Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This rating is an average of several ratings of this new benchtop jointer. First, I really don't want a benchtop...I want a 6 or 8 inch floor mount. But I simply don't have the space in my micro-shop, which is only 12' X 18' (outside dimensions), which is the largest outbuilding I can build in this area. I purposefully didn't use my garage, which is larger, but do to noise and dust, I build a separate building, but the trade off is small space, of which I has engineered the use of every cubic inch....and I barely have space for this tool. I looked at most of the benchtop jointers, and overall have been unimpressed. Most have too much aluminum and plastic and I doubt would be able to provide consistently accurate cuts. They all feel tinney and not very well made. Now...to the Grizzly 7025..... Solidly built. This is a plus. Cast iron tables and fence. It also comes with an internal exhaust fan and dust collection bag...a nice feature, as you don't need to hook this up to a shop vac. Were it not for these features, I would have returned this and gotten a refund, for the following reasons.... The tables were not parallel, and there is nothing...repeat NOTHING in the owner's manual or at the Grizzly web site that address how to adjust the infeed table. This is a major oversight. I called Grizzly, went on hold for about 15 minutes, and got a tech guy who pointed to the adjusting screws underneath. The short of it, I figure out how to adjust the height...which is pretty easy. But be advised, you'll need a 6" 3 and 5 mm allen wrench, which I had to order through Amazon Prime.. Regular sized metric Allen wrenchs wont work. The outfeed table was not flat by probably .0005-.0008. I flattened it with my diamond stone. The fence is also not exactly flat, front to back, but ok up and down. The machine came with the belts (there are two) much too tight. After running it for several minutes, I took off the little inspection plate so I could see the two belts where they go to the cutter head, and they were too hot to touch. I didn't adjust this as I was adjusting and testing for table flatness, so when I fired it up and ran several boards through, the motor began making funny sounds, so shut it off, turned it over to find the small fan belt shredded and the primary belt off its track. That did it! I called Amazon, who calmly told me they would 'next day' me a replacement, and talked me into trying another one before I packed it in. Okay, fine. So I promptly got the replacement and checked it. The tables are flat. The infeed table did need a small adjustment to make it square with the fence. The fence still had a small bow (< .001) in the middle, but it should't affect squareness of cuts. The darn belts were still way to tight, so I loosened them by loosening up the allen head bolts on the under side. Then the belts did not run so hot and the motor spins for many seconds after shut off instead of stopping abruptly as it did with the belts so tight. I used my own high quality allen wrench to loosen the knife tightening screws to tweek their height, and didn't strip anything. They are on too tight, though. And the adjusting allen head screw is a nice touch, so I don't have to try to raise or lower the knives with my fingers :-( The fence requires some getting used to, but seems ok. The 'quick stops' I don't think are necessary, as if I need to cut a 45 degree joint, I'll be checking it with my angle gauge anyway. Overall, this is a hefty machine for its size and price. The only plastic is the on/off switch and the tightening bolt wings for the fence. Everything else is cast iron or steel. I've run several edges through, as well as some 4" wide hardwoods, 2X4 edges and other miscellanea, and cuts have been very close to perfect...so far. So if you're like me and don't have the space, this seems so far to be the best of the small jointers. But be advised, you're going to have to tweek it. If you're not willing to do that, don't go here. My sense is that this is a pretty well designed machine, but the workmanship from the Chinese plant where its being assembled is not overseen as it should be. Machining should be QC'd to be +/- .0005, screws should be auto-torqued to the correct tightness and knives should be preset within .0005. And the manual needs to be updated and made relevant. I understand they have to include safety stuff for liability purposes, but when this represent almost all of the manual, its time to redo it.