Wellllll I bought the Rikon 18" bands saw sight unseen in late November. It
changed design and model numbers before I received it 2 months later on
January 31. Two weeks later I returned it Woodcraft for a full credit.
Kudos' to Woodcraft for their return policy and smiling when giving me the
credit. I usually hate to do something like this but when I purchased the
saw the salesmen stated that they sell the units faster than they can get
them , so none were actually on the sales floor. I asked, what if I am not
satisfied with the saw. Bring it back for credit was the reply.
Regretfully I took them up on the offer.
The band saw wad a true bargain but unfortunally not what I was looking for.
For what ever reason I had an issue with Timberwolf blades that was not
resolved. While I suspect that perhaps I got a bad batch of blades, I
cannot totally discount the band saw from the problem. While running a 1/4"
blade on the saw and was observing the problematic blade wobble as it moved
forward and backward on each revolution I happened to peek inside the upper
door and witnessed the 18" wheel wobbling back and forth. Extra tension
eliminates the wobble but that required too much tension for a 1/4" blade.
As it turns out I am also not a big fan of roller bearings guides especially
on the sides. They get very noisy and spin a lot from build up even though
they are not touching the blade and no wood is being cut.
That brings me to taking a harder look at the Laguna line of saws. I am not
so much interested in width of cut as resaw capabilities. One of the
smaller 14" Laguna's still has 12" resaw capacity and a 2 hp Baldor motor.
The guide system uses 10 ceramic contact points and can be touching the
blade all of the time if desired. Unlike the 18" Rikon, 18" Delta and
perhaps a majority of Chinese built saws, the Laguna top wheel cannot be
moved in and out when you gently pull back and forth at the 9 and 6 o'clock
positions with a 1/4" blade installed and tensioned.
Going with the smaller Laguna over the regular competition I give up nice
little additions that I am finding to probably be unimportant. Oddly the
smaller Laguna saws still do not have a quick release on the blade tension.
Equally as odd the Rikon quick tension release did not release the tension
completely. The release from a 3/4" blade setting took the saw down to a
1/4" blade tension. Why bother having a release that does not totally
release? You still have to turn the tension wheel to change blades or
relieve all tension. Are other saws like this? The rack and pinion guide
adjustment was a cool addition on the band saw but I quickly found it to be
time consuming over the manual method.
So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14" and
or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and Whistles are
not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to cut
veneer's.
I have the Laguna 16 hd and love it. I haven't used any other bandsaws
so can't really compare it. The only problem I had was that it came
slightly damaged due to poor crating. Since I didn't jump through the
proper hoops in a timely manner, they charged me $35 (including
shipping and handleing) for 2 small parts.
It still makes me nervous to see the sparks coming off of the ceramic
guides, but most of what I cut is wet wood for bowl blanks. Use a bi
metal blade for bowl blanks, and the carbide blades for veneers. I got
a 1 1/4 Lennox blade for about $130.
The dust port on the saw works okay, but not well. There is a 1'4 inch
cross hair grid in the port to keep you from sticking your hand in it,
which I cut out because when I cut long grain, the long shavings would
plug up the port in seconds. I will enlarge the hole to take a 5 inch
hose rather than the 4 inch one that comes standard. This should be
easy as there is a plastic fitting that will unscrew, and I can replace
it. It has plenty of power.
robo hippy
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember about a year ago some here
having warranty issues with the Laguna people. Something needed to be
corrected and they didn't respond.
I questioned a rep that sold Laguna at a local woodworking show and he
told me he knew of the problems and that they were working to fix them.
I would think a quick call to the Laguna help line/warranty center
would be in order if you had any doubts.
Robert
Leon wrote:
<<Do you know what the problem is/was and which models are affected? >>
We were talking about the 14 and 16 inch models which are probably
their most popular sellers with the small pro shops. This will sound
strange, but they were not having problems so much with the machines as
with the people that were supposed to support them. To try to clarify,
if a machine came with a faulty switch, it might take a month and a lot
of follow up (even under warranty) to get a new switch. BTW, the
problem they were having at the time was indeed some kind of switch
(footswitch?), and something to do with the guides. We weren't
specific as I wasn't buying, just looking and asking.
I was impressed that this guy actually admitted it, but he was sure
that they had, or were in the process of making changes that would fix
the customer support problems. It was refreshing to hear someone not
create a story on the spot to cover my concern.
Turning around customer service can be done... I use a lot of Bostitch
nailers as the local lumberyard I go to sells them, and will service
them once a quarter for free. But over the years, if you needed a part
such as a driver, latch or anything specific to your gun, you left a
message on their New Jersey number and then it just went away. I
waited over a year to get a part for one of my roofing coil nailers, so
I went out and bought a Hitachi to replace it.
Now they have live people answer the phone, people that have been
trained to read the schematics. I needed a part that is not considered
routine service, and they had it to me in about 10 days. Not super
fast, but they did get it done.
You might call Laguna and just see if someone live actually answers the
phone. I have a buddy that has a custom cabinet shop here in town that
I go see from time to time went with the 18" MiniMax. He thought the
saw looked better engineered and seemed to him to have more low end
torque when resawing than the other saws he tried. He also called
their customer support line and asked the Minimax people specific
questions about the saw, and like their responses the best.
On one hand, I was surprised he did this... he works at WoodCraft part
time and I thought for sure he would take a Rikon or Jet and get his
employee discount. He pointed out to me that he has two dead Jet 18"
bandsaws in his shop now (broken motor shaft on one and the other saw
that was about 20 months old needs bearings top and bottom as well as
the fact it seems like it is coming apart when it is running) and was
pretty well finished with the Asian stuff.
Robert
Leon wrote:
> "Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>In article <[email protected]>,
>>"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>
>
>>Your problem is that you want a band saw of the same quality as that new
>>planer
>>you just bought.
>
>
> Yeah. I am tired of fooling around with "Get by" equipment. I think. ;~)
>
>
>
>>Me thinks the Laguna LT 16 might be the ticket
>
>
> I am looking closely at the 14SE, the 16 and the 16HD. There is a lot of
> price difference between the 16 and 16HD however the 16HD appears to be
> built differently when looking at the trunion and lower guides. IIRC the
> 16HD had lower guides that are much easier to adjust than on the lighter
> models. I read that one owner of the smaller models removes the table to
> make lower guide adjustments easier. I think on the heavier models that the
> lower guide moves up and down in a similar fashion to the upper guide.
In all my looking (teetering on the end of a crowbar applied to my
wallet, wrt buying a bandsaw) I never see any details about the trunnion
in the feature list or specs.
Makes looking harder, and slower.
I've been considering Grizzly's G0555, with many sidelong ogling glances
at the G0513x.
er
--
email not valid
On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 14:36:06 GMT, "Leon"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>
>>
>> Your problem is that you want a band saw of the same quality as that new
>> planer
>> you just bought.
>
>Yeah. I am tired of fooling around with "Get by" equipment. I think. ;~)
>
>
>> Me thinks the Laguna LT 16 might be the ticket
>
>I am looking closely at the 14SE, the 16 and the 16HD. There is a lot of
>price difference between the 16 and 16HD however the 16HD appears to be
>built differently when looking at the trunion and lower guides. IIRC the
>16HD had lower guides that are much easier to adjust than on the lighter
>models. I read that one owner of the smaller models removes the table to
>make lower guide adjustments easier. I think on the heavier models that the
>lower guide moves up and down in a similar fashion to the upper guide.
>
I've got a Laguna 16HD but it is in storage and I only used it briefly
before it went to storage.
When we were looking at developing a line of euro style bandsaws, it
was one of the units we bought to evaluate, looking for best of breed
to emulate. We had several others, but our consensus opinion was that
the Laguna was the best. We, however, did not have a MiniMax but we
certainly liked the Laguna. All this several years back.
Frank
Leon wrote:
> "Enoch Root" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>In all my looking (teetering on the end of a crowbar applied to my
>>wallet, wrt buying a bandsaw) I never see any details about the trunnion
>>in the feature list or specs.
>
>
> Yeah. The latest Rikon has a Cast aluminum trunion that works smoothly.
> That is one of its strong points.
> The good saws have the cast iron trunions and with the Laguna there are 2
> styles. One appears to hide the lower guide pretty well and the $1000 extra
> machine gives you a clear view of the lower trunion.
I've been trying to look at the trunnions on all the bandsaws... not
much luck. In fact, in the manual assembly directions, they sometimes
aren't even pictured... or just the base.
>>Makes looking harder, and slower.
>>
>>I've been considering Grizzly's G0555, with many sidelong ogling glances
>>at the G0513x.
>
>
> I am impressed with the ceramic guides that come on all the Laguna's. The
> bearing guides on the Rikon that I had briefly left me less than satisfied
> for that set up in general. Unfortunately that limits the choices to
> Laguna.
That's more than I want to pay at the moment... but I'll keep looking in
the local lists for an old old bandsaw--if something really solid shows
up for the right price I don't care if I need to do a little renovating.
er
--
email not valid
Leuf wrote:
> With the current amazon pricing and jet rebates both of those ended up
> (with shipping) at $550, the griz by the time I added guide block
> holders to it was $520. So pretty much a wash. I eliminated the griz
> because of the smaller table and that the motor is face mounted to the
> side of the saw. I figure if I have to replace the motor later on
> it's going to be easier with it in the stand. They were excellent
> about getting back to my questions though. The Jet didn't have a
> quick release, which wasn't a deal breaker for me but it just seemed
> like it was the same saw with prettier paint, and having to deal with
> a rebate.
You're trying to make my choice harder, fess up!
er
--
email not valid
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I may be wrong, but I seem to remember about a year ago some here
> having warranty issues with the Laguna people. Something needed to be
> corrected and they didn't respond.
>
> I questioned a rep that sold Laguna at a local woodworking show and he
> told me he knew of the problems and that they were working to fix them.
>
> I would think a quick call to the Laguna help line/warranty center
> would be in order if you had any doubts.
That would be a good idea however it would probably be advantageous to know
what the warranty problem was specifically. I doubt that they would
volunteer any information about problems that they may be having.
Do you know what the problem is/was and which models are affected?
"Woody" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I went through the same evaluation you're going through and settled on the
> MM16. It's got a 16" resaw, 4.8HP single phase motor and will take up to
> 1.25" blades. I looked at Rikon and Laguna. I use the saw exclusively for
> resawing as I've got an old 14" Delta for general use.
>
> I picked the MM16 due to reviews, it's weight and value. It's at least 100
> lbs. heavier than the equivalent Laguna (it's over 500 lbs.) and was less
> expensive. Their customer service is excellent.
Hi Mark,
I think the Laguna and MiniMax are in an upper league when compared to the
Rikon. The Rikon is a good saw for the money but like you I want a saw that
does what it is suppose to do but with some grace..
I see the Mini has Euro guides. I really don't care for the side guide
roller bearings that the less expensive saws have. Laguna now uses the
ceramic guides, how do you like the Euro style? Right now the guides seem
to be the glaring difference between the Mini and the Laguna. While the
Mini has a bit more weight, hp, etc. I think both saws are long past
adequate. The Mini certainly has the advantage of being some what local for
me. I want to resaw and cut veneer but will also being using it for every
thing else that you would do with a BS. Quick blade changes, if that is
possible, is a major factor for me also. I sold my old BS immediately
after getting the Rikon and now there is an empty space in my garage. :~!)
"TWS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Leon,
> too bad about your experience with the Rikon - especially after
> waiting as long as you did. I guess Rikon shouldn't have messed with
> a good thing.
I think you are right. I have heard the tension change was not by choice.
>
> Good thing you worked with a reputable company like Woodcraft - good
> testament to their service.
Yeah.
>
> Tom
"Frank Boettcher" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> I've got a Laguna 16HD but it is in storage and I only used it briefly
> before it went to storage.
>
> When we were looking at developing a line of euro style bandsaws, it
> was one of the units we bought to evaluate, looking for best of breed
> to emulate. We had several others, but our consensus opinion was that
> the Laguna was the best. We, however, did not have a MiniMax but we
> certainly liked the Laguna. All this several years back.
So did the BS endeavor work out?
I understand the MiniMax is a pretty good saw also and IIRC they are in
Austin, TX which would be worth a trip from Houston TX to save on shipping
charges if that is possible. I am particularly impressed with the Laguna
guide system. I was pretty dismayed with the roller bearings. They made
since until I actually worked with them. Way too noisy and a lot of
vibration came from them as the sawdust stuck to them, IMHO.
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Wellllll I bought the Rikon 18" bands saw sight unseen in late November.
> It changed design and model numbers before I received it 2 months later on
> January 31. Two weeks later I returned it Woodcraft for a full credit.
> Kudos' to Woodcraft for their return policy and smiling when giving me the
> credit. I usually hate to do something like this but when I purchased the
> saw the salesmen stated that they sell the units faster than they can get
> them , so none were actually on the sales floor. I asked, what if I am
> not satisfied with the saw. Bring it back for credit was the reply.
> Regretfully I took them up on the offer.
>
> The band saw wad a true bargain but unfortunally not what I was looking
> for.
> For what ever reason I had an issue with Timberwolf blades that was not
> resolved. While I suspect that perhaps I got a bad batch of blades, I
> cannot totally discount the band saw from the problem. While running a
> 1/4" blade on the saw and was observing the problematic blade wobble as it
> moved forward and backward on each revolution I happened to peek inside
> the upper door and witnessed the 18" wheel wobbling back and forth. Extra
> tension eliminates the wobble but that required too much tension for a
> 1/4" blade. As it turns out I am also not a big fan of roller bearings
> guides especially on the sides. They get very noisy and spin a lot from
> build up even though they are not touching the blade and no wood is being
> cut.
>
> That brings me to taking a harder look at the Laguna line of saws. I am
> not so much interested in width of cut as resaw capabilities. One of the
> smaller 14" Laguna's still has 12" resaw capacity and a 2 hp Baldor motor.
> The guide system uses 10 ceramic contact points and can be touching the
> blade all of the time if desired. Unlike the 18" Rikon, 18" Delta and
> perhaps a majority of Chinese built saws, the Laguna top wheel cannot be
> moved in and out when you gently pull back and forth at the 9 and 6
> o'clock positions with a 1/4" blade installed and tensioned.
>
> Going with the smaller Laguna over the regular competition I give up nice
> little additions that I am finding to probably be unimportant. Oddly the
> smaller Laguna saws still do not have a quick release on the blade
> tension. Equally as odd the Rikon quick tension release did not release
> the tension completely. The release from a 3/4" blade setting took the
> saw down to a 1/4" blade tension. Why bother having a release that does
> not totally release? You still have to turn the tension wheel to change
> blades or relieve all tension. Are other saws like this? The rack and
> pinion guide adjustment was a cool addition on the band saw but I quickly
> found it to be time consuming over the manual method.
>
> So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14"
> and or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and Whistles
> are not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to
> cut veneer's.
>
I own the Laguna 18" and have used 16" MiniMax. The only thing I do with
the Laguna is resawing so I am not the best judge of the full capabilities
but I think that both saw are extremely close. If I were going to purchase
again I would go with the MiniMax.
On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 20:39:51 -0800, Enoch Root <[email protected]>
wrote:
>You're trying to make my choice harder, fess up!
Nah, the Griz, Delta and Jet are pretty much the same saw with
slightly different stuff bolted to it. It's the illusion of choice
that makes it difficult.
I know you were asking about trunions, I did learn in comparing the
G0580 and G0555 that the 555 has larger trunions, but how it compares
to the others I don't know.
-Leuf
In article <[email protected]>,
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14" and
> or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and Whistles are
> not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to cut
> veneer's.
Your problem is that you want a band saw of the same quality as that new planer
you just bought.
Me thinks the Laguna LT 16 might be the ticket.
In article <q%[email protected]>,
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> There is a lot of
> price difference between the 16 and 16HD however
I belong to the 'Cry Once' school, Leon.
Unless I absolutely know for sure that the use of a piece of gear is going to be
occasional/seldom I buy the best I can afford....and usually one step up from
there. That philosophy has served me well over the years.
I recently bought a King bandsaw for $ 300.00 with the sole intention to give it
away at some point if it became clear that a better saw would fit into my new
direction. I am already trying to sort out my dilemma of living in Canada and
neither MiniMax nor Laguna have a whole lot of representation here.
You guys have it made-in-the-shade when it comes to things like that down there.
I am 50 minutes from Detroit. Maybe I can make that work.
For now I'm heading into the CNC direction.
I will second that advice. I posted a question to this newsgroup several
weeks ago concerning the viability of veneering only one side of a
substrate. I had a great piece of maple that I wanted to "stretch". Since I
had never tried veneering I wanted as much advice as I could find.
I had lousy results with contact cement. I had great results with standard
woodworkers glue. I had several metal "angle" sections that provided great
clamping. Overall, my project was a great success. Resawing was easier that
I anticipated and since I have a Performax sander I was able to reach
uniformed thickness quite easily.
Veneering will be used in many future projects.
John
I went through the $1K bandsaw purchase decesion about 2 years ago. and kept
an eye on the "just over 14" saw market since.
I ended up with tthe woodcraft 18, my dad has the Wilke 17 and I have pawed
over the Rikon. and a couple generals.
For me, I just could not justify $2K for a bandsaw, and I can live with
that, however one truth that I came to accept is that all of the >14" saws
at or around that price point are value-engineered undustrial machines.
Unlike a high-end delta or powermatic 14 which is a homeowner machine (the
basic design) built to a good quality standard and built up, these machines
start with an undustrial design and are then built with thinner sheet metal
and plastic handles.
By some accounts, the Rikon is best saw at that price point.
If you really want to be making veneers, I think that means that you have a
real need to be looking up-market (Minimax 16/Laguna LT18). Laguna and
Minimax also havesome entry level stuff, but I was left with the impression
that those were tacked on to to fill out their product line and not where
those people offered the best product.
BTW, I got a *much* better vibe talking to the Minimax people than the
Laguna folks.
My intent is not to thrash the $1K BS market, but rather to point out it's
limitations. It's kind of an El Camino vs. F150 kind of thing.
-Steve
"cm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Leon
>
> There was a discussion several months ago comparing Laguna to Mini Max. My
> take was that they were both "good" but the Mini Max was better.
>
> Craig
>
>
> "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Wellllll I bought the Rikon 18" bands saw sight unseen in late November.
> > It changed design and model numbers before I received it 2 months later
on
> > January 31. Two weeks later I returned it Woodcraft for a full credit.
> > Kudos' to Woodcraft for their return policy and smiling when giving me
the
> > credit. I usually hate to do something like this but when I purchased
the
> > saw the salesmen stated that they sell the units faster than they can
get
> > them , so none were actually on the sales floor. I asked, what if I am
> > not satisfied with the saw. Bring it back for credit was the reply.
> > Regretfully I took them up on the offer.
> >
> > The band saw wad a true bargain but unfortunally not what I was looking
> > for.
> > For what ever reason I had an issue with Timberwolf blades that was not
> > resolved. While I suspect that perhaps I got a bad batch of blades, I
> > cannot totally discount the band saw from the problem. While running a
> > 1/4" blade on the saw and was observing the problematic blade wobble as
it
> > moved forward and backward on each revolution I happened to peek inside
> > the upper door and witnessed the 18" wheel wobbling back and forth.
Extra
> > tension eliminates the wobble but that required too much tension for a
> > 1/4" blade. As it turns out I am also not a big fan of roller bearings
> > guides especially on the sides. They get very noisy and spin a lot from
> > build up even though they are not touching the blade and no wood is
being
> > cut.
> >
> > That brings me to taking a harder look at the Laguna line of saws. I am
> > not so much interested in width of cut as resaw capabilities. One of
the
> > smaller 14" Laguna's still has 12" resaw capacity and a 2 hp Baldor
motor.
> > The guide system uses 10 ceramic contact points and can be touching the
> > blade all of the time if desired. Unlike the 18" Rikon, 18" Delta and
> > perhaps a majority of Chinese built saws, the Laguna top wheel cannot be
> > moved in and out when you gently pull back and forth at the 9 and 6
> > o'clock positions with a 1/4" blade installed and tensioned.
> >
> > Going with the smaller Laguna over the regular competition I give up
nice
> > little additions that I am finding to probably be unimportant. Oddly
the
> > smaller Laguna saws still do not have a quick release on the blade
> > tension. Equally as odd the Rikon quick tension release did not release
> > the tension completely. The release from a 3/4" blade setting took the
> > saw down to a 1/4" blade tension. Why bother having a release that does
> > not totally release? You still have to turn the tension wheel to change
> > blades or relieve all tension. Are other saws like this? The rack and
> > pinion guide adjustment was a cool addition on the band saw but I
quickly
> > found it to be time consuming over the manual method.
> >
> > So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14"
> > and or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and
Whistles
> > are not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to
> > cut veneer's.
> >
>
>
Leon <[email protected]> wrote:
:>
:> I'm just curious what's the logic on making your own veneer? Between
:> the cost of the saw and blades I'm not seeing a lot economic reasons.
: Veneer is just a part of the equation and the economic reasons do not enter
: into the factor. Probably 75% of my woodworking is for income and as I get
: nearer to retirement I want to go to smaller projects. Some veneers are
: tuff to find and are expensive, especially in the exotics. Additionally I
: want more control over the thickness. I would rather deal with 1/8" thick
: than 1/16" or thinner stock.
And commercial veneer is way thinner than 1/16th -- a lot are now 1/100th
of an inch thick, most premium stuff comes in at 1/42nd.
That's really thin -- if you make your own, you have much more
ability to sand/scrape/plane it.
And another reason for resawing -- sometimes you find a really
gorgeous board, say of fiddleback maple, striped ebony, etc.
And you want it to go as far as possible. Use it as solid stock, you
get maybe a small bo. Slice it, and you can have (the
surface of) a tabletop.
-- Andy Barss
On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 14:54:14 -0800, Enoch Root <[email protected]>
wrote:
>In all my looking (teetering on the end of a crowbar applied to my
>wallet, wrt buying a bandsaw) I never see any details about the trunnion
>in the feature list or specs.
>
>Makes looking harder, and slower.
>
>I've been considering Grizzly's G0555, with many sidelong ogling glances
>at the G0513x.
Well I finally made my decision the other day. I guess like you I
wasn't looking in the same price bracket as Leon. I had it narrowed
down to the 14" Craftsman, Delta 28-206, Jet (the 1 hp one, too lazy
to dig up the mile long model number) and the Grizzly G0555.
I didn't want to go with roller bearings, mostly I'm going to use
small blades. I couldn't find much not to like about the Craftsman
(basically same as the Rikon but 2" more resaw) but when I emailed
Sears to ask about putting regular guide blocks on it they said they
couldn't answer and gave me the manufacturer's email address. I
figure if that is the level of support I'm going to get from them, no
thanks.
With the current amazon pricing and jet rebates both of those ended up
(with shipping) at $550, the griz by the time I added guide block
holders to it was $520. So pretty much a wash. I eliminated the griz
because of the smaller table and that the motor is face mounted to the
side of the saw. I figure if I have to replace the motor later on
it's going to be easier with it in the stand. They were excellent
about getting back to my questions though. The Jet didn't have a
quick release, which wasn't a deal breaker for me but it just seemed
like it was the same saw with prettier paint, and having to deal with
a rebate.
So the Delta is on its way, and I get to squirm for a while and pray
for good weather when it shows up. Originally they estimated the
23rd, now it says the 27th.
-Leuf
Leon wrote:
<SNIP>
Leon:
I went through the same evaluation you're going through and settled on
the MM16. It's got a 16" resaw, 4.8HP single phase motor and will take
up to 1.25" blades. I looked at Rikon and Laguna. I use the saw
exclusively for resawing as I've got an old 14" Delta for general use.
I picked the MM16 due to reviews, it's weight and value. It's at least
100 lbs. heavier than the equivalent Laguna (it's over 500 lbs.) and was
less expensive. Their customer service is excellent.
~Mark.
Shipping was about $200, so if you can deliver
On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:32:47 GMT, "Leon"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14" and
>or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and Whistles are
>not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to cut
>veneer's.
I'm just curious what's the logic on making your own veneer? Between
the cost of the saw and blades I'm not seeing a lot economic reasons.
-Leuf
"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> Your problem is that you want a band saw of the same quality as that new
> planer
> you just bought.
Yeah. I am tired of fooling around with "Get by" equipment. I think. ;~)
> Me thinks the Laguna LT 16 might be the ticket
I am looking closely at the 14SE, the 16 and the 16HD. There is a lot of
price difference between the 16 and 16HD however the 16HD appears to be
built differently when looking at the trunion and lower guides. IIRC the
16HD had lower guides that are much easier to adjust than on the lighter
models. I read that one owner of the smaller models removes the table to
make lower guide adjustments easier. I think on the heavier models that the
lower guide moves up and down in a similar fashion to the upper guide.
Leon
There was a discussion several months ago comparing Laguna to Mini Max. My
take was that they were both "good" but the Mini Max was better.
Craig
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Wellllll I bought the Rikon 18" bands saw sight unseen in late November.
> It changed design and model numbers before I received it 2 months later on
> January 31. Two weeks later I returned it Woodcraft for a full credit.
> Kudos' to Woodcraft for their return policy and smiling when giving me the
> credit. I usually hate to do something like this but when I purchased the
> saw the salesmen stated that they sell the units faster than they can get
> them , so none were actually on the sales floor. I asked, what if I am
> not satisfied with the saw. Bring it back for credit was the reply.
> Regretfully I took them up on the offer.
>
> The band saw wad a true bargain but unfortunally not what I was looking
> for.
> For what ever reason I had an issue with Timberwolf blades that was not
> resolved. While I suspect that perhaps I got a bad batch of blades, I
> cannot totally discount the band saw from the problem. While running a
> 1/4" blade on the saw and was observing the problematic blade wobble as it
> moved forward and backward on each revolution I happened to peek inside
> the upper door and witnessed the 18" wheel wobbling back and forth. Extra
> tension eliminates the wobble but that required too much tension for a
> 1/4" blade. As it turns out I am also not a big fan of roller bearings
> guides especially on the sides. They get very noisy and spin a lot from
> build up even though they are not touching the blade and no wood is being
> cut.
>
> That brings me to taking a harder look at the Laguna line of saws. I am
> not so much interested in width of cut as resaw capabilities. One of the
> smaller 14" Laguna's still has 12" resaw capacity and a 2 hp Baldor motor.
> The guide system uses 10 ceramic contact points and can be touching the
> blade all of the time if desired. Unlike the 18" Rikon, 18" Delta and
> perhaps a majority of Chinese built saws, the Laguna top wheel cannot be
> moved in and out when you gently pull back and forth at the 9 and 6
> o'clock positions with a 1/4" blade installed and tensioned.
>
> Going with the smaller Laguna over the regular competition I give up nice
> little additions that I am finding to probably be unimportant. Oddly the
> smaller Laguna saws still do not have a quick release on the blade
> tension. Equally as odd the Rikon quick tension release did not release
> the tension completely. The release from a 3/4" blade setting took the
> saw down to a 1/4" blade tension. Why bother having a release that does
> not totally release? You still have to turn the tension wheel to change
> blades or relieve all tension. Are other saws like this? The rack and
> pinion guide adjustment was a cool addition on the band saw but I quickly
> found it to be time consuming over the manual method.
>
> So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14"
> and or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and Whistles
> are not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to
> cut veneer's.
>
On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 17:43:06 GMT, "Leon"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Frank Boettcher" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>>
>> I've got a Laguna 16HD but it is in storage and I only used it briefly
>> before it went to storage.
>>
>> When we were looking at developing a line of euro style bandsaws, it
>> was one of the units we bought to evaluate, looking for best of breed
>> to emulate. We had several others, but our consensus opinion was that
>> the Laguna was the best. We, however, did not have a MiniMax but we
>> certainly liked the Laguna. All this several years back.
>
>
>So did the BS endeavor work out?
>
>I understand the MiniMax is a pretty good saw also and IIRC they are in
>Austin, TX which would be worth a trip from Houston TX to save on shipping
>charges if that is possible. I am particularly impressed with the Laguna
>guide system. I was pretty dismayed with the roller bearings. They made
>since until I actually worked with them. Way too noisy and a lot of
>vibration came from them as the sawdust stuck to them, IMHO.
>
No. We got to the prototype stage, actually built a couple of rough
prototypes and the consolidation with PC resulted in us to losing
control of the new product development process. The project was
dropped.
Our goal was to make a unit as good as the best and try to get to
market as close to that $1K target as possible. Just didn't have
enough time to flesh it out.
Well, at least I got to buy the Laguna 16HD at a great price.
Frank
"Leuf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:32:47 GMT, "Leon"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>So with that in mind, are there any suggestions pro or con with the 14"
>>and
>>or 16" Laguna's? Are any other saws recommended. Bells and Whistles are
>>not as important as a saw that works as you would expect. I want to cut
>>veneer's.
>
> I'm just curious what's the logic on making your own veneer? Between
> the cost of the saw and blades I'm not seeing a lot economic reasons.
Veneer is just a part of the equation and the economic reasons do not enter
into the factor. Probably 75% of my woodworking is for income and as I get
nearer to retirement I want to go to smaller projects. Some veneers are
tuff to find and are expensive, especially in the exotics. Additionally I
want more control over the thickness. I would rather deal with 1/8" thick
than 1/16" or thinner stock. I have had a BS for 23 years and have not been
impressed with the performance and want to go with one that works as well as
my TS. I reason that if a BS can cut nice veneer the other cuts will
naturally fall into place.
Basically for a hobby the economic reason would be hard to justify but when
selling the goods the cost works out.
"Enoch Root" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> In all my looking (teetering on the end of a crowbar applied to my
> wallet, wrt buying a bandsaw) I never see any details about the trunnion
> in the feature list or specs.
Yeah. The latest Rikon has a Cast aluminum trunion that works smoothly.
That is one of its strong points.
The good saws have the cast iron trunions and with the Laguna there are 2
styles. One appears to hide the lower guide pretty well and the $1000 extra
machine gives you a clear view of the lower trunion.
>
> Makes looking harder, and slower.
>
> I've been considering Grizzly's G0555, with many sidelong ogling glances
> at the G0513x.
I am impressed with the ceramic guides that come on all the Laguna's. The
bearing guides on the Rikon that I had briefly left me less than satisfied
for that set up in general. Unfortunately that limits the choices to
Laguna.