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Surprisingly the tap wasn't bad, it lasted long enough to make the 4 holes I needed to. Do yourself a favor and make a trip to the hardware store for some grade 5 bolts before you start the installation. The drill bit which was sent with my kit is bent about 15 degrees off of dead center, making it impossible to use. The fence, rails, and legs themselves are very well built. Overall I'm very happy with it though and wouldn't hesitate to purchase it again. Proper installation will take upwards of 2 hours but its worth it. My fence was only.010" of of true, which was easily offset when adjusting it to the blade. My only complaints are with the cheap installation hardware and tools they include with the kit.
I still REALLY like this fence for it's simplicity and repeatability but not for it's hardware. And what's with a 1/4-20 bolt having a 10mm head, (really they have 1/4-20 thread and a 10mm head, WTF. At least splurge and give grade 5 bolts.
It wasn't hard to install and setup once you understood how it goes together. I don't think that the manufacturer could have used cheaper hardware if they tried. I will have to say that this is a good fence.
Come on, the thing is 275 dollars. After the fence is shipped to you and you're going to install it figure out what bolts you need and make a trip to the hardware store and spend the extra 2 bucks that the manufacturer didn't want to. The locking mechanism is solid and seems to hold well.
the only thing that takes away from a 5 star review is the hardware (nut,bolts,washers).
It is not a complex setup. The holes didn't match exactly so I had to drill a couple more holes with the provided cheap drill bit(it melted drilling into steel plate) and tap. I think the instructions could of been a bit better for assembly, or i could learn to read directions more thoroughly. I wouldn't recommend for a professional but for a hobbyist it's fine. I turned a cheap portable saw into a decent cabinet table saw with this. I bought G9220 because of it's price.
It could of had better packaging, but it's really heavy iron, so it's pretty durable. Because of the hole mismatch and needed to replace a couple of the old bolts, it took a little longer to put together, but was simple enough. It offers the extended rail with support legs. I put this set up on an old Rockwell 345, probably 30+ year old saw. The most important part- it was square out of the box. I will build the table portion myself.
Other than that, it's a great deal for what it is, a very basic fence.
At first I blamed UPS but after the second time I figured the problem is how they package the rails. The first one that was shipped had some pretty serious dents in it despite the fact that its a thick piece of metal.
I would rather have paid more money and not had too fix a brand new tool. I kept the second one they shipped me but I had to re thread two bolt holes.
The fence is nice, no complaints there. By the time it got to my shop the bolts had broken off bending the rail around the holes and stripping them.
I will say Grizzly's customer service was good I just don't have time to ship things back and forth or fix brand new tools. However, twice they shipped me rails that came damaged.
They bolt them together with two tiny bolts in a box that is slightly too loose.
This unit is a very good value and highly recommended. The slide action is smooth and easy. This is a very solid unit. The slide lock adjusters make it square up perfectly and lock firmly.
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