Thread: Laguna Platinum Dovetail Vs SawStop Professional Cabinet

Sorry no experience with the sawstop except for a quick look in store. I have the non-dovetail version of the laguna platinum (except Harvey branded) and have zero complaints or areas for improvement. The only noticeable area that the sawstop is better in my quick glance is that the trunnion movement is easier/ more balanced and smoother. Not sure if the dovetail trunnion version of the Harvey / Laguna provides the same improvement over the standard model. In case you aren't aware, the Harvey saws are identical to the Laguna (Harvey make Laguna saws) except for a 30mm arbor on the Harvey (which I prefer here in Aus). The dovetail model Harvey retails for $3450-. Not sure what Laguna charge for the same saw.

Yeah the Laguna Dovetail is $3350. I did start reading about the Harvey and wondered what the difference was.

Are you looking at the platinum or platinum dovetail? Greg Mach have the dovetail for 3795 on their webpage and regular platinum for 3150. To me it then begs the question of; is it worth paying about $1000- more to get dovetail trunnions vs the regular Harvey 110lge for $2450- which is identical to the laguna platinum. $1999- if you buy from bigger boys toys (not official au distributor i believe). Hard call.

Sorry but I have only compared the saws in store.
That said, I don't think you are comparing like with like. I understand that the SawStop Professional and Industrial models are designed to compete with the Powermatic and Delta Unisaw line of table saws, while the Harvey/Laguna is pitched at a lessor price comparison.

What is curious is that, here in Calgary, once you get above about $2000, I'm only seeing SawStop saws on retailer's floors.
Perhaps that's saying something about the perceived quality of the SS offering, and that people are purchasing SS Contractor saws in preference to similarly priced cabinet saws.

While your new saw will likely be a lifetime investment, I think you really need to know if the extra features of the SS Professional (compared to the SS Contractor) will provide you with any benefit in your box making. If yes, then personally I think the extra $1000 is worth it.

My link above has the Laguna Dovetail for $3350

I must have been looking at the longer rail version which is a lot more expensive for some reason.

I just looked at the specs on the sawstop and i dont believe it has dovetail trunnions based on a net weight of 172kg vs 250 for the harvey/laguna.

I'll be interested to hear people's experiences / opinions as well because I don't see $2000 of extra value in the sawstop over the Harvey/Laguna non-dovetail saw, particularly if you ignore the safety feature.

Does anyone know what the benefit of dovetail trunnions is aside from increased durability? Do they make cuts any more precise etc?

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread. A friend is also interested in the sawstop and so I too have an interest.

The guy from Gregs said that the dovetail made it more accurate. The Harvey is starting to look appealing.
I just want a quality saw that will cut accurate mitres. The saw I have now is awful at mitres. The more I can save means the more I can put toward my jointer.

What are the Harvey equivelants to the Laguna Platinum and Platinum dovetail?
Are they actually the same saws?
Who has the best prices?

Harvey HW110LGE-30 is the Laguna Platinum. From my research Harvey is the manufacturer of these saws and the only difference is a 30mm arbor on the harvey vs 5/8" on the Laguna, the decals and my harvey came with an aluminium extrusion on the fence vs a nylon piece on the Laguna fence (both the same master-rip fences). Oh, and the price

I guess if you need the dovetails and they actually make a noticeable difference then you may as well buy the Laguna. But if you don't then you can get the Harvey for over $1000 cheaper than the standard Laguna platinum. if there was no Harvey the the dovetail version of the Laguna would be a no brainer at only $200 more, but $900-1350 more seems like a lot to me. Bigger boys toys sells the Harvey for $1999- last i looked. Major Woodworking (Au distributor i believe) has them for $2495.

I think if I was buying a Sawstop I would only buy thr Industrial model as all the others seem like you are paying a lot to get the safety mechanism but still not getting all of the quality features.

I assume the warranty and support etc is still there with bigger boyz toys?

How is the accuracy DomAU?

I'm only a hobbiest and I probably use my saw a couple of times per month, I want accuracy, especially doing 45 mitres but the more a spend on a saw means less for other bits.

I'll pay $3350 if I have too but if I can spend $1350 less for basically the same machine then that's a no brainer for me.

The biggest issue is I've struggled for 12 months to get accuracy out of my Carbatec Contractor and I've given up, I just couldn't bear to buy something else and have the same issues.

Can I ask how you're trying to cut your mitres? Perhaps there are some techniques others could suggest to improve the result from the saw you have now.

I make quite a few boxes, and I've found that making dedicated tablesaw sleds to be invaluable, combined with a digital angle finder. I know, for example, that I need to set my blade at 45.2 degrees if I want an exact 45 degree cut. There must be some spring-back or deflection that happens when the blade is spinning. Now that I have the settings worked out, getting repeatable results is quite easy.

Not wanting to dissuade you from buying a new machine, but thought there might be some suggestions on how to get a better result from your current (or future) setup.

Cheers,

ajw

I can't comment on BBTA service or warranty, I bought my Harvey at a local store through the official distributor. The price difference at the time wasn't quite as large (maybe $350- ) and i was happy to support my local dealer.

To be honest I'm not sure what you mean by accuracy or how the accuracy varies between saws. The fence is easily adjustable to be square to the blade and the blade is also adjustable to be square with the T-slots, although mine was great out of the box. The mitre gauge that comes with the saw is pretty good but not amazing and I'll probably buy an Incra HD gauge to replace it at some point. It's almost a pity because it feels too good to throw away but isn't perfect. With regards to mitre cuts angling the blade, I haven't done many cuts but I use a 45deg square or magnetic digital angle gauge ($50-) to set the angle; again this isnt so much a question of the saws accuracy but your ability to set the angle or the accuracy of your reference gauge. The scale on the front of the machine is quite good but I usually don't rely on it exclusively. The cast top is nice and flat and the wings line up extremely well.

Maybe someone with more experience with table saws can comment on "accuracy" of saws and what contributes to it from a build quality / design perspective.

Yes I have a digital angle guage. The saw blade is perfect at 90 but at 45 it's out by about 2mm from front to back. I've had other issues with it and Carbatec support was atrocious.
I just think for this kind of money I should be able to square it up at 90 then wind to 45 and still get a true cut.