Laguna 14 | Twelve thoughts ?

[rtyuiop]

Hi folks,

Anyone own or used a Laguna 14 | Twelve ? The LT14 SUV seems very well thought of, but a little beyond what I would like to spend.

Looking for a first bandsaw - most common use will probably be to cut turning blanks, but I might also be throwing a few logs through it (using it as a small pseudo-mill) and might end up using it as a table saw substitute for small projects (box making and the like), as I will have no table saw if I decide to go ahead and buy a band saw first!

Cheers,

Danny

[RoyG]

Hi folks,

Anyone own or used a Laguna 14 | Twelve ? The LT14 SUV seems very well thought of, but a little beyond what I would like to spend.

Looking for a first bandsaw - most common use will probably be to cut turning blanks, but I might also be throwing a few logs through it (using it as a small pseudo-mill) and might end up using it as a table saw substitute for small projects (box making and the like), as I will have no table saw if I decide to go ahead and buy a band saw first!

Cheers,

Danny

Danny,

I own a Laguna LT18 myself, and have used both the 14/Twelve and the LT14SUV at a woodworking club, so I have some hands-on experience with Laguna Bandsaws. The big difference between the Laguna 14/Twelve and the Laguna 14SUV is the size of the motor. The 14/Twelve has a 1.75HP motor, whilst the 14SUV has a 3HP motor. The extra grunt from the 3HP motor comes in very useful if you plan to cut some of the very hard gnarly Aussie hardwoods.

I've found that the motor in the 14/Twelve can start to bog down when making 150mm deep cut in Forest Red Gum. However, I've used the 14SUV to resaw a 250mm wide Red Gum board, and with Laguna's Resaw King blade fitted, the machine handled it easily.

That does not mean that the 14/Twelve is no good. Three weeks ago I helped a club member to cut veneers from a 250 mm wide Northern Silky Oak board, and the 14/Twelve fitted with Laguna's Resaw King blade handled the job very well, and produced very clean 3mm veneers.

The down side of the 14SUV is that you'll have to get an Electrician to install a 15 amp power point for it, if you don't already have one in the workshop. If you need to get a 15 amp outlet installed, as a price guide, it cost me about $400 for the sparky to run a new 20 amp circuit about 15 meters from the switchboard to the workshop, install a 20 amp circuit breaker, and one 15 amp power point. Most of the cost is the labour to run the cable, so easy access is cheaper, and less cable run distance is cheaper.

Regards,

Roy

[rtyuiop]

Thanks Roy! I don't really anticipate resawing anything particularly thick at this point, so sounds like the smaller unit may be just the ticket... Hopefully gregory machinery will have one at the Maleny show and I can have a look, hopefully pick up a good deal...

[artme]

I have seen the Lagunas on display and looked at other Laguna machinery. In general it seems to be of rssr quality than most of what is available.

However, if price is a consideration then I can only say that my 14" Hare and Forbes witha 2hp motor does a great job when properly set up.

The setting up of the saw in the first place is most important. An expensive saw badly set up will not do the job expect in just the same way an under powered machine wil not do a proper job.

[rtyuiop]

Yeah, I am pondering going for a slightly cheaper saw, making more budget available for blades (and timber!).

I'm hoping there will be a few different saws for easy comparison at the maleny show next weekend.

[rtyuiop]

For reference, I ordered a 14|12 from gregory machinery at the maleny show, and finally got it put together on the weekend.

Bear in mind I haven't used a bandsaw since high school, so this is a highly uneducated opinion...

It's well put together - a couple of QC issues which came up in US reviews (bottom door not clearing the bolt on the base and table varying in height across the split) don't seem to apply to mine, but the table insert does sit a little too low. Should be very easy to shim back up to level whenever I have time.

The instruction manual is OK, I guess, but could be improved - there were a few issues where photos didn't have enough contrast (a line drawing would have have been better if they didn't want to print in colour), and a few cases where some moderately confusing language was used, but it also led to a couple of guys who had never assembled a bandsaw before putting it together pretty fast, so it can't be too bad!

The blade guides seem well built and easy to adjust, with the exception of getting to a couple of knobs for the bottom guide - not as bad as I thought it might be based on reviews, but still a little annoying.

Like a complete idiot, I initially installed the blade inside out (upside down?), and made some cuts before realising it was just burning through the wood... Unfortunately I think I'll replace the tires after that as there is some residue I can't quite get off - but that's my own fault! It runs smooth with very little vibration, and cuts beautifully.

Very happy so far!

[Brian45]

Hi,

Thanks for that input re your bandsaw. I am also in the market for a bandsaw and was at the Brisbane show I arrived to watch them cut some 10mm slats off some 150m hardwood. The problem is I cannot remember which saw it was, I believe it was the 14 /12 and it with ease not sure which blade he had on but the finish was really good.

The difference between the two 14/12 and the 14SUV for me was the motor size and the price, an extra $600. In the end did not buy one I needed to look at what work I would be doing. Majority of what I will be doing is re-sawing old reclaimed hardwood, and doing some finer work, the latter can be done with a blade change.

So at the moment its down to $1500 ish to $2100 ish unless I can find another saw or 2nd hand one. Then of course their is the minister of finance who says what are you getting for me ..... apparently nothing is the wrong answer . So the tools I did buy cost me $$$ on the home front .

Oh well best start getting a final price on both and make a decision.

Brian

[rtyuiop]

So the payroll department at work was kind this month, so I ordered a laguna resaw king blade for the 14 12 and played with it a bit today.... That blade is a bit of a beast!

Haven't tried resawing anything both hard and deep so far, but it resawed about 20cm of white cedar with ease, and leaves a nice finish on everything it's touched so far. I'm pretty impressed with the combination of the machine and blade!