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Every attendee who entered the International Woodworking Fair this week was greeted by a shocking sight: Grizzly Industrial hung an enormous banner over the main escalator trumpeting its new 12″ cabinet saw with a riving knife for less than $2,000.
Like many attendees, I had to take a look. The G0605X (the 5 hp, 220V version) and the G0606X (its 7-1/2 hp bigger brother) were the star of the booth. I’ve probably worked on a 12″ saw only a couple times in my life, but I can tell you that it’s not just the blade that gets bigger on one of these saws , it’s everything. Stepping up to a 12″ saw felt like the day I stepped up from a contractor’s saw to a 10″ cabinet saw.
My boss, Publisher Steve Shanesy, has many hours logged on 12″ saws in the trade and he’s a big fan. He has, in fact, suggested we should get a 12″ saw in our shop in Popular Woodworking.
Well, at $1,995 (for either saw), we just might.
The trunnion system has been redesigned to accommodate a riving knife (and this format likely will trickle down to other Grizzly saws in the future). The riving knife is a common European safety feature that is just now becoming common on American saws , SawStop has a riving knife, the cabinet saw coming from Rikon is supposed to have it and many European models sold here have it.
We’re huge fans of the riving knife, which reduces kickbacks and helps keep the kerf open in twisty woods. And we hope this technology trickles down into other brands as well.
Aside from the safety features, the G0605X is built like a tank. It has a 1″ arbor, generously sized table and a T-square fence that is very sweet. Grizzly officials were showing the saw with it fully loaded with accessory outfeed tables, plus nifty green toolboxes that stack below the outfeed table and side extension table.
It was a good thing I left my checkbook in Cincinnati.
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With many of us clamoring for a riving knife, and few models sporting one, this saw puts Grizzly ahead of the curve. An important question looms though: are the knife and guard "quick release"?