Official Luthiers Forum!

http://www.lagunatools.com/March-Machines-Madness/bandsaw-lt14suv#
Anyone have experience with Laguna products?
Thanks
Nelson

I have a huge Laguna SE20 bandsaw (the Italian version) and I love it. A woodworking buddy has the LT16, which is the big bro of the LT14, and loves it too. They aren't cheap though. You might find a Rikon or similar tool that meets your needs for a lot less.

BTW, I will shortly be listing a rather nice tricked-out Powermatic 14" bandsaw (with mobile base, 6" riser, Carter quick-release, Carter bearing guides, Kreg fence, etc.) for sale at half of new price. This is part of the estate sale of Eric Mathre's tools/wood that I'm handling. Let me know if you're interested - not sure where you are, but the saw is in Palo Alto, CA.

Regards,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

I've definitely heard a lot of good things about them as I'm assuming you have Nelson. The customer service is not highly rated but with the quality of the Laguna you most likely won't need service I've been looking at them closely in the Canadian Woodworking store near me where they are displayed side by side with the Rikons. The robustness of the Laguna in comparison to the Rikons is quite noticeable (as is the price difference). I particularly like the widespread cast trunnion set-up which is more than twice as wide and quite a bit heavier than the Rikon 14" or 18" which to me would translate into a much stiffer table set-up. When I get ready to upgrade from my 17" Canwood, which I was told by the Rikon rep. was manufactured by them, I'll most likely pick up the 18" Rikon or perhaps the Powermatic which is a real monster of a saw with an even more expensive price to match.

Nelson, I recently got an LT16 and love it... however its my first saw so I do not really have anything to compare it to.
I was in the market for a 14" but could not resist going up to 16". The motor is extremely smooth (baldor) and everything I have thrown at it so far (just spruce, walnut and figured maple) cuts like butter. I have gotten very good resaw results just with the little rip fence it comes with, I have been running a 5/8" bimetal resaw blade from a Canadian company called tuff tooth. With a 1/4" it tracks well with the laguna guides, and they are pretty easy to adjust once you do it a couple times. Putting blades on is a little bit of a pain but I am getting faster each time (just a lot of putting stuff on and off). My only real complaint so far was that it did not come wired with a plug... so I had to get an electrician in (though now that I have seen it done... I probably could of done it myself).

Ed

Hey Nelson,

I have a 16 and really like it. It's very well balanced. The machining seems very good. The guides are one of the best. The 3 HP motor rocks. I really don't have one complaint. I managed to get 2 sets, 4 pieces out of 11/16" paduik boards with a Resaw King blade.

I'll go to bat for service. The first one I picked up at the shipper had some big, bad issues. A couple of photos and a little whining and I had a new one delivered to my door in a short time. They didn't even want the original one back!

I also have a Laguna table saw that I like a lot.

Hope this helps.

Danny

Danny, what model laguna tablesaw do you have? I am thinking about getting one this summer.

I have the LT18, with a recently-installed Laguna DriftMaster fence. I use the Laguna Resaw King blades for resawing.

It's a great saw. I've had good experience with their customer service, although I live only 15 minutes from their facilities, and they're on my way home from work. So when I need a part or something, I just swing by their facility on the way home. I haven't had to deal with them shipping parts to me.

I also have a Robland X-31 combination machine from Laguna, which is a great tool. It's a great machine for anyone working in a small shop who wants the benefits that you can typically get only with a set of very expensive machines that take up lots of space. Both with the bandsaw and the X-31, I've been super-pleased with my Laguna tools.

Hi Nelson,

I have had the 24" Laguna for about 6 years.

I could only say very bad things about their customer service up until a few months ago when they FINALLY made good on the defective motor that came with the saw.

The old ones had a BIG problem with the Italian made motors which is now worked out due to them switching to American made Baldor motors.

I have probably cut close to 500 sets on this machine.

It is a rock solid extremely smooth running machine.

The tracking is excellent.

I am not a big fan of the ceramic guides- If I could figure a way to convert it to roler guides I would (and still might)

Brad

The saws are probably fine but I had a terrible experience with their carbide blades (actually 3 of them). It took months to resolve and I ended up very frustrated, lost some valuable wood but I did get my money returned in the end...

_________________
tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Thanks, guys, for the feedback.
The free roller stand and shipping caught my eye.
Sucker for "bargains" I suppose.
Nelson

Nelson, I recently got the LT16HD. I got it with the 6hp Baldor motor and a driftmaster fence for the regular price of the HD. I also got 2 resaw king blades with the deal. Love the saw. From past experience with Laguna - eep on em if something isn't right, they will fix it.

There is a guy, Tim Lory that hangs out in the Deals & Discounts forum at sawmillcreek. He works for Laguna and interfaces with members on a regular basis. He deals with this customer service issue head on. It is indeed a known issue and surprising if you ask me! So many companies attempting to be ISO certified and you think Laguna would be one of them. Oh, I have no idea personally of how good the saws are, but if I could justify the cost, I would get one. I do use their blades... they are amazingly good.

Mike

All I wanted to add Mike was that ISO is definitely not an indicator of the quality of an item, just that the paperwork trail is consistent and traceable in the manufacture of the item. Assuming that's what you were inferring.

I agree. I should have used a "sarcasm" smilie!

I have the Laguna LT14SE (their first 14" saw with 12" resaw). It's a great saw and it's seen lots of wood.

There is only one thing that I don't like about it...

The upper blade guide is an awesome design. With one set screw you can easily adjust it for any size blade. Every blade guide should be designed like this.

So why did they design the lower blade guide to be a complete bear to adjust for changing blade sizes? You need to move each guide and the rear stop independently and it's through the throat of the table and really hard to get to. I'm considering getting a small bandsaw just to keep a 1/4" blade on it so I don't have to change blade sizes on the Laguna anymore. The designer of that lower guide must have been on crack. If they used the same guide as the upper one, this would be the ideal bandsaw.

I have the Italian made LT16HD with 4.5 horse Baldor motor. Awesome saw. Only complaint I have is I bought it when Canadian dollar was at 60 cents .

Bob

I bought this saw, the LT SUV 14. I didn't look well enough before I leaped. To my horror when it arived this saw is made in China and mine had all the issues that being made in China can imply. The saw would not track in a full range, the upper tracking tilting is so stiff that I can barely move it in and out with all my might. The blade would not track past the center line. The tension indicator was not installed properly and just flopping there, I had to take it apart and fix it. The Leeson motor is not by some norwegian company or even US but made by Mr. Lee's son in China. Motor came with the copasitor mashed in. The damage was not done by UPS Freight. Castings are pocked. The table has a nice scale on it but the fence has no pointer to indicate on that scale. I guess you are just supposed to try and get as steep and angle on the fence with your eye. Really weird. They give you a little tool holder for allen wrenches. That's good because you need them, You need two or three different ones to change a blade. One to take off the blade guard, and two different ones to adjust the guides. The allen wrenches are so poorly made that only one end of them work. The other end looks like it was just chopped off with a hatched. The table tilt is aided by a small piston. My experience with these is they don't last long. All the ones on my tool box are gone and the one on my mortice machine needs to be replaced every couple of years. The rip fence didn't slide smoothly. It looked like someone had given round guide rail a shot with a ball peen hammer and made a dent in it thus taking the round rail out of perfect round. The motor mounting hole striped out with very little effort on my part with only a small end wrench. The table guide slots don't fit any of my miter gauges. It's too small. I don't know if you could use that as a fault but I will have to pick up another miter gauge.

Having said all that, the saw does have merits. It runs very smooth and cuts like crazy. It does have an amazing 14 inch resaw and a 3hp motor. It is very heavy and does not vibrate. The tensioner is large and works very well. Finish seems good for the most part though small flakes of powder coat are coming off the side of the table.

When I purchased my thinking was I will spend a little more and get a saw that is made in Europe that I won't have problems with. I did manage the spend a little more part. I still feel like I have a few more days to decide if I should pack it back up and put the sale in contest. If it wasn't such a big deal getting it in my shop and going to cost me $250 and a half days work to build a crate for it I would have done that on day one.

_________________
http://goatrockukulele.com

I would not buy any of the Asian Laguna saws for the reason Todd mentioned. The salespeople really seemed to push those saws (maybe a higher markup?) but for the difference in price I did not see a good reason to get one of those at the time and I am glad I did not after reading your post Michael. After all, wasn't the original market plan and appeal to the consumer of Laguna the importing of euro equipment? I could not be happier with mine.

Correcting my post....It only takes two different allen wrenches to change blades as long as both ends of allen wrench are good.

_________________
http://goatrockukulele.com