I have been thinking of buying a new bandsaw (still).
I really want the 16" Laguna, but I can't get myself to write a check to a small company for a huge piece of equipment on the other side of the USA (im in NC). What if there is a problem with it?...I don't like it..etc? Sounds like it could be a huge PITA.
I think I am gonna get one tomorrow (order?) from Woodcraft down the street. I am torn between the 18" Rikin (which I know Leon tried and hates) or the
18" Jet. The Jet 710750 has a 1.75 horse motor. The guy at Woodcraft says he can order me the Jet 710751, which has 3-horses, much like the Laguna 16" I wanted. If Laguna was down the street this would be a no brainer.
I researched this to death because i am on a tight budget. If money were not a problem, it would be the Laguna or MiniMax. I am in Canada so the product names are a little different but the machines are basically the same. If I were in the US I would have chosen RIKON. They are not available in Canada under that name. Later on I found a Canadian retailer who imports RIKON under their own house name but they had a 6 month waiting list. So I went with a Canadian importer who uses the trade name KING. Not quite as impressive but I am more than happy. Machine came totally and accurately setup. Bottom line.... take the RIKON unless you have bags of money or are making a living with it. Tom BTW HP is not an issue with a bandsaw....it's all in the blade and your patience in feeding stock.
I'll second that. Although I do not cut wet stock (green logs) I have yet to bog down 2HP. IMO feed rate is limited my blade speed (generally constant), sharpness and tooth geometry.
KING is a strange company in the sense that their hits are great and their turkeys are godawful. One year ago-ish I encountered their plunge router. Crappola, sir. Just not good. No other outfit offers such a contrast. I have a KING bandsaw and it is all I ever wanted. If had more use for it, I'd probably have spent the coin on a Laguna/MiniMax/Rikon. But this saw is amazingly well done for the money. Now I'm getting the inside poop that Sonoma (Sanoma?) has a 23 ga. pin nailer which is a sleeper. A total honey for the money. Go figgur, 'cuz the rest of their line is trashy.
You might also check out the Delta and Jet bandsaws at the Woodworking Shop in Winston-Salem. If you ask, you might even get some hands-on time (have something in the truck to sacrifice, I DON'T think they'll let you practice on scrap pallets!).
I looked at both the Grizzly and Rikon 18 and decided on the Rikon and have been very happy. I liked the Laguna but couldn't justify the price for where I'm at in my woodworking experience. Sounds like you not going to make a bad decision on either one.
"stoutman" wrote in message news:2ApQf.37839$ snipped-for-privacy@southeast.rr.com...
LOL.... What a dilemma. I'm glad I am not in your shoes. Woah..... I am in your shoes or maybe visa versa. It sounds like you are looking at the lighter Laguna 16" saw. Want a few observations? Read On. On the Rikon I did have tracking problems unless I cranked up the tension. I witnessed that the upper wheel would wobble when running although I did not see it running. Timberwolf did not think that was right so I checked the 18" monster that Delta sells and the top wheel wobbles on it also. Right or wrong, a lot of saws top wheels wobble. Laguna indicates that the first thing that you should check is the top wheel, grab it in the 9 and 3 o'clock positions and try to wiggle it back and forth. If it wobbles you are probably going to have more tracking problems than with a saw that does not have a wobbling top wheel. Makes since to me. After returning the Rikon I first looked at the Laguna 14SE. It and the smaller 14" and bigger 16" models are built by another manufacturer in Bulgaria IIRC. Not that this a problem, it just means that these 3 lighter saws are built a bit differently than the heavier HD line of saws. In particular there are 2 features that I DO NOT like about these 3 lighter saws. It is strictly a personal preference situation that I prefer the way that the larger saws are built. The first reason that I do not like the lighter saws is that the bottom guides are BEHIND the front side of the trunion. Basically like a lot of BS's the lower guide is mostly hidden by the trunion. I WANT easy access ability. The HD line has the lower guide in front of the complete trunion and in perfect view of the user when you look down there to make adjustments. The other preference of the heavier lines of saws is that the tension adjustment wheel is on the bottom of the upper cabinet vs. on top with the lighter saws. I am not sure that I would buy another saw sight unseen so I am waiting until the WW show to actually decide. The Monday before the show I am going to MiniMax in Austin, TX to look at and do the touchy feely thing with an MM16. Fortunately that is only a 3 hour trip away. Moth MiniMax and Laguna will be at the show in 3 weeks. The MM16 and Laguna 16 HD compare directly to each other but geez there are a lot of differences. Anyway If you would like to hear the differences that I think would matter one way or not I'll be glad to share. Both saws are basically the same price give or take $100.
I did put down a $500 deposit on the Laguna that is refundable if I decide to not buy the saw. I will however be in line to get one of the saws due in on April 1. The Laguna salesman and I did some negotiations over price and should I decide to go with the Laguna I will be getting about $450 off of regular price of the saw, ResawKing blade, 3 different silco steel blades, Mobility Kit, and Delivery to my drive on the ground. If I negotiate a better deal at the show I get that price instead and still maintain my position in line to get the saw. I doubt that the show price will be cheaper since my salesman knows that he could loose the sale to another salesman in the same company. Maybe so maybe not.
I have the new Rikon also. Once you get it set up it does a good job. As Leon found the upper wheel mounting and tensioning is a little sloppy. I had trouble with having to re set everything after using the quick release. This has mostly been resolved. On the plus side woodcraft and Rikon have both been great to deal with. Some of this problem comes because a given blade may be actually longer then the proper 142". For my current needs and finances I'm happy. If I did production work I wouldn't want to spend to much time doing tune ups. Hope fully one new part will make mine stay in tune.
I went to Woodcraft today and brought with me some 10" wide 4/4 hard maple. They had a Rikon in there woodshop/classroom and he resawed a 1/4" thick section of for me. He admitted that the blade that was on there 3/4"? was very worn and it STILL resawed nicely. I am willing to bet that with a better resaw blade it would have done even better, but that would be exceeding my expectations at this point.
After watching the Laguna video I remembered the "grab at 9 and 3 oclock manuever" and gave the top wheel a good crank and she DID NOT budge.
I also asked the salesman to remove and reinstall the blade and he did it fairly quickly with no snags (i did not time him).
I also asked about the 3-horse 18" Jet and he thought that the 3-horse was overkill (much like some that posted here in this thread). He recommended the Rikon over the 18" Jet an d 18" Delta (...I do realize that sometimes salesman will push one product over another because of incentives, but I do not feel this was the case here...).
I told him that I read some negative feedback on the Rikon (from you, but I didn't give you away ;) and his jaw dropped!
No wobble on the Rikon here in NC.
If you go with the Laguna, I hope you don't need to return it. I don't think that will be a pleasurable experience based on what I have read about there customer service.
I ordered the Rikon today! I think it will suit my needs just fine. Up until this point I have been getting buy with a handheld power jig saw. So this will be like going from a Honda to a Lamborgini for me! :)
With 5HP Baldor motor it sure isn't :) Although even my saw still doesn't do well with 36 teeth in the cut at one time :) (Less than 3tpi blades aren't very common and I haven't bothered to get any yet) After having a crap bandsaw (Old 18" 2HP Grizz) I just spend the extra money to avoid the headaches you get with lower quality equipment. Though someones personal/financial situation, and the work they do would play a large part in their decision. I'm still expecting my saw to be serving me in 40 years.
Hmm, I got mine into Canada (their depot is about 30 miles from me) for $25?
-------------------- Steve Jensen Abbotsford B.C. snipped-for-privacy@canada.mortise.com chopping out the mortise. BBS'ing since 1982 at 300 bps. Surfing along at 19200 bps since 95. WW'ing since 1985 LV Cust #4114
Nothing catchy to say, well maybe..... WAKE UP - There are no GODs you fools!
I have the Rikon and don't have the upper wheel wobble problem. I do have a 1" Timberwolf blade that isn't straight which goes along with a recent thread about bad TW blades. The blade doesn't move side to side but does move front to back. This doesn't seem to affect the cut*, though and it does cut straight. A few problems I have with the saw are 1) the fact that I can't get the roller bearings adjusted far enough to the front of the blade due to a design issue. 2) the roller guides tend to move when trying to adjust them....just when you get it where you want it, tightening throws it out. 3) the 90° stop for the table is a pain to adjust.
I really like the dust collection and so far I haven't had any other issues.
*The widest board I've cut was 6" alder so don't have any comments on resawing a 12" thick piece of hard maple.....
If you are ready to buy you can get Laguna to absorb that and then some. I just tentatively bought a Laguna with a $450 discount off regular pricing of the saw and a couple of accessories.
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