Thread: Hafco ST-254 or Laguna Fusion F1…

Hi all. After a couple of years hiatus from doing proper woodworking, I have a few projects to do and have decided to finally get a table saw. I’ve been getting by with a bandsaw, mitre saw and a track saw, but I’m sick of working around their limitations.

My workshop isn’t huge, around 3x5m with a chunk of that taken up by my workbench, so I need something reasonably compact and easy to move about. My selection is very limited here in NZ, and there is no retailer in my city (or even close to it) to have a look before purchasing. I have narrowed the choice down to the Hafco ST-254 from Machinery House or the Laguna Fusion F1 from Carbatec.

Does anyone have experience with both or either? From what I’ve seen, the Laguna is quite a bit lighter (which may actually be a big plus), less powerful and seems to have been designed quite thoughtfully. They Hafco is heavier and more powerful, and a little more “generic” in its design. Are there any big advantages of one over the other?

A big constraint I’m working with is the physical access to my workshop. It’s in a basement down some narrow stairs with a tight 90 degree turn at the bottom. There is no way anyone is getting an assembled table saw down there, so whatever I get needs for the biggest component/subassembly to be small enough and light enough for two people to carry down the stairs. I suspect the Laguna might have more of a chance of meeting that requirement, and if the Hafco doesn’t it’ll be a dealbreaker.