Thread: Buying expensive table saws sight unseen

I think Woodworking Warehouse carries Laguna in Melbourne

When you live in the tropics, 1600km from the nearest capital city, you have to rely on the reviews by users. I bought my tablesaw the Carbatec 10HB sight unseen, and it has been great over the years, one of my best buys ever. I also bought a Laguna 14-12 bandsaw from H&F Machinery House when it first came out, but should have waited for user reviews, or preferably the next edition, not entirely happy with it.

So you are at risk in buying machinery, even if you see it and don't test it in action.

With your table saw, don't expect it to work right out of the box, there are a lot of measurements and possibly adjustments to be made to ensure the blade and fence are parallel to the mitre slots, check for any wobble on the arbor and blade etc. And your first project should be to make a sliding crosscut sled, although some on this Forum now use a Incra mitre gauge instead

So they do! Thanks, Charlie!

I bought the Laguna Platinum (3hp with extended table) after much research on options in the in $2-3K range. Its about 100kg heavier than the Fusion and more sturdy/powerful, but it depends on the kind of work you're planning and the sort of timber you like. For my needs, mostly hardwood furniture, its been a terrific machine - flat and square and very stable - and with a Freud 10" Fusion blade, it handles anything and should outlast me. I bought mine from Gregory's in Brisbane after viewing one at the Woodshow. I think its worth the extra $s.

Yeah, thinking the Platinum, too...Was tempted by the SawStop Contractor but I want a beefy machine for my step up, but still single phase, and within my budget.

Dengue, agree on the x-cut sled. I built my first one after I bought the DeWalt...frustrating as all hell to get right, but was a great learning experience. That's the first thing I'd make for a new saw, too. One for 0 and one for 45 degree angles.

And get a really good quality cross cut blade and a glue-line rip blade

Very true, Dengue...Love my Freud Fusion blade, but their Glue Line blade is also in my sights. Sigh, someone could give me 50 grand to spend on equipment and I'd still probably end up wanting more stuff...What a wonderful, frustrating, awesome, expensive, rewarding, infuriating hobby this is.

Here is the link to the Melbourne distributor.

Woodworking Warehouse

I live in Blackburn so you could come and have a look at my Platinum if you don't live to far away.

Safari, that is AWESOME. Thanks. How do you like your Platinum? I'm hearing bad things about Laguna after-sales...any horror stories?

My saw has been very good. I bought from Gregory's sight unseen which could have caused a few problems if any thing major happened. I have since found out that they have a service guy in Melbourne that they call on but now that Woodworking Warehouse have an agency I would buy there. I upgraded from a Triton so it was a bit of a revelation.