Hello Gentlemen:
I paid for my Grizzly G0796 in March of 2015. It is scheduled to show up in the Bellingham WA showroom on July 10. Hopefully that delivery date does not get pushed out again. I will pick it up to save $355.00 on shipping. I live 75 miles from the showroom. The other problem with having a large machine delivered besides the added shipping cost is that the trailer truck will not deliver it to your garage if your garage is on an alley like mine is, they deliver it to the street in front of the address. Even if you pay the extra $40 for the lift gate truck it is delivered to the front of the address. So I would have had to rent a trailer to get the machine from the front of the house to the alley anyway. This is why I decided to go pick the machine up at the warehouse. A guy I know with a tow truck is going to lift it off the trailer for me for $40.00.
I lucked out on the purchase because I also took advantage of Grizzly's 10% off veterans discount. They occasionally have these veterans discounts available. This brought the mill down to an amazing $4275.00 which is the very best price I have seen on a new Bridgeport clone in decades. As WRM and 007 have stated, the mill comes with a DRO that is already installed saving installation labor and expense as well as the expense to buy the DRO itself. Since the mill will be immediately converted to CNC, the DRO is something I can sell for $400-$500 further lowering there price. I had been looking for a used Bridgeport which are plentiful East of the Mississippi but not very common in the Seattle area. Batting zero on the used mills, my wife suggested I buy a new Grizzly because we have been so happy with our 5 other Grizzly machines. The research began and finally the G9902 came up a winner and the plan was to buy it the moment the income tax refund appeared in the bank account. Every day I would go to the Grizzly website and slobber on the G9902. One day the position of the G9902 on the website changed, what could cause such an event? A new mill being introduced maybe? It was! I saw the G0796 mill on the first day it was shown on the Grizzly website and instantly compared it to the G9902. It was a hands down winner because of the 3HP motor, DRO, the Halogen work light, the snazzy white paint that matches my Grizzly metal lathe but most importantly because of the transmission. One problem for me with the G9902 was the funky transmission. I actually made a trip up to Bellingham to examine the transmission in the head of the mill and have always considered it a weak point. It is not like a Bridgeport, which does not mean it is bad, it just means it is different. When I looked the G9902 over in the showroom the transmission did not shift smoothly like a Bridgeport does. The G0796 does have a Bridgeport type transmission which may or may not be better, but it is very possible that it is indeed better.
I have also purchased a 1125 oz/in DC servo 4axis kit from Automation Technologies which will be used to convert the G0796 to CNC. These motors are a little more than twice as powerful as most Bridgeport type conversion motors and should do a spectacular job. This will be my second CNC conversion of a Grizzly milling machine. While waiting for the mill, I have been able to get the system up and running in mock up on the workbench. The actual conversion should be cake.
Another aspect to consider with Grizzly products is the fine customer service and parts availability that come with the mill. If you try to get parts for a Jet mill for example, you will find extremely limited availability stateside. I am not sure about Precision Matthews, but I know Grizzly stocks most of the parts for all their products. When I bought my first Grizzly mill (this will be my third), I found sand in the castings and Grizzly sent me a set of new spindle bearings for free with free shipping. That is pretty good.
From every angle the Grizzly G0796 looks like the best deal out there to me. Enough so to let Grizzly sit on my money for 5 months. A great mill, a great bargain! There will be a complete write up of the mill itself as well as the CNC conversion on my YouTube channel "the Crusty Old Machinist" and perhaps I will send it in to Home Shop Machinist Magazine as well. This will also cover transporting, unloading and uncrating.
Barry Young
CNC Machinist Instructor
Bates Technical College
