In the impressionable early days of my writing career a trusted source at FamilyWoodworking.org told me that Grizzly tools aren’t worth the metal they’re made from… and that this source had told Grizzly president Shiraz Balolia this himself at a trade show. Now I’m not going to name any names, but trust me this impression stuck and I’ve since seen Grizzly as a knock-off, no good tool brand.

So it’s been with some surprise that I’ve read more and more favorable reviews of Grizzly tools, and even started to mention some of them in the buying guides I write (our recent buying guide for table saws for example).

This mini article includes links to some of the posts in forums that started to turn my opinion around, plus a number of Grizzly vs. other power tools threads that I’ve found. I’ll continue to update it as I find more “evidence” in the forums and on peoples’ sites.

If you’ve had a forum thread or article turn your opinion around about Grizzly I’d appreciate for you to send me a link! This post will be continually updated as we find new stuff and will likely be reorganized at some point.

ALL of Shiraz Balolia’s Posts in Sawmill Creek – Balolia’s the founder and president of Grizzly and he’s a fairly active poster at SMC.

Grizzly Tools (WoodNet)

My Visit to Grizzly (WoodNet)

Are grizzly tools good quality? (LumberJocks)

Everything I’ve read makes it seem like they’re a great company to work with that’s built around good customer service. Seriously – I dug for dirt on them and didn’t find much except for Balolia talking over customer service and quality issues with woodworkers at SMC.

Update:
Griz 1023 w Router Table ext, or should I go PM2000 …as I find more Grizzly vs. other brand debates I’ll add them here. Please add to the comments if you’ve read any good ones! –G

Update 2: it appears that Grizzly’s not as strong with their smaller accessories at least according to this thread…
Another mixed bag from Grizzly

Update 3: Some Grizzly vs. threads
Grizzly G0514x vs Laguna LT16
Grizzly G0591 Slider
new cabinet saw Grizz G0605X vs PM2000 vs ???

Grizzly’s not well known for it’s routers… this thread makes me think it’s for good reason: Grizzly router opinion

Update: a recent Grizzly thread from SawmillCreek: How good is grizzly?