Grizzly Electric Sawmill Review

Tool:Electric Sawmill G0960 Shop Now

Manufacturer: Grizzly

MSRP: $3159

As a sawmill owner, I cut lumber for a variety of outlets. Most, I cut for myself. I then dry it and sell it to woodworkers like yourselves. (Heck, I even horde some of it for my projects, but don’t tell my wife that). Other times, I cut for clients—they’ll contact me saying they have logs they’d like cut. Usually, these logs are of decent size, around 16-30“ logs that are over 6 feet long… exactly what my Woodmizer likes to eat. Sometimes, however, someone brings logs too small to cut on my sawmill. When Grizzly announced they were releasing a small, electric sawmill (the G0960), I knew that it would have a place at Reynold’s Sawmill. 

The mill, as I mentioned, runs off of electricity— 110v, to be precise. This means that you can set it up in a garage or shop to cut your own lumber. And trust me—milling in a heated (or air-conditioned) space makes it much more enjoyable during extreme temperatures. The size of this mill is perfect to set up indoors —the mill’s capacity is a 13“-wide cut, and the bed will hold logs about 43“-long. If you wanted to go longer, you could add additional sections of track to get to nearly 8‘ length capacity. The assembled mill takes up about 4‘x 7‘ in the shop, so with a pallet jack, it’s easy to stash out of the way when not in use (it’s about 64“ tall, depending on how you have the leveling feet set).

The Grizzly G0960 arrives in a small crate, about 3‘x3‘x4‘ as you see below. Assembly takes a little while, but it’s not difficult. It takes about two hours for two guys to get it done. I was pleasantly surprised with how stout this little mill is. The carriage and frame are well-designed and rigid, and there’s very little movement or rocking during a cut. Dialing in the mill is similar to setting up any other sawmill, but if you’re unfamiliar, don’t worry—the Grizzly instructions walk you through it. The saw uses a blade that is 84-1/2“ long and 3/4“ wide. With a blade of this size, buying a carbide-tipped blade for the added longevity would be worth the cost. 

The mill bed has a pair of log stops that slide up and down, as well as cam-style log clamps. All of these are held in place with threaded knobs. While taking more time than a production mill clamping system, that’s not the intent behind this mill, so it’s not a problem. The mill can be equipped with a dust port (as seen in the photo at top) for dust collection. If you opt not to use a dust collector, you’ll spread a bit of dust around, but it’s not too bad. For heavier-duty sawing, Grizzly offers a misting system for the blade, which would help reduce pitch buildup. 

Overall, the G0960 is a great little mill, especially for someone wanting to mill in their shop without investing in a full-sized milling setup. It’s an extremely accurate mill (we were able to saw off 1/32“ veneers on pine, which is saying something) and is the perfect size to handle most hobbyist tasks, cutting turning blanks, or for processing the smaller logs my customers bring me. — Bob Reynolds