• NTD hip frick'n hooray!

RPA_Ukuleles

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Woo-hoo finally I bought a new band saw. I have been eyeing the Laguna 14-twelve for the past year. Woodcraft has it on sale so I pulled the trigger. Could not be happier. What a fantastic tool. Like sawing with a Mercedes Benz. In fact the only other tools I have encountered this nice are Festool.

My old 14" Jet was good (with riser) and I did my resawing on that with a Wood slicer blade. But it was always a bit of a struggle. Seems whenever I put a load on the saw, it would not respond well. And getting it really tuned for top performance was an art form. This new Laguna with a basic 1/2" 3tpi Laguna blade took 2 minutes to tweak the setup for perfect resawing. Slices thru mahogany like butter. Big, solid and stable. Nearly 100% below-the-table dust collection. Easy blade change, Nice high/low fence. Fantastic ceramic guides (no bearings). And nearly a 13" resaw capacity. I'm in love.

But, I am kinda pissed about one thing... that I didn't buy this a year ago when I decided I wanted it!!! Arghhh Lesson learned.

It's sitting in the back of the shop while I reconfigure a bit, and sell the Jet. I tried to highlight the new saw from the clutter in the picture. (Photoshoped).

The band saw is my go-to tool in the shop. I think I'd recommend to anyone who struggles getting top quality cuts, or generally struggles to get their saw to cooperate without tons of fiddling. This may be the best $1K investment you could make. And I should be able to get $400 or $500 for the Jet, so for me, this is an amazing upgrade for the money.

laguna_zps0znhpdqn.jpg
 
I'm glad you got a good one from Laguna. I bought the SUV 14 which looks a lot like your saw. While having a lot of nice features and built very ruggedly. my saw had a lot of parts that were not well machined. After many conversations and parts from laguna they finally fessed up and told me that they had to change factories in China because they were having so many problems. From what you say they got the bugs out.
 
Well Michael I guess I should say that it's really more the thoughtful design and the functionality that reminds me of Festool, more than the fit and finish. While I have not noticed any glaring finish flaws, I did knock off a few sharp edges on the table with some sandpaper. But I'm just amazed at how effortlessly I can saw off a paper thin sheet of veneer off anything I push thru it. I'm using the Laguna ProForce blade that was under $30. It cuts perfectly, but I guess we'll see how long it lasts. I think your SUV is the next step up in power and bulk. I looked at the SUV, but the 14-twelve at the sub $1K price seemed like perfect balance for a part time luthier like moi. So far so good :)
 
Nice
This is the bandsaw i've had my eye on for a while.
I think Jake Mclay has this too and really likes it.
 
Beau, if you think you're gonna get it eventually, don't wait. Pull the trigger. You'll be glad you did. Plus it's great to get that new-tool shot of enthusiasm, and ride the wave. :D
 
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