 gauge super-wimpy?

I have to add that I KNOW, with Grizzly stuff it's all made-in-China specials. I wouldn't be using this thing industrially, but it sure would be good for an occasional project...

Thanks!
Chris

[arcdawg]

well i never heard of this company before. 300.00 makes you think... what would you be doing with this tool? it might be great but before you buy it check out williams lowbuck tools.com and i believe its irwan smith.com too, and if you want to drop the big $$$ look at scothman iron workers parden the grammar.

[Rocky D]

Grizzley is primarily for woodworking, but they have some metalworking stuff, too. Their catalog is great. They are, I believe a step above HF, in quality....but very reasonablw prices. I bought some Bessey knock-off corner clamps from them. I would guess that machine will do just what they say it will.

[ZACHV]

22 gauge is thin, like 1/32" or something like that. It would be a nice machine if it could do up to 16 gauge which is more like 1/16" that many people use for auto body panels.

[aircraft]

Originally posted by Rocky D
I believe a step above HF, in quality....but very reasonablw prices.

you got that right!!!

[VIPERWELD]

I bought a machine very similar to the Grizzly 30". Mine came from Grainger, and I paid about $600.00 for it. It shears 20 gauge, very handy machine, as it's fairly portable, I can take it to job sights, weighs 350 lbs. I've been to a Grizzly store in Springfield MO. I can see no problem buying anything from them, I have also noticed a lot of tool reviews where tools from Grizzly have been compaired to other name brands, they seem to fair well. My only concern is the 22 gauge capacity, even though 20 gauge and 22 gauge are close, 22 gauge is pretty thin. Hope this helps.

[moT]

I don't know about this particular machine, but I have had dealings with Grizzly for many years and been very satisfied with them.
I bought a 15" wood planer from them almost 20 years ago. That was a huge investment for me at that time, and I agonized over it. I have run thousand and thousands of board feet through it (including an entire timber frame house!) and it's still going today. The only trouble I ever had with it was a starting capacitor, and they had one to me in a couple of days, excelant service!

[Splatterboy]

Grizzly stuff is ok, but if you're going to use it frequently then buy something better.

[BadDog]

From what I've seen, Grizzly sells alot of the same exact stuff that HF sells, just a different color. For instance, HF has that exact same roll/shear/break. But Grizzly also sells some better quality stuff that HF doesn't even carry.

[49degreesnorth]

Thanks for all the helpful feedback. I had thought HF and Grizzly were about even in terms of quality. Actually, it is amazing that any factory can build machines at these prices which work at all... guess that's the advantage of paying your workers jack.

One thing I really wish as I look these tools over is that they would put good enough speed controls on the motors so that one tool could do metal or wood. It really seems stupid, for example, that I now have two chopsaws rather than one with an adjustable speed motor. And I would love to get a milling machine which could handle wood router bits as well -- what an awesome machine that would be.

Rock -- I saw that clamp in the picture you posted of the cutting grill. Seems like a good deal to me. Nice grill, too!

Chris