Laguna 16/43 lathe??

[Mike Josiah]

Hi,

I've been turning in a jet mini for about 2 years now and want to upgrade to a bigger lathe. Cost is a big issue and I can go to a max of about $1000.00

I have been looking between the Jet 1442, and the Nova 1624-44. Recently I see Laguna selling their 16/43 lathe for $995.00 with free freight.

The specs look great on it, but I cannot find a review on it anywhere. I have done some research and saw where the larger 18" lathe had all sorts of issues in the beginning of last year. Nothing I can find mentions the 16" lathe though.

I have been in contact with Laguna and as far as their pre-sales customer service goes, it's the best I have seen. I know there were issues with after sales cust. service last year though. I'm hoping whatever problems Laguna was having have all been cleared up 1 year later and this is a good deal as I get a 16" lathe Variable speed, and decent legs. Kind of a "best of" both the Jet and Nova as far as specs goes.

Does anyone have one? Can you please give me your thoughts? Were the issues with the 18" lathes cleared up to the owners satisfaction?

Any and all thoughts much appreciated.

Thanks!

Mike

[charlie knighton]

RPM Range: 600 - 2400 RPM thats a little fast for unbalanced blanks, but ok if you bandsaw them

it does not say what kind of drive? i would ask

it appears it would be easy to add weight to

i have not turned or seen this lathe in person

[Gary Max]

Heck I remember seeing this post over on another site.
Lets see if I remember what they told you.
something about read feedback over at AAW web site---reveiws where very bad---customer service was even worse.

[Mike Josiah]

I have read them. They all dealt with the 18/47 lathe and are about a year old. (Problems at least).

I can't find anything on the 16/43 though

[David Christopher]

Mike, I bought some bandsaw blades and other stuff from them and I thought customer service was outstanding...they even called after the stuff was paid for and asked how I liked the blades..I dont know about the lathe but their other equipment is top notch

[Cyril Griesbach]

Here is a link with some feed back on that lathe. There additional links within the thread this link will take you to. If that's not enough information for you do a search for laguna lathes on the AAW web site as well.



http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=101338&highlight=laguna+lathe

[Mike Josiah]

Thats on a different lathe, but while I can be thick at times, I get the message... :)

On a good note, I just received in an email from Woodcraft where the Nova 1642-44 lathe is on sale for $899.00 with free freight. (Well $75.00) Not a bad deal.

I'd like to have VS, but for my price range, this seems like a winner...

[Gordon Seto]

Nobody has a crystal ball. I belong to two active Clubs, each has over hundred members. I have yet to know the first member to own a Laguna lathe.
They put out full page ads on various woodturning magazines, I doubt they are as effective as the free word of mouth from no name users. Lathe is a durable machinery. Even the best lathes may need service and parts down the road. Service and warranty is important to me. I hope I don't need them, but when I need them I hope they will still be there.
For me, I would go with popular models. There will be less chance of having problem getting parts in the future.
As far as I know, eventually the 18" problem lathe owner got his money back after all the long hassle. The money back deal involved the Forum withdrawing some posts. If that was true, withholding service if owners didn't say good things was bad behavior. These are hearsay from another Forum, you have to make your own conclusion.
For more information, you can Google "AAW Laguna Lathe"

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Take the plunge!
As someone else said, Laguna does make some (obviously not the big lathe) top notch tools. It looks good on paper. Can be ballasted. Cast iron frame, and gussets or whatever the leg things are. Pivoting heastock, all the way around. It may be enough for you. Maybe the guys who bought the big lathes are dumb/abusive idiots. Maybe they were SUPER picky. Maybe they were just complaining to get a partial refund. (I know people like that) You always have to take reviews with a grain of salt. It seems cheap enough, and if it were good, it's a lot of bang for the buck.

Just make sure you get from a dealer with a good return policy! LOL.

And hey, you have to admit they have a really cool paint scheme.... They LOOK cool, even though it just collects dust. (JK)

[Gordon Seto]

Take the plunge!
As someone else said, Laguna does make some (obviously not the big lathe) top notch tools. It looks good on paper. Can be ballasted. Cast iron frame, and gussets or whatever the leg things are. Pivoting heastock, all the way around. It may be enough for you. Maybe the guys who bought the big lathes are dumb/abusive idiots. Maybe they were SUPER picky. Maybe they were just complaining to get a partial refund. (I know people like that) You always have to take reviews with a grain of salt. It seems cheap enough, and if it were good, it's a lot of bang for the buck.

Just make sure you get from a dealer with a good return policy! LOL.

And hey, you have to admit they have a really cool paint scheme.... They LOOK cool, even though it just collects dust. (JK)
Kyle,
A bunch of us of the other forum regulars had dinner together one evening at the Richmond AAW Symposium. That "dumb/abusive & SUPER picky" idiot happened to be among us. He showed us the movie of that particular lathe. I find him to be a easy get along kind of person; he told us he was a machinist all his life. From his posts in the other forum, I believe he knows more than a little about machinery. He upgraded from a full size Grizzly wood lathe. In his movie, it clearly showed that the new lathe stalled when the gouge cut wood.
It was not the lemon he got, but the unhelpful attitude of the big boss we found disgusting.
Nobody wants to receive a defective product. But it happens; I think that's life. It may due to mishandling in the shipping process or fell through the crack for whatever reason. I expect a good company would step up, make things right.
Harbor Freight is my favorite store for tools that I don't use heavily. I know they are not the best quality, but I don't have to worry about whether they really work. If something is defective, I can get replacement or refund without any hassle.

[Bill Blasic]

One other note is that lathe looks like it is a reeves drive lathe. Reeves drive sometimes are real trouble makers.

[Doug Miller]

Mike, I can only attest to the larger lathe. It was a major dud. Laguna didn't want to do anything about it and made some outlandish claims against the owner. (Yes, I've seen the emails) I would not assume that they made that much improvement in either the lathe or the after purchase customer service for their lathes. Other machines yes, but they are just too new in the lathe business.

What I can attest to positively is that the Nova 1624/44 is a great machine. I've had mine since the first month Woodcraft had them. Manual speed change, but the change is quick and effortless. 1 1/2 hp motor is strong and quiet. With the sale that is going on at Woodcraft, it is a deal that is hard to beat. You'll be happy with it.

[Chuck Beland]

can also attest to the what could be construed as threatening e-mails I have read them all. It surprised me due to Laguna makes a quality product & from the way they treated my friend I will NEVER buy a Laguna tool. If I won a contest & received every one of their wood working tools I would Immediately sell them all & buy tools from a company who knows the meaning of "CUSTOMER SERVICE"

IMHO

Chuck

[Gary Max]

Wait till one of the saleamen call you up and cuss you.
My wife had to tie me up---I was headed for the airport.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Josh, what about a 1847 BusyBee lathe made in the same factory as the Laguna, only difference is the spindle size being 1"x8tpi instead of the 1.25" spindle of the Laguna.
Price right now is $758.-- US.
Here's a link, if you want to know, there are a few turners here on the Canadian woodworkers forum that have the lathe and are happy with the lathe.
http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=CT128

[John Shuk]

Wait till one of the saleamen call you up and cuss you.
My wife had to tie me up---I was headed for the airport.

I didn't have a salesman do that. Instead they had the new customer service expert they had hired do it! He also told me that they were really stepping up to the plate here.... even though it was 4 months later and I was still waiting for a switch for my brand new $1500 bandsaw that hadn't ever worked.
You MIGHT get a good tool with Laguna. I'd rather know that in the end I'll have what I paid for.

[Gary Max]

John at the time I think I was the record holder for the most new motors in a year.
One they sent would not even turn----the fan blades where sticking out of the back of the motor. It's been a couple of years but I think I installed 5 motors that year.

[Mike Lipke]

Busy Bee looks like my Jet 1642, only its an 1847.

I love my Jet, if this is nearly as good, at this price, it is a winner.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Sorry if I offended anyone. Sometimes you get some wacked out individuals who post negative reviews, but they had not assembled the tool properly or followed the instructions. Poorly performing tool was not its fault. My bad.

In my case, I was reading reviews for the Performax (now Jet) 16" drum sander. 2 or 3 reviewers claim it was a POS because it keeps eating the feed belt. One of the first things you need to do is make sure it tracks properly. I adjusted mine and have not yet eaten a belt..... Operator error. Good small drum sander by the way.

I find that amazing that a "quality" tool company would do that. ANY company should know that if you P.O. one customer, he will tell 10 that he's P.O'd. If you completely satisfy one customer, he will tell 2 people. The math just doesn't support stupidity on the part of the company when dealing with unhappy customers. That one guy for that lathe now told a couple hunderd prospective customers. Sad.

What's wrong with a Reeves? Shopsmith has had them for decades.... Yeah 1950 technlogy. It does work though. I was wondering why it only went down to 600.

[Mike Stephens]

Hi Josh, what about a 1847 BusyBee lathe made in the same factory as the Laguna, only difference is the spindle size being 1"x8tpi instead of the 1.25" spindle of the Laguna.
Price right now is $758.-- US.
Here's a link, if you want to know, there are a few turners here on the Canadian woodworkers forum that have the lathe and are happy with the lathe.
http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=CT128

Leo were can you find the busy bee lathe in the US? They will not ship out of Canada.

I did a search and found very little info about this lathe.

Mike

[Gordon Seto]

Kyle,
If you have find time to read the Google results of "AAW Laguna Lathe". It was not about reviews. It was about the horrible experience the poor guy had with the customer service. It was about someone from the company posted as third party saying something untrue and inflammatory, trying to get the thread locked and shut down the discussion. The moderators of the Forum traced the abusive posts originated from the company's IP. It was also alleged that service might be withheld if the owners did not say nice things in the review.
You are right about the reviews. I have been burned too many times with the Amazon reviews. Most of them only have experience with the product they are writing the review. They don't have enough knowledge about the whole picture.

Old Reeves drives are not bad. They use the best material and workmanship.
But today Reeves drives only remain on the less than the best model. Cost cutting is the main reason it still exists. In order not to canabalize the high end models with electronic variable speed, IMO the manufacturers cut too many corners. The new Reeves drives are high maintence, need repairs more often and usually have more vibration than the EVS counterpart. One other big draw back is, you can't change speed while the lathe is not running.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Josh I don't know if they will or won't ship into the US, there are a half dozen stores here in Ontario.
I do know Grizzly does not ship into Canada, and WW do go get items in the US, or have them shipped to a border area and go and pick them up there, maybe not feasible to you.
This lathe has been available for about one year here, and I know a few turners that do have the lathe, the only problem that was reported was a pulley that had a couple of loose set-screws on one pulley, other than that everyone reports to be happy with them.
Sorry that all I can do for you, as I'm not familiar what options you might have down there :-)

[Richard Madison]

Note also in addition to the 1" spindle (vs 1-1/4" on similar size machines) the BB lathe has only 2" of tailstock travel, less than one might like on a lathe that size.

[Tim Lory]

Hi Mike,

Wanted to take the opportunity to respond to your thread. Let me start off by saying that I am truly sorry to anyone who has experienced difficulty in obtaining support for their machines, purchased thru Laguna Tools. Laguna has always prided itself on the quality of its machinery and the ability to respond quickly and personally to any and all issues that arise. We are well aware their importance to the future success of the company. Our customer service system is run on a ticket process, in which each inquiry must be addressed by an agent, within a 24 hour period, or an alert is sent to our management who will deal with the agent responsible for neglecting their responsiblity to the customer.

Mike we would love for you to have a 16/43 lathe in your shop, but more than anything would like you to feel confident in the product and support offered by our company. If it's not to much trouble could you call me direct at (800) 234-1976 ext. 9617. I would really appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you.

[Mike Lipke]

The "new" Laguna.

[John Shuk]

It was also alleged that service might be withheld if the owners did not say nice things in the review.

It was "suggested" to me that upon shipping.. not upon receipt of a new switch for my machine that I post a positive outcome to my saga on a forum I was taken to task about.
The truth of the matter is that prior to buying my bandsaw the high expectations I had about Laguna quality were developed from their slick advertising and the video I was sent. In short I was an uninformed consumer and did not seek independent opinions. That will not happen again with a purchase like that for me.

[Mike Lipke]

To the original poster:
There are lots of good tools out there, and stuff can happen to any of them.
Compare the stories about this vendor/importer, with others.

As an example, my first lathe was a small Rikon. Nothing wrong with it, but I called the Customer Service number to order a spare belt, just to have it on hand. The agent said "We will ship one right out, what is your address?"
I started to give him my credit card number, but he wouldn't take it. I told him there was nothing wrong with the belt in the lathe, but he said it was on the house. I was stunned.
Would I buy another Rikon product? In a minute!

Buy from folks with good track records. I know many say that only the bad stuff shows up on forums like this, but some companies are small and have an inordinate amount of bad comments. Others, small and large, have very few. There may be a reason...

[Jim Slovik]

About two years ago I purchased a 16HD band saw from Laguna. I did have several small problems when the saw arrived. When I contacted customer service, the issues were resolved quickly and courteously. They even made follow up calls to make sure I was satisfied. It saddens me when I read that others have had bad experiences with them. I don't know if the customer service department has gone down hill or if they had a "bad apple" within the department that has given them a bad name. Either way, I hope they can get back to where they were when I made my purchase. I was truly impressed. This is just one man's first hand experience. I have no affiliation with Laguna Tools other than being a satisfied customer. If I were in the market for a new lathe, I'd give them a shot. They did right by me.