Official Luthiers Forum!

Just got off the phone talking to the sales rep abt purchasing this bandsaw. Have been comparing the laguna 16 hd with a minimax 16mm .Was wondering , between these 2 saws it seems that luthiers prefer the laguna ?? If so , what makes it a better saw in your opinion.?? I like the ceramic guides and tall fence Plan to use it for resawing only. thanks.

Shoot, I'd take the MiniMax any day. The MM16 is about the stiffest saw out there. I dream of someday dumping my Grizzly G0514X2 (which is a very nice saw, by the way) and replacing it with an MM16.

I had been watching for a nice machine on CraigsList for a good while with no luck. Then simultaneously a 2003 Laguna LT16 HD and 2004 MiniMax MM16 came on the market about 10 months ago. I bought the MM16 for a little more than the Laguna. Very stiff with large heavy table. Great machine. I'm still using the Euro guides, but I would eventually like to replace them with Carter's or ceramic.

I'm surprised you don't like the Euro guides. They're so easy to setup and work with. I was thinking of converting my big Grizz to Euro guides, actually.

The new MM bandsaws are now coming stock with bearing guides, I believe, though the Euro guides are still available.

I have the LT16HD and love it. I considered the MM16 when buying the Laguna, but ended up making the choice due to the motor and the Laguna guides. Both are excellent saws, but the Baldor put the Laguna over the top for me. It also had a higher blade speed than the MiniMax, which is important for resawing. You can't go wrong with either. I'll never need another bandsaw.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

My older minimax s 45 has the euro upper guides, and regular lignum vitae blocks on bottom . Like the idea of ceramic guides, baldor motor, and a talller resaw fence.For cabinetwork or dovetails easier tilting.

I agree that you really can't go wrong with either the Laguna or Mini Max saws. They are both strong saws for what I do.

Ernie,
Since my saw was used, I can't speak for what new Euro guides are like. I took my used guides off and soaked them in minerial spirits to free them up (were gummed up with pitch) and get them spinning freely again. I also touched them up on the faces to clean a couple of them up that had had some wear from the blade. But I am not happy with the play in them (movement in and out from the shaft). If I adjust them with all the play pushed in, then they will move out (due to the play) and touch the blade slightly all the time. If I adjust them with the play all the way out, they do nto touch the blade except when needed when cutting. But when needed when cutting (say due to cutting a radius), then they do not really support/stop the blade from twisting since the guides move in from the blade force. I hope that makes sense. (I think I just need new guides. Otherwise the saw has been great.)

Thanks for sharing.Yes I/ve soaked the bearings in laq thinner, and immeresed them in an oil bath, They are the original bearings going strong after abt 16 yrs of use. Imho the laguna might be better as a strictly resaw machine .Laguna has improved it/s customer service. I wasn/t too impressed with some of the folks I had to deal with at minimax over the years, If I could get get a used minimax i/d go for it. But big bandsaws are hard to find in an around kc. I would not call this a vy artsy or wood craft type area , even though there is a plethora of hdwds around.

14" bandsaws early and late models are plentiful here in the Houston area (over 4 million people), but big bandsaws are rare. In over a year of looking I saw one 16" Laguna and one 16" Mini Max. I also saw one older 14" Lagune SE and an 18" under powered Jet. The occasional monster industrial bandsaws do become available, but with 3 phase motors, huge size, major age (read rebuild needed) they are not attractive to me.

Much patience is needed to find a decent late model bandsaw and, since its a sellers market for the later big bandsaws, they are not screaming good deals. I paid $1700 for mine. But it was that, or a new one, or wait another year or two.

Ed ,location ,location, depends where one lives , I see a lot more used high end bandsaw e.g. Denver craigslist. But driving 1400mi round trip is not my thing.

There was what looked to be a pretty nice resaw size bandsaw posted on Craigslist in the Topeka area 10/8/12. Not sure of the size, but the ad mentioned it was made in Italy by a division of Holz-Her. $1200 asking price. Just an FYI in case you're interested.

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Aaron Craig

thanks aaron saw the ad, never heard of holz- her? might be hard to get parts for? .IMHO motor looked like 2-3hp. I tried a mm20 with 5 hp which seems abt right to me.Thanks for the thought ernie