Has anyone put a Carter Stabilizer on a Laguna 3000 series machine?

[Matt Winterowd]

I know that some people really like the stabilizer, and I'm interested in giving it a shot, but I can't seem to find actual evidence that the Carter LHD1 model fits the 3000 series saws. I have a LT14 SUV, and it looks like it should work, but the 3000 guides are just a little bit different from the HD guides. Carter couldn't answer the question, and Laguna would prefer that I buy the $155 cool block setup they sell. :)

I know I could just make little wooden inserts for the guides, but I really would like to try the stabilizer.

[Matt Winterowd]

So, that's a no I take it. Well, I'll guess I'll find out.

[Matt Winterowd]

Ok, my initial finding are in: The LHD1 stabilizer will not fit the 3000 series. The spacing on the screw holes on the Laguna guide block is just a little bit wider than the outside of the stabilizer slots. I don't think there's enough meat on the stabilizer that you could drill it out and still have structural integrity.

However, I'm about 85" sure that the CTR4 stabilizer will fit. It takes a 3/4" stud centered with the stabilizer bearing, which should align nicely with the 20mm thrust bearing post on the Laguna. I'm going to try it out and update with my findings.

[Mark Neidinger]

Thanks for doing the leg work on this. It seems as though Carter should be doing more to check compatibility.

Mark

[Mark Neidinger]

Actually, isn't 3/4" closer to 19mm. If so, how would a 19mm hole fit onto the 20mm thrust bearing post?

[Matt Winterowd]

Actually, isn't 3/4" closer to 19mm. If so, how would a 19mm hole fit onto the 20mm thrust bearing post?

This is true. However, the thrust bearing post is actually a little less than 20mm, and I'm sure that the 3/4" hole is slightly larger than 3/4". If it's still too tight, easy enough to bore out the hole. And actually, if it works at all, I will probably cut a little piece of round stock to use instead of the thrust bearing so that I can just swap the guides out with one allen screw.

[Matt Winterowd]

Survey says: Yes, the CTR4 will work on the 3000 style guides (specifically the LT14 SUV) with just a tiny bit of engineering.

As noted above, there are two options
1) You can bore out the stabilizer's post hole just a fuzz to 20mm (it's aluminum, so this is no problem at all), or
2) Cut yourself a short (maybe 3-4", I didn't even measure) piece of 3/4" drill rod, and mount the stabilizer to that. The Laguna guide post will tighten down on 3/4" rod with no problem.

I chose option 2 so that I can just swap the whole guide assembly back and forth with one set screw. Realistically, you could probably even use some 3/4" oak dowel. Rigidity is not really an issue in this application.

[Van Huskey]

That is good info to have. First, I didn't realize the 3000 series had a different mount than the HD series. Second, I have found Carter odd, they have never failed to give correct advice on older BS but the 5 or 6 times I have called about current machines they have been less than confident about their answers. PS wood has some line drawings that I have found very helpful in determining the correct stabilizer. http://www.pswood.com/home.php?cat=49 I don't think these are even on Carter's site.

[Matt Winterowd]

That's a good find too, Van! Carter sent me a drawing of one of their guides when I was trying to retrofit a first generation (1935) Delta 14" bs, but you're right, they don't just provide that info on the site. They also had no idea that the 3000 series saws were different from the HD's. I'm planning to post up some pics when I get a chance.

[harold bowlin]

Very interesting and timely post. Just yesterday I recieved a Carter stabilizer for my 14 SUV in the mail from Carter. It was their model number JET1. When I looked this up in the catalog they sent along with it, it said nothing about fitting the laguna 14" saws but it looks about right and I was going to mess with it tonight. When I went to the link that Van posted I see that it has a 20mm hole so we'll see if it is a better fit. I will update my attempt tomorrow.

[Jamie Buxton]

Wow, that's weird. I'd never heard of the Carter stabilizer, so I checked their web site, and watched a video called Alex Scroll Cutting. You can quite clearly see that as he cuts, the blade is pointing different directions. In the video, the blade goes from very narrow (pointing away from the camera) to very wide (pointing to the left of the camera's view). I'm accustomed to blades that point in a constant direction, so I control the direction of cut by moving the workpiece. With this scheme, the direction of cut depends on the workpiece postition and the blade direction. And if you have the blade turned away from straight ahead, it must be trying to turn itself back toward straight, so it's direction must depend on feed rate and pressure and such. It seems like this approach would not cut as controllably as cool blocks.

[Van Huskey]

Wow, that's weird. I'd never heard of the Carter stabilizer, so I checked their web site, and watched a video called Alex Scroll Cutting. You can quite clearly see that as he cuts, the blade is pointing different directions. In the video, the blade goes from very narrow (pointing away from the camera) to very wide (pointing to the left of the camera's view). I'm accustomed to blades that point in a constant direction, so I control the direction of cut by moving the workpiece. With this scheme, the direction of cut depends on the workpiece postition and the blade direction. And if you have the blade turned away from straight ahead, it must be trying to turn itself back toward straight, so it's direction must depend on feed rate and pressure and such. It seems like this approach would not cut as controllably as cool blocks.

The stabilizer is designed to be a one point guide on top and the bottom guides are removed from the equation. It is used for scrolling cuts and works exceptionally well in that capacity, it indeed does not control the blade as well as a solid guide like cool blocks but that is by design and allows much easier scrolling cuts but does not work well for cutting straight at all. It is quite intuative to use and doesn't require a big learning curve despite the fact it looks strange, but it is not a replacement for the saw's normal guides, it is a one trick pony but well worth it if you do scrolling type cuts.