Official Luthiers Forum!

Do any of you guys own one of these older saws this one is on craigslist abt 75minutes from my house.It/s an older italian model with a 2.9hp motor an no driftmaster fence the guy used it mostly for curve cutting.The newer lt18/s have a driftmaster fence and a lot more bellsand whistles/goodies. I/m mulling it over cause I would prefer at least 4 to 4.5hp especially for cutting some of the local hardwoods like osage .If you have used one your thoughts/opinions ?? thanks

Ernie,
You can always sell the old one and find a larger motor through eBay -- this isn't a difficult task and wouldn't stop me if the price were right and the machine was in good shape.

I have not checked out the machine it/s in a semi rural area abt 50 mi from here .He/s asking $1950 for a 10 yr old machine. Since I don/t know the value of used laguna/s I can/t really gage whether it/s a good deal or not ?? the newer versions of the BS have a lot more bells and whistles. Especially the driftmaster fence which is a great addition, and a boon for resawing.I was hoping that someone who owned an older version of this BS could state their views thanks.

I would expect to pay 50% less for a used machine. I have no experience with Laguna and so I can offer no help in that regard -- I have heard their European made saws are good quality tho'. Best of Luck!!!

I have a saw about that vintage, bought second hand about 7 years ago for about $2000 with a pile of extra blades most of which turned out to be garbage. The saw was lightly used and in good shape.

It's a good saw.

I've found no shortage of power. The motor runs very hot but I've decided that is normal.

Smooth running and quiet. Dust collection is OK but not perfect.

The frame and wheels are heavy duty. The wheels were aligned correctly.

I've resawed 10" kiln dried maple - the feed rate was fairly slow, but I think this is more a factor of the blade than the motor. It resawed 12" douglas fir beams like butter.

The table on mine was warped when I bought it (it was humped in the centre so you could never get the blade square to the table). I tried machining it but there was not enough meat and after machining the top warped again, so I replaced the table ($500 from Laguna). You should check table flatness before buying. The replacement table was also less flat than I desired, but usually doesn't cause a problem.

It can resaw 11-7/8" - just under 12" - to get this maximum cut I temporarily removed the upper blade guard which reduced cut depth by about 1/2" (i.e. maximum resaw is about 11-1/2" with the blade guard in place). The blade guide supports are poorly designed (in my opinion) and take much more room than they should. With a redesign you could probably add 1" of resaw capability.

The older style fence cannot be removed from the saw without removing the blade. If you don't need the fence this takes a couple of inches away from your sawing width.

The saw has the older style bearing blade guides, not the ceramic guides. I've had to replace the upper rear guide bearing once.

The lower blade guide support is poorly designed (in my opinion) and I cannot adjust the lower guide for use with blades < 3/8" width. I bought a coolblock retrofit kit so that I can use smaller blades. I've used 3/8" to 1" wide blades with no problems. (The picture is of the lower bandsaw guide set as far back as possible, probably with a 1/2" blade. Some day I will trim 1/8"or 3/16" off the spacer block so that I can move the guides back just a tad more, allowing use of a smaller blade).

From memory the blade length is 151" (might be 150").

The saw does not have a rack-and-pinion table angle adjustment.

The original power cable terminations were overtorqued and had pinched off the solid copper wires. If you buy the saw I would open up the termination box and check that the terminations are OK. I don't know if the previous owner did this or if the problem occurred in the factory, but is easy to fix.

The foot brake is handy.

It's a good heavy duty saw but the details are not well thought out, especially for someone who uses the saw for multiple tasks where set-up is frequently changed. Improving the details would make this an excellent saw. I don't regret buying it and saved about $1500 compared to buying it new, not counting the table replacement and machining expense.

Thanks steven so much for giving me that detailed report .I have those exact guides on my mini max s-45. The thrust bearing you have ,I replaced with a ceramic replacement , which IMHO works much better , top an bottom with a little sparking. Since your in calgary .Your quote was in cdn $ I/m originally from mtl/van. So used prices for lagoonie here are somewhat lower .I found a similiar /newer laguna BS listed in jacksonville fla for abt $1400 with the bigger motor 4.5hp vs the 2.9 on this guys model .I appreciate the fact that you thorughly explained all the little details on the ins and outs of this saw to me .It will save me abt 4hrs worth of driving and looking.I need at least 4hp . There is a wood here called osage orange .I/ve got a large amount of resawing to do including a large supply of e. black walnut.The OO is one tough wood. I/ve already messed up one $155 diemaster blade on my 1.8hp minimax.Allegedly loofiers claim it rings like BRW. But since I haven/t built one yet.I will save my opinion on it . I think I will tell the owner that I will pass on this one. I agree with toonces it should be abt 4-500 dollars cheaper.I/ll hold out for a bigger BS. As i have a huge supply of tropical ,an local woods that need to be resawed . My current BS blade on the minimax is drifting , and not cutting the backs accurately. I hope that patience pays. Hope that chinooks are heating up calgary . Vy cold spring here in KC.My wife is a grad from uof a in edmonton. circa 1972cheers ernie

I have that saw mine is a little older. I paid $900 but had to replace the motor because I don't have 3 phase. I had a 3hp motor sitting around that I put on it and it is not enough for rewawing with a 1 inch carbide blade. Other than that it is a fine tool of industrial quality as compared to consumer saws.

_________________
Michael F Smith
Goat Rock Ukulele
http://goatrockukulele.com

Michael I already nixed this BS for the reason you mentioned. Not enough HP for resaw .I watched sam blasco do a u tube video on the mini max mm16.It has 4.8 hp baldor motor and a lot of features that the laguna does not.OTOH. the laguna has some features the mm does not have like the ceramic guides which I retrofitted on my s-45mini- max.I noticed that the mm16 still has the euro style guides top and bottom including the thrust bearing. I don/tlike them as they get gunked up with sawdust and IMHO a PITA. Also I/ve heard that mini max has problems getting parts for their machines .I don/t know about that ?.I/ve heard similiar stories abt laguna ?? so who knows..The other option is to find a large older used american BS.Mike looked at your website .I was very impressed with the unique headstock and rosette designs.Very creative. use of materials . Just laying up a few rope bindings in santos mahogany and maple for ukes.. www.ateliertomistrings.com