Thread: Laguna Revo 24-36 Wood Lathe Impressions

Accessories, every available accessory for the 24-36, is labelled as being for the 18-36. I have every accessory listed for Australia, except for the vacuum unit. In short, I bought my 24-36 with all the fruit.


I picked up my 24-36 in late November 2018, took it home, assembled it and have mostly been having fun ever since. There was an issue with an overheating spindle drive bearing, but that was replaced pronto, no questions asked at all.


It is a lovely heavy unit, nice and heavy. Actual weight, which I calculated by adding up the stated weight on the outside of every box I unpacked. Comprising, the bog standard lathe, plus every accessory, is 338 kg. However I cannot have the bed extension and the tailstock swing away fitted at the same time, unless I have the bed extension on the front or at the headstock end. I have actually done that, works reasonably well. One can work normally, then swing the tailstock away, slide the banjo off and slide it onto the bed extension sitting on the front, swing the tailstock back and then work the rear of your work without removing or reversing it from the chuck.

Swing Away, really neat; that is the theory. The truth is, the swing away doesn’t seem to work as well as it should. There are two bolts fitted with eccentric cams that locate the swing away to the end of the lathe bed. I have found it impossible to get them to perfectly align. I can get them really close, but not perfect. The result is that the swing away is not exactly in vertical alignment to the bed ways. The swing away sticks up about 0.5mm higher than the lathe bed. This is annoying, but the two times I have used the bed extension on the front to work on the rear of bowls, I have jiggled and fiddled and gotten the tailstock onto the swing away. It is doable, but annoying.

The swing away is designated as an 18-36 unit, which is fine. However the 24-36 tailstock is 150mm higher than the 18-36 tailstock with all other measurements being longer, wider, higher and of course, more mass. I really have to say, it seems to be stretched in holding the mass of the much larger 24-36 tailstock. I consider the swing away to be a great idea, but in this instance I have used it very carefully and then, only to allow me to pull the banjo off, then immediately put the tailstock back onto the lathe bed. I do think the swing away is quite a weak point of the 24-36 unit, as presented to me.

Bed Extension, the bed extension makes this lathe, but it is much more than a simple bed extension. With the bed extension accessory kit, you receive the bed extension, a tail stock riser and a tool post riser. This enables you to turn some pretty exotic material.

Obviously it bolts on to the bed end to give you the possibility of turning longer material. I have found that with the supplied spur drive and the supplied live end for the tail stock, I can easily turn material 1300mm long, which is getting up there.

With the bed extension bolted to the lower position, you use the tail stock riser and tool post riser to allow you to turn 965mm diameter material. The tool post extension is surprisingly solid, very solid in fact.

The bed extension can be placed on the front of the lathe, this enables one to turn the rear and front of something without the need to reverse whatever it is you are turning. Very handy if what you are turning will not allow you to slide the banjo underneath. I have used this feature twice and while it is fiddly to set-up, it is a dream to use in this configuration.

The bed extension can be bolted onto the tail stock end, the tail stock lower end, the head stock end, the head stock lower end and finally, the front of the bed. This gives you five possible places.

Comparator, this is something I was unsure about, but as it was there as an accessory, and in the grand scheme of things it was only a super small percentage of the overall cost; I ordered a pair. In fact I have used them more that I thought I would, especially when I’m doing stool legs or similar stuff. One could make up a pair from some suitable timber, so while they are great, I wouldn’t suggest Laguna’s units are needed.

Wheel System, I had hoped the wheel system was as good as the various online reports were suggesting it would be. When not in use, my lathe sits right up against a wall, this gives me much needed room for my table saw and its sliding extension table or any other combination of machine and material I need to use.

It is so easy to use, even with the head stock at the tail stock end and loaded up with a big bit of material, plus the tail stock and banjo coupled to the bed extension; this is the best accessory as far as I’m concerned. I can effortlessly move this 350+ kg lathe around to place it in the best position for whatever I am turning.

This is a very heavy lathe, if you need to move it around, then the wheel kit is perfect.

Locking Handles, all of the locking handles are a dream to use. They are all long and covered with a rubberised material allowing you to positively lock your head stock, tail stock, tail stock riser, motor lift (for changing speeds) and banjo lock.

The rubberised material is 25mm diameter on all of them, except for the banjo lock, which is 32mm diameter. The banjo handle lock lever is also longer than any of the others on the lathe, which makes locking down the banjo an effortless task. Certainly easier than any other lathe I have used and still use, at my turning club.


The tool post locking lever and the banjo locking lever, never come near enough to each other to make life difficult. This is probably more due to the fact the tool post lever is quite high and well away from the banjo locking lever, but I am sure the designers had something to do with this.

Steel Bed, apart from a very low end angle iron lathe I once had, all lathes I have used have had cast iron lathe bed rails. This lathe has steel bed rails, they are touted as being superior by the manufacturer; as they would tout.

All I know is that after nearly a year of use, they run as smooth as when brand new and they are flat as flat can be. That said, I can only measure flatness with a friend’s very expensive machined engineers flat bar. According to his flat bar, the bed rails are indeed very flat. Regardless, the bed rails do work well and maintenance is minimal.

After every use I wipe down the rails, then spray with Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is a recommendation from Laguna in their extremely sparse manual. I use Dry Lube PTFE spray, which is available locally and at a reasonable price. With freshly cleaned bed rails, the banjo and tail stock end almost fly along the bed. I had heard of some people claiming that steel bed rails would be a problem when turning green timber, what with water splashing onto the rails causing rust. Well, if left there, water will rust almost any metal; my experience, is that it is a non-issue.

Cast iron will dampen shocks better than steel, was another thing I read. That may well be from a technical point, but in my experience; there is nothing in it.

Banjo, the banjo is big, really big and locks down with inordinate ease; it glides on the bed rails. It is also quite long, allowing it to hang well away from the bed rails allowing large diameter material to be turned with ease.

Tool Rest, the supplied tool rest is better than any other tool rest I have used. That said, I have never had an upmarket aftermarket tool rest, so I don’t know whether it is really good or just better than plain run of the mill tool rests.

After almost a year of use, the 6mm hardened steel rod welded to the top, doesn’t have a single nick in it. All I do is clean it, wax it and I’m away turning without having to watch out for slight hollows. All other tool rests I have used, needed some filing or sanding to bring back to a smooth surface followed by a suitable waxing; not this one.

Tool Rest Post Clamp, this is a unique feature that defines the detailed design thought that has gone into this lathe. In all other lathes I have used, the tool rest is essentially held in place by a single screw pressed up to the post. The 24-36 tool clamp is just that, a clamp. The entire 360º of the tool post is clamped by the cast tool post holder which closes the 25.4mm hole around the tool post making for a rock solid lock; period.

It is also possible to have the locking lever on the inside of the tool rest, meaning it is completely out of the way.

Lathe Design and Longevity, when purchasing a lathe, the design is the most important feature as far as I am concerned. This lathe seemed to have slightly different design parameters to any other lathe I saw or read about. It was the combination of all the little things that made it compellingly attractive to me.

When ancillary equipment fails, replacing just the failed stuff should be relatively easy, even if the original manufacturer is no longer in existence, or no longer has parts available. But the design of the lathe won’t change, it is either designed to suit you, or it isn’t.

Miscellaneous, I read about the capability, or otherwise, of the lathe head’s two stock bearings not lasting the distance over a three headstock bearing equipped lathe. Maybe that could be an issue, but I happen to know that spindle bearing replacement takes about an hour and a bit if you are practiced at it, probably a few hours if it is your first time. Cost; around $40.00 AUD for high quality replacement bearings.

Very shortly after I started to use the lathe, I noted that the spindle got really warm to hot; almost too hot to touch. A call to the state distributor ensued and he said that an 18-36 unit he had sold in the last few years had hot bearings. The issue would be easily fixed by changing the bearings. This was the case, the bearings were changed with locally purchased highly specified bearings. Hasn’t been an issue since.

One day I mounted a large bowl blank with the head stock at the tail stock end, I had the bed extension in the lower position with the tail stock riser mounted, but no tail stock. When it occurred to me that I could place the banjo directly onto the tail stock riser and face directly into the emerging bowl and turn to my heart’s content as easy as anything. I’m not sure whether this is a design feature the designers thought of, or whether it is something that just happened to be possible. Whatever, it is now a feature that I can use, and sometimes do use when working at the tail stock end.

Some food for thought.

Mick.


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Thanks Mick,

Great review.

I have had a 24/36 Laguna for a couple of months now & love it. I only got the basic lathe & love it.

Only gripe I have is that I have to lean on the tool rest post clamp handle a bit more than I had to with previous lathes or the tool rest would move.

I may have to look at the overheating bearing as well. It seems to get pretty warm a lot quicker than one would expect.

Regards,

Ray.

That sounds interesting Ray.

If you do take it apart yourself, just be aware that placing the handle on the end, which is held by a grub screw, (3mm I think) can be a bit iffy.

An inspection of my lathe by the state distributor told him the spindle shaft was getting too hot; a thermometer was used. After he had left I decided to have a look at the spindle shaft handle end to look into the possibility of adding a vacuum system. When I replaced the handle, I casually pushed it in until it stopped, I then tightened the grub screw.

I then switched the lathe on and immediately heard a funny noise, took me a fraction of a second to stop the lathe; but the damage was done. I had inadvertently pushed the handle up to the indexing chart, the result of that is attached. So if you take your handle off, be careful as to how far you push it on; it does not need to be fully pushed in.

Fortunately the fix is simple, clean off the damaged indexing chart and stick on a new one.

With regard to the tool post lever needing extra tightening, it does get a bit better with use. However it certainly requires more effort than any other lathe I have used, that said, it locks down like a rock.

Mick.


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Originally Posted by yaryetnom

Great review.

.

Agreed!

Many thanks for that thorough review, Mick.

It is now on my list for consideration.


Sent from my ZTE T84 using Tapatalk

I did a search on Laguna 2436 lathe images to see if I could find a picture of the rear so one could see the VFD, no great success, but I inadvertently discovered one such image in a clip.

The clip is from the Australian Laguna Distributors site, this is a screen grab from right near the end of the clip, showing one method of standing at the tail stock end turning straight on to a bowl. I have turned in this configuration, really works a treat. As a bonus, you can see that this particular 2436 unit has an uncovered VFD; unlike mine.

Somewhere along the way, Laguna have seen fit to alter their lathe with a cover for the VFD. I have no idea as to why they have decided to change their fitment of the VFD, but I'm not complaining.

The attached pictures are the screen grab from the Australian distributor, which is a clip extolling the virtues of the 2436 lathe, supplied by ToolMetrix. The other picture is my own VFD which is covered and sealed off from the world of dust, moisture and prying fingers.

Mick.



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When trying to decide on the Laguna I saw a number of reviews from USA where the VFD had failed so they must have enclosed it to keep the dust out.

Ray

Originally Posted by yaryetnom

When trying to decide on the Laguna I saw a number of reviews from USA where the VFD had failed so they must have enclosed it to keep the dust out.

Ray

Ray, is your VFD enclosed like mine?

I too saw some web reviews where the VFD had failed, but all of them were on the 1836, none on the 2436. This of course could be because the 1836 has been out for a few years, whereas the 2436 is relatively new and presumably, has sold in far fewer numbers. Whatever, my lathe has not shown any issues with regard to the VFD, or anything else, except the spindle bearings.

Mick.

Neil, if you are contemplating the 2436, then be assured it is packaged unbelievably well. Transportation via various freight companies in Australia should not be an issue. Attached is the box the lathe came in on the back of my ute, the accessories I purchased took up all of the spare tray space on the passenger side.

That tray is 2.25m long x 1.8m wide, trust me when I say you will need two people to to get the legs down, let alone the head and/or bed. Those legs are incredibly heavy, probably why the lathe feels rock steady.

Mick.

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Hi Mick,

Yes mine is enclosed. I don't think I would have went with one without it.

On the Laguna owners page on Facebook, I saw someone said that if the bearing overheats the replace the head. I think he was in USA.

Thanks for the review. There’s something about the design of these lathes that really appeals to me. I suppose I’d better start saving if I’m ever going to afford one.

Howzit,
Strand Hardware are now the SA agents. No prices on their website yet.
Phil

Originally Posted by Phil Hansen

Howzit,
Strand Hardware are now the SA agents. No prices on their website yet.
Phil

I saw that, quite tempted to go on a road trip down to Port Elizabeth when they have some stock. If I take my trailer I can load up a bit of sneezewood on the way back. Unfortunately I’m not likely to be buying one for another year or two, but it’s good to have something to aspire to.

Save boykie save!