Power Tool Accessories Reviews

This is a great little machine and it is a go getter. It is light and easy to move around. I have a bad back and I can handle this machine. It cleans my light colored rug like a champ. I have a black lab and it sucks up her hair from everything. The only problem is that I can't find Bags or belts for it. Even the store I bought it at don't have them.

Like all Fein products this is a quality product. That said, it is none the less expensive (like all Fein products). It does a great job while it lasts but for what it costs it should last longer.

Pricey...way to pricey, but a very good tool and in the right hands a real time saver.
C.
General Contractor 40 years

I'm slowly going through and replacing many of my cutting tools with Freud products. Every Freud saw blade and router bit has held its edge better than other maker's products. Freud tools cost more, but since I get to leave them on the saw longer, it's worth it to me. I wish they made drill bits!

Just made the first chips with the new G3617, and it looks like it will be a valuable addition to capabilities here at Shopdawg.com!

First things first, when you take delivery of this machine, BE PREPARED! You will be working with a 1 1/4 TON crate, just over 6' tall, and a little top-heavy. Trying to unload and move this machine with anything less than a forklift or similar equipment can result in damage to the machine at the very least, and worse, result in a deadly accident should it topple onto a person.

Once it's uncrated, get ready for a full day of cleaning. The protective grease coating must come off before anything else can be done. The only assembly needed is attaching the rotating handles on the hand wheels. Once connected to 220VAC, the mill came to life like a charm (even though the main electrical box hums a little even when the machine is off). The vertical head is a bit noisy, but nothing terrible. The quill operates more like a mill-drill than a milling machine, but it gets the job done in fine style.
Just like any new machine tool, you must first indicate in EVERYTHING. DO NOT rely on the manufacturers marks to tell you your head is at 90 degrees or the table is aligned.
Now, the warts.
The Manual-
-Normally I would suggest reading the manual for new equipment but in this case, don't bother unless you want a good chuckle. The manual is a stapled paper bound collection of very , very bad translation faux pas'. I quote "Each rolling bearing to be lubricated with lubricating fat on time", and "While transporting machine, must be careful to carry and put down" and my personal favorite.. "While the spindle box turn from vertical position to horizontal position or clined (sic) position, pls (sic) push the upper of spindle box with hand and twitter it gently..." Now, I have spent over half my adult life in machine shops, and in using milling machines I've drilled, milled, bored, and reamed... But I can't say I have ever "Twitterd". The only valuable part of the manual is the wiring diagrams in case you have trouble in the future.
The Mill Vise-
-G3617 comes with a "milling vise" that's useless as a milling vise. The ways of the vise don't come all the way out to the stationary jaw, making it impossible to use parallels. Use it for a heck of a bench vise, and get a Kurt type mill vise for the mill.
- The vertical drawbar was threaded crooked, causing about .015" run out. Good news is, the drawbar for a 2J type mill head works great.
-Two arbors (1" and 1 1/4") are included for the horizontal spindle. The bad news is they do not have keyways for holding milling cutters securely. (Spin the head around, and use the vertical spindle to PUT keyways in them!)
-The speed selection is a three-pulley system, making speed changes a little awkward.
-No spindle brake (typical of mill-drill quills)
-Inside of the T-slots needed a little deburring.
Overall Impression, for the price you will NOT be disappointed, and the folks at Grizzly provide the best customer support available in the import machinery industry! It can produce quality parts for an affordable price. It isn't a Bridgeport, but at less than 25% of the price of a Bridgeport it's a sweet machine.
Let's go make some chips!!!!
Shopdawg.com

The important, functional things on my sample are just fine, thank you.

The only issue was that a standard pallet jack won't fit under the crate and the weight distribution makes a hand truck impossible. A standard cheap furniture dolly does the job nicely. A helper is a good idea.

Remember to check for damage before signing off on the papers! The crate opens easily by removing a few nails along the bottom edge and lifting off the main box.

If there are problems, Grizzly's people are very nice and do their best to help.

Yes, folks, I bought this thing, and now when I use my smaller face mills, I'm stuck securing them in with an old pair of scissors rather than a proper hex wrench. Why? The retaining bolt isn't metric. I mean, for the love of god, why not make all hex heads metric? It's not like you have to worry about 400 years of backwards compatibility like with screws and bolts. Anyway, point being that if you have a cheap Chinese milling machine (like me) and order this product, be prepared to have to go down to Home Depot and buy another set of Allen wrenches.

This is a good starter kit for turning wooden pens on a lathe. It comes with all the basics that you need to make five nice-looking pens, though it would have been helpful if it also included some of the small tools that make assembly easier. The instructions are clear, with useful illustrations. You might be able to buy all of the pieces in this kit individually for _slightly_ cheaper, but overall it is a good deal and a good kit.

i bought these clamps based on several brief reviews in woodworking magazines. they are well designed, heavy-duty, and easy to use. the bench dogs add-ons and tail rest are a nice bonus. the 24" and 40" clamps were perfect, but the steel bars of the 60" clamps were both bent along their length (2" off) and twisted off perpendicular (by 4 and 7 degrees). i was able to clamp the end of the bar to the table of a 500 pound bandsaw using the 24" jet clamps, and then twist the clamp head the opposite way, and this fixed the twist - but it requires a lot of torque. i think they will work fine, but this was not very good quality control.

I own the Pneumatic foreman pocket hole machine and i have to tell you that this is an amazing time saver. It is simple, fast and very functional. The only complaint i have is that the clamp doesn't hold the wood down as securely as i would like. i understand that the new electric model has a very secure hold on the wood. if you have an option between the two, i would go electric.