Jet or Laguna

[Superbunny]

I've just been to the TWWW Show in Brisbane, and had a good look at both the Laguna and Jet 18" bandsaws. I'm in the market for a new bandsaw and had my heart set on the Laguna but after comparing them both at the show (only 4m apart) I've could not but notice the Jet is a noticeably better build. I'm now thinking of going for the Jet instead of the Laguna, any thoughts?

SB

[Luke Maddux]

I've always been under the impression that Laguna was fundamentally better than Jet pretty much across the board, but I guess I've kind of been SOLD that idea...

If you looked at both saws and felt better about the Jet, I would trust your intuition and go for it.

I now realize that post was in no way helpful...

[dai sensei]

I too was impressed with the advertising for the Laguna, so when I saw it at another WWW show a while back I gave it the shake/twist test (of the table and frame to test stability and stiffness) as I cut some big heavy logs balancing on the table, but found myself very unimpressed.

[Shedhand]

I wouldn't trade my Laguna SUV 14 for anything. Matched with a 32mm King Resaw blade, it's the ducks guts IMHO.
These are posted elsewhere.
image.jpg 185x100mm x 0.77mm Wenge Veneer for the headstock of my latest guitar build.
image.jpg Uniform thickness of 0.77mm all over.
Cut on my Laguna SUV 14 with a 32mm King Resaw blade.

i looked at quite a few other brands and have no regrets about buying the Laguna.
cheers

[RoyG]

I've owned a Laguna LT-18 Bandsaw for about a year now. Very impressed with it, and it is solid as a rock. Lately I've been using a 1.25 inch 1.1 TPI Starret Woodpecker BiMetal Blade (from Peacock Saws in Brisbane) to break down Forest Red Gum slabs that range between 50 and 90 mm thick. That blade chews through the Red Gum very nicely. I also use that course blade to do rough sawn resaw cuts on the Red Gum up to about 10 inches deep to break the slabs down into usable thickness boards. So far the heaviest slab that I've had on the saw was a two man lift that probably weighed about 80 to 100 kg, and the bandsaw was quite stable under that load. With the Resaw King carbide Blade fitted, I've resawn boards up to the maximum height that will fit in the saw, and it produces very nice 2mm veneers consistently. And with a 1/8 inch wide blade, and some after market Carter guides to suit the narrow blade, I've been able to do some very five detail cutting. So overall, I'm very happy with my Laguna LT-18 which has proven to be a very capable and versatile machine.

This year I've had the opportunity to gain a lot of experience with a friends Jet 18 inch bandsaw to help him break down some Blood Wood Slabs that he'd scored. I've got to say that the Jet 18 inch Bandsaw that he has (this one http://www.carbatec.com.au/jet-18-bandsaw_c22229) is pretty good. He bought the same Starret Woodpecker Bi-metal 1.25 inch x 1.1 TPI blade for his saw. The only significant difference that we both noticed after we'd both had plenty of experience cutting tough timber with both brands of 18 inch band saw was that you can tell that the Jet only has a 2 HP motor, as it does bog down if you are not very careful how hard you push the wood into the blade - gently does it when you've got a deeper cut. The Laguna has a 3 HP motor, and that extra power is definitely noticeable when you're chewing into a thick cut, as we have yet to hear the Laguna bog down at all.

So - which do I (a Laguna owner) think is better - Laguna or Jet ? There are swings and roundabouts differences in the specifications - but when it comes down to it, both Bandsaws do a pretty impressive job.

If I was buying now, my decision would come down to price. Haggle hard and get the best price you can on both machines, and then make your decision based on price.

Unless you plan to resaw your own veneers using the full resaw depth capacity of the saw (Laguna = 385mm : Jet = 300mm), in which case the 3 HP motor on the Laguna makes it the clear winner IMHO.

Regards,

Roy

[Superbunny]

Thank you Roy, that's what I wanted, some one that has used both. I agree I like the 3hp on the Luguna and at last years TWWW Show I was impressed, but I did not see a Jet 18" at the show then. It's just that has the Luguna 18" changed in quality in 12 months or am I delusional, I felt it was a better machine than I remember, either that or Jet has improved their quality except for the 2hp motor. I think I'm still going to do some thinking on this as I want it to be my last Bandsaw.


SB

I've owned a Laguna LT-18 Bandsaw for about a year now. Very impressed with it, and it is solid as a rock. Lately I've been using a 1.25 inch 1.1 TPI Starret Woodpecker BiMetal Blade (from Peacock Saws in Brisbane) to break down Forest Red Gum slabs that range between 50 and 90 mm thick. That blade chews through the Red Gum very nicely. I also use that course blade to do rough sawn resaw cuts on the Red Gum up to about 10 inches deep to break the slabs down into usable thickness boards. So far the heaviest slab that I've had on the saw was a two man lift that probably weighed about 80 to 100 kg, and the bandsaw was quite stable under that load. With the Resaw King carbide Blade fitted, I've resawn boards up to the maximum height that will fit in the saw, and it produces very nice 2mm veneers consistently. And with a 1/8 inch wide blade, and some after market Carter guides to suit the narrow blade, I've been able to do some very five detail cutting. So overall, I'm very happy with my Laguna LT-18 which has proven to be a very capable and versatile machine.

This year I've had the opportunity to gain a lot of experience with a friends Jet 18 inch bandsaw to help him break down some Blood Wood Slabs that he'd scored. I've got to say that the Jet 18 inch Bandsaw that he has (this one http://www.carbatec.com.au/jet-18-bandsaw_c22229) is pretty good. He bought the same Starret Woodpecker Bi-metal 1.25 inch x 1.1 TPI blade for his saw. The only significant difference that we both noticed after we'd both had plenty of experience cutting tough timber with both brands of 18 inch band saw was that you can tell that the Jet only has a 2 HP motor, as it does bog down if you are not very careful how hard you push the wood into the blade - gently does it when you've got a deeper cut. The Laguna has a 3 HP motor, and that extra power is definitely noticeable when you're chewing into a thick cut, as we have yet to hear the Laguna bog down at all.

So - which do I (a Laguna owner) think is better - Laguna or Jet ? There are swings and roundabouts differences in the specifications - but when it comes down to it, both Bandsaws do a pretty impressive job.

If I was buying now, my decision would come down to price. Haggle hard and get the best price you can on both machines, and then make your decision based on price.

Unless you plan to resaw your own veneers using the full resaw depth capacity of the saw (Laguna = 385mm : Jet = 300mm), in which case the 3 HP motor on the Laguna makes it the clear winner IMHO.

Regards,

Roy

[RoyG]

Thank you Roy, that's what I wanted, some one that has used both. I agree I like the 3hp on the Luguna and at last years TWWW Show I was impressed, but I did not see a Jet 18" at the show then. It's just that has the Luguna 18" changed in quality in 12 months or am I delusional, I felt it was a better machine than I remember, either that or Jet has improved their quality except for the 2hp motor. I think I'm still going to do some thinking on this as I want it to be my last Bandsaw.

SB

Agreed - I expect my LT-18 to be my last bandsaw as well.

I actually spent some time looking around the GregMac Stand at the wood show. I was interested in some of their other equipment as a friend had asked for my advice regarding some of the other Laguna products that I don't have much experience with. One thing that I did note on the GregMac stand was that some of the machines had not been very well assembled by the GregMac staff when they were preparing for the show. I noted that one of the Bandsaws they had on display (can't remember which one now) had a loose table - looked to me like the bolts securing the table to the trunion assembly either hadn't been installed, or had only been done up finger tight. I also saw similar poor assembly problems on the Carbatec stand. One stand had a wood lathe on display (fortunately not in use) where the stand components were bolted together only finger tight - the whole thing wobbled like a bowl of jelly. That sort of Wood Show preparation by a machinery sales company's staff doesn't do the company selling the machinery any favours, because people at the shows will often for instance give a bandsaw table a shake, and if there's any movement at all, that person will often draw the wrong conclusion - i.e. that the machine is poorly manufactured, or that the machine lacks rigidity.

I also looked at an LT-18 3000 in GregMac's showroom a while ago as I'd heard on the grape vine that there had been a few minor changes in the model since I'd bought mine. The changes turned out to be cosmetic only. Build wise there didn't seem to be any changes - still pretty good.

The only build quality problem that I found on mine, and that another forum member also talks about in other posts on this forum, is that the vertical shaft that carries the upper blade guides rises up through a hole in the top of the bandsaw frame when the top blade guides are raised to maximum height. On my machine, the upper blade guide vertical shaft touches the edge of the hole in the top of the case when the blade guides have been raised to about 10 mm short of maximum height, preventing you from raising the top blade guides to the absolute maximum height. I haven't worried about fixing it as I don't envisage needing to resaw that wide a board. There are some adjustments that would theoretically allow for repositioning of the whole upper blade guide shaft. You could make a fine adjustment so that the vertical shaft would go up through the hole without touching, but I'm concerned that such an adjustment would likely put the upper blade guides out of alignment with the wheel. GregMac's advice was don't fiddle with those adjustments, and I've followed that advice.

Anyway, be interesting to see which machine you end up buying.

Regards,

Roy

[Shedhand]

I forgot to add that the Laguna 14 has a 2 HP motor but the Laguna SUV 14 has a 3 HP motor. Gives it the grunt to drive the big King Resaw blade through most hardwoods I've tried with ease.

[Superbunny]

Well I made my decision and went for the Jet 18" and as I assemble it I can only say what a nicely made bandsaw. I got it at Cabatec in Launceston and they gave me a good price so now I don't have to ship it from Brisbane to Tas. I'll do a review when I get to use it but boy if it works as good as the build quality I know I'll be happy, everything just says quality on this machine (I wonder if Jet will pay me for this rave), did I tell you about the build quality, I think I'm in love.

SB

[transit]

I too was impressed with the advertising for the Laguna, so when I saw it at another WWW show a while back I gave it the shake/twist test (of the table and frame to test stability and stiffness) as I cut some big heavy logs balancing on the table, but found myself very unimpressed.

I like the way you are thinking
I gave a row of drawsaws the old knee and twist the other day, the assistant didn't know where to look.

sorry to resurrect this thread but it is a good one

jeeze you Aussies are lucky for choice, we are stuck with the various Chinese clone bandsaw of the same model.
great they usually keep the number
We had a couple of local firms that used actual cast iron, second hand now and quite old
Pete in the bandsaw free NZ

[P.W.H.]

As is my habit I did a LOT of research before I bought my 18" Jet. It must be said that that was Quite Some Time ago - 15 to 20 years. At that time, one machine that was rated well above all others by American woodworkers was the Laguna. At that time, the price for the Laguna was also above 150% of the Jet in Auckland, somewhere above 4 grand. I decided that I did not want to afford that kind of extra money for a comparatively small amount of extra quality. Think I spent something like 22oo on the Jet at that time.

It appears that the price gap has closed significantly?!?
I looked at a new Jet a couple of weeks back and they have changed somewhat, adjustments around the blade seem a lot more user friendly that the grub screws mine mostly runs with.
Having said that, after all this time my Jet looks like it came out of the factory 6 weeks ago, having merely accumulated some sawdust. It's a lovely machine. And it does get a fair amount of work... I never even got around to bolting it to the floor.