All of the major table saws are made in Taiwan at this point; Jet,
Grizzly, Powermatic, Delta, etc.
The only ones made in North America I have seen are from General. Made
in Canada. The prices are about 2000 for a 3hp, Baldor motor, heavy
trunions and the like, but not quite as nice as the Powermatic for the
same price.
It's getting harder and harder to find big tools made in North America,
and with the quality of machines made over seas going way up, maybe
harder to care.
Andrew
Tattooed and Dusty wrote:
> All of the major table saws are made in Taiwan at this point; Jet,
> Grizzly, Powermatic, Delta, etc.
>
> The only ones made in North America I have seen are from General.
Made
> in Canada. The prices are about 2000 for a 3hp, Baldor motor, heavy
> trunions and the like, but not quite as nice as the Powermatic for
the
> same price.
>
> It's getting harder and harder to find big tools made in North
America,
> and with the quality of machines made over seas going way up, maybe
> harder to care.
The Powermatic 66 is still made in the U.S., LaVergne, TN.
"The only ones made in North America I have seen are from General. Made
in Canada. The prices are about 2000 for a 3hp, Baldor motor, heavy
trunions and the like, but not quite as nice as the Powermatic for the
same price."
I'll take the General over the Powermatic any day - fit, finish, mass,
design... Maybe someday Powermatic will have a metal side cover...
[email protected] wrote:
> "The only ones made in North America I have seen are from General.
Made
> in Canada. The prices are about 2000 for a 3hp, Baldor motor, heavy
> trunions and the like, but not quite as nice as the Powermatic for
the
> same price."
>
> I'll take the General over the Powermatic any day - fit, finish,
mass,
> design... Maybe someday Powermatic will have a metal side cover...
Both excellent saws, but with the lid off, the PM 66 is more massy.
Trunnions are considerably heavier.
Tattooed and Dusty wrote:
> Everything I have read online and from talking to a dealer in town
> indicates the PM66 is made in Taiwan. There might be some letter
> combination still made in the states, but the ones around 2k are all
> imports.
>
> Andrew
That's really weird. I watched them assembled in LaVergne last year.
Things do change, but at the time, I was told there were NO plans to
change. Parts are outsourced, or were at that time, but for an area
about 150 miles around the plant. It's a flagship model, and relatively
few are sold, the system is in place, so the company is losing little
to produce the 15-20 or so a day in the U.S.
Tattooed and Dusty wrote:
> Yeah, That is odd. I am in the market for a new cabinet saw and was
> told by Barbo Machinery in Portland Or, that the 66 was made in
Taiwan.
>
> Makes it all the more appealing that it's made in the US.
>
> Hopefully they are wrong on that one, sorry for any confusion.
>
> Andrew
If there's a floor model, look for the American flag, then ask the
sales type what that means to him.
I have NEVER found a salesperson to be a fount of wisdom on anything
I'm buying, whether it's a camera, a car, a tool, a can of beans or
underwear. If you haven't heard of spiffs, among other reasons for
sales bullshittery, it's time you learned. Spiffs are additional
commissions paid to the sales people by particular manufacturers (lots
of this in the entertainment {idjit box etc.} industry). You can bet
that an extra few bucks per sale is going to tilt a sales person to
that particular brand, and away from others.
"Buck Turgidson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Just curious if anyone knows if these saws are made in the US, or
> offshore? Specifically the G0444, their low-end model. It's not a
> determining factor in choosing one, but I lean towards buying domestic
> where possible.
>
>
Grizzly has often featured their quality control folks at the factories in
Taiwan in their catalogs. They have imported most of their tools for many
years and are noted for it.
On Mon, 2 May 2005 12:17:35 -0400, "Buck Turgidson"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Just curious if anyone knows if these saws are made in the US, or
>offshore? Specifically the G0444, their low-end model. It's not a
>determining factor in choosing one, but I lean towards buying domestic
>where possible.
>
AFAIK they're all made in Taiwan.
If it will have any influence on your decision, I currently own Grizz
8" jointer, edge sander, cabinet saw and 15" planer. The jointer and
edge sander are several years old (10 at least) and the fit/finish on
them is a bit rough, but functionally they perform perfectly. The
planer and cabinet saw are just several months old, fit/finish is much
improved and functionally they're as good as anything else I've seen
out there.
It seems the majority of Grizz owners are quite happy.
"LP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 2 May 2005 12:17:35 -0400, "Buck Turgidson"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Just curious if anyone knows if these saws are made in the US, or
>>offshore? Specifically the G0444, their low-end model. It's not a
>>determining factor in choosing one, but I lean towards buying domestic
>>where possible.
>>
> AFAIK they're all made in Taiwan.
>
> If it will have any influence on your decision, I currently own Grizz
> 8" jointer, edge sander, cabinet saw and 15" planer. The jointer and
> edge sander are several years old (10 at least) and the fit/finish on
> them is a bit rough, but functionally they perform perfectly. The
> planer and cabinet saw are just several months old, fit/finish is much
> improved and functionally they're as good as anything else I've seen
> out there.
>
> It seems the majority of Grizz owners are quite happy.
>
>
And they have good support too. Some of the traditional USA brands are
losing their traditional support. And their reputations. If you want good
tools, you need both a good tool to begin with and good support also.
And grizzly does well with telephone and parts support. This is often much
quicker and chaeaper than the alternative.
> >
> AFAIK they're all made in Taiwan.
>
> If it will have any influence on your decision, I currently own Grizz
> 8" jointer, edge sander, cabinet saw and 15" planer. The jointer and
> edge sander are several years old (10 at least) and the fit/finish on
> them is a bit rough, but functionally they perform perfectly. The
> planer and cabinet saw are just several months old, fit/finish is much
> improved and functionally they're as good as anything else I've seen
> out there.
>
> It seems the majority of Grizz owners are quite happy.
>
>
Maybe they should call them pandas instead of Grizzlys. Thanks.
They are offshore - China and Taiwan.
Frankly a lot of the "domestics" are either coming from the same area or a
significant amount of their content is from the east. I have a Powermatic
45 jointer upstairs that came from the same neighborhood - still a good
tool.
I spent quite a bit of time comparing the 1023S tablesaw with its JET and
Unisaw counterparts. The 1023 was my choice. Frankly the new Unisaws are
not the machines they once were. They are still a pretty good machine for
those willing to pay a $400 or $500 premium (or more). When I bought mine I
couldn't find a "bare Unisaw" without extensions and othere accessories that
took the package price to the $1,600 range. I bought mine bare for $875
with shipping. If I had added the extended rails and table it would have
been in the $1,200 range. Griz sells direct and is cheaper.
This was before recent price increases on all of them.
RonB