Hi all,

Just spoke with Matt the owner of precisionmatthews.com (Precision Matthews) and got some information I thought might be useful.

The G-704 is not made by Weiss. It comes from a different factory. The PM-20,25,30 are made by Weiss. This makes a difference to me since I know that Weiss makes a wide range of machine tools and has the proper expertise. That's the reason I bought a Rigol scope even though it had a smaller screen and was an older design. Rigol makes scopes for HP and others - they know their stuff.

The next batch of PM-20,25 and 30s will be coming in with motors made in Tawain by Best Motors. The problematic motors were mainland China made and were not manufactured to tight tolerances. In particular they had a burr on the edge of the brush guides that would cause the brush to hang up. The motor would run fine at first but as soon as the brushes needed to move they couldn't and this would cause an arc that would destroy the motor controller as well as badly burn and pit the armature. He estimated that at one time he was seeing a failure rate of one in three machines though it has been improving as of late. He finally got so tired of returns that he told Weiss to use the Best Motors because they have a much higher quality manufacturing process and have been building motors for many years.

He agreed with me that the labels on the G0704 machines warning against running at full speed were nonsense. A motor running at full speed with no load is essentially idling - there is very little current draw or heat generated. The spinning armature creates a back EMF that counters the voltage supplied by the controller. A ninety volt motor running at full speed is probably using less than half an amp. Look at routers - they spin at 20K and don't have any problems.

I find it inexcusable for a company with Grizzly's resources to essentially create a CMA label so they can avoid responsibility for problems they never should have allowed in the first place. DC PM motors are a more than mature technology. They are used everywhere from car fans to household appliances - you name it. Grizzly, by these actions, has created a real bad taste in my mouth. This isn't the only problem I have with them but it's the one relevant to this thread so I won't kvetch further.

The main heads up here is that genuine Weiss machines with better quality motors will be available from PM in about eight weeks. The machines are finished and ready to have the motors mounted but the motors need some adaptation to mount up right. Four weeks to get the motors installed and four weeks to come across the big pond.

For me the extra $100 is well worth it. Matt was very clear that he couldn't match Grizzly's price. But in my case he's shipping the thing 3000 miles vs less than 1000 miles and I'm getting a better motor, a machine made by a reputable firm, and a real live human being I can talk to when I have a problem. Well worth the difference.
I'm a nobody just like most everybody else.

You got me interested in the mill and I got motivated to do a little research.

Now if you've got information that contradicts anything I've said I'd be grateful to hear it. My intention is not to "promote" anyone. I realize that Matt is going to be biased in his favor but he is making a claim that his machines are made by Weiss and that the Grizzly machines are not. That, as I said before, matters to me. And the quality of the motor matters too. I also appreciate dialing up someone and being able to talk about things the old fashioned way.

I will be happy to retract the whole post if you think it violates your policies. But I'd love to know anything more that you can say about the quality of the Grizzly machines at this point in time vs: machines made by Weiss.

Yes you are giving out matt's biased opinion so I take his opinion of his biggest competitor with a grain of salt.
No the grizzly isn't perfect but I haven't had any trouble with mine and the price is the best you can get.
A better motor is the only difference, not really an important factor for me and many others that
swap for something bigger which is a popular mod for many going cnc on any mill.
I don't make the policies here but you gotta be cool about what you post and where, you don't want a troll label so soon.
FYI if you want the best quality bf20, get one from Optimum. I have their link on my main page
'where to buy' along with 15 others including PM.
Hoss