I've got the LT16SEC, have had it for a few years and have used it for everthing from slicing up mini-logs& resawing to cutting dovetails - at least the tails. Do you have specific questions or want a specs sheet and/or video, the latter to inspire its use once you get whichever bandsaw you end up buying?
At Mini-Max, try and reach Jim Strain - he'll get you what you are looking for - AND definitely try to get you to commit to purchasing a Mini-Max, especially if you mention that you're looking at the LTs as well (he and several others at MiniMax use to be at LT). Both MM and LT have pretty good mark ups on their BS so a) don't bite when they tell you "The price is going up next month but if you act now ...." and b) negotiate - free blades, mobility kit, shipping, guides upgrade .... AND make sure that they check the table for flatness BEFORE they ship you a unit whose table is saggy and/or twisted - that MM AND LT - I've heard from new owners of both.
And don't think you have to have a 1 inch or 1 1/2" blade to cut up minilogs or to do resawing. A half inch 3 teeth per inch hooked blade - WoodSlicer or TimberWolf, will do both quite nicely - with a lot less bogging down and heat.
Here's info on my LT16SEC
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here's the info on making your own larger table and resaw fence
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should give you enough info to make your new table and resaw fence
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I can be of further help please feel free to ask away.
Thanks Charlie, I actually have read many of your posts from the past on this subject and I really got some good info. I do have a question that I was going to ping you on at one point. Since you asked.
The LT16SEC which you purchased from Laguna was manufactured by Meber. The Sales Rep from MM was proud to point out that the S16
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the same saw manufactured by Meber with a better finish on the table and cast iron trunions. Does it have a rack and pinion blade guide? if so, where is it in relation to the roller guides?
One other thing I saw in your posts was that you wish the table had tilted more for cutting dovetails. Do you cut your dove tails with your bandsaw?
Laguna has some nice specials this month and MM is going to have to do better. The MM16 is $2500 with shipping and mobility and the LT16HD is $2295 including shipping, mobility, and 3 blades. Just for kicks I contacted a local dealer who carries Agazzani's and has a 20" for $2995. LOL...
I remember reading a post from someone saying that you would drive yourself nuts trying to figure out what tools to buy. Well, I am half way to the insane asylum.
From a Jan 22, 2004 Post to rec.woodworking
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M wrote: 3. Of what benefit is a rack and pinion blade guide?
Charlie B wrote: " A GOOD rack and pinion "blade guide" means not having to tweek your blade guides every time you raise or lower the blade guide + guard. If it doesn't move up and down while remaining square to the table you start cutting trapezoids and not rectangles. Tapered veneer is not good."
"Bob Schmall" wrote in news:YdSoc.11452$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com:
See, that's the beauty of this WWW thingy Al Gore invented. Unless you're still stuck in the dark ages of dial-up, due to some geographic disadvantage, or just haven't got the crowbar out, the video, and pretty much anything you can put on paper doesn't have to be turned over to the USPS. And the postage is pretty cheap, too.
And when the feature set changes, like it seems to do often with Euro tools, you're not stuck with a bunch of obsolete, expensive video tapes & paper brochures.
All this, and opportunities to make millions helping Nigerians, too.
The second image on the following page shows the rack and pinion set up on the blade guard and the images below it show the original euro guides and LTs new ceramic guides as well as the heavy gauge stamped steel trunion.
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Note that the new ceramic guides required hacksawing off some of the blade guard
Only the tails on big stuff - like the apron dovetails on Das Bench. The pins require cutting at 8 to10 degrees off the face of the stock
- in both the plus and minus direction. I made a ply 10 degree slant stock holder to cut negative angle - BUT - control of a give foot 2x6 - at an angle was the real problem.
The MM S16 for $1400 looks an awful lot like the LT16SEC I've got. A 2.5 HP TEFC motor should be more than enough power and 12" resaw capacity is plenty - unless you're looking for something with a sawing capacity just a little less than a Wood Mizer.
A mobility kit is really handy - a must have really, unless you have a really large shop space.
I guess I got a good deal on the LT16SEC - $1100 total, delivered to my shop floor. (gloat?)
I guess getting the Robland X31 combination machine explains the little sanity I've retained - one decision, five functions - 10 inch table saw with sliding table, 3 hp TEFC german motor - 3/4 and 1 1/4 inch bore shaper with 3 hp TEFC german motor - 12" planer/12" jointer/horizontal boring/mortiser - XYZ table
The sooner you decide the sooner you can make sawdust - THE objective to keep firmly in mind.
God help you is an understatement if it was sent media mail. I once bought a manual on eBay, paid for priority mail and the seller pocketed the difference and sent it media mail...it took EIGHT WEEKS from the postmark date to get to me.
I compared your pictures to the pictures that MM sent me on the S16. Almost identical. The S16 that MM sells does not have a mobility option. It looks like a different motor. I can send you the pictures if you want to see them.
On your site you state "Here's another "not what I expected on a bandsaw in this price range" regarding the pack and pinion. Has the nylon held up well?
On Thu, 13 May 2004 22:00:55 -0400, "George" brought forth from the murky depths:
I've been lucky. Most things I've ordered have taken between 8 and
14 days, including vendor dawdle time. The quickest time was a mere
3 days from Southern California, an 8-lb, 3,280 page McMaster Carr catalog for $3.02. Suchadeal!
The longest: standard mail to India. 14 weeks and counting. I think someone pocketed the package about 8 weeks ago.
----------------------------------------------------------------- When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction. --Steven Wright ----------------------------
The manufacturer's plate on my LT16SEC is Meber S.p.A., Capri, Italy 1.85 Kilowatts, 12.5 amps 220 volts 60 cycle 50 microfarad capacitor.
The LT mobility kit - two 4" diameter nylon wheels attached to the inside of the back of the unit's base, a "tongue" with a hole in it welded onto the front of the base and a wheel on a metal handled with a finger to fit into the hole in the tongue - simple and works. I can move my 300+ pound LT16SEC without much effort at all. Pull it out to use, push it back when done.
They've worked fine. If you get a lot of sawdust in a rack and pinion set up, whether it's metal or nylon, it'll get tight and hard to move.
I've got two "euro" machines - the LT16SEC and the Robland X31. The europeans seem to put their effort into the critical functions of their machines and don't waste much time and therefore costs to the consumer on "pretty". Heavy gauge stamped steel trunion works fine. Table surfaces with a mirror finish look nice but don't add much to the function. Rather than a very smooth ground edge on a cast iron table they'll semi-coarse grind a chamfer to knock off the sharp edge. If a bolt with two nuts will do the job why make a special part with a chromed handle when you can put that money into dynamically balanced wheels instead?
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