Thoughts on a Laguna 18/47 lathe?

[Kelvin Burton]

One of our club members has a Laguna 18/47 for sale. New price was $1,850 18 mths ago, he wants $1,200. Comes with a live & spur center, index pin, face plate and tool rest. Variable speed (0-3200) with reverse. High and low ranges. Head stock slides to the end for bigger projects.

You can see a picture here (http://easttexaswoodturners.org/News Photos/Jan2012 Photos/EcholsForSale.JPG)

Is anyone familiar with this lathe and have any comments?

[tom martin]

Sounds like a good deal to me! That is assuming the current owner hasn't had any problems with it.
Tom

[Roger Chandler]

I have the same lathe in the Grizzly version........the G0698 18/47...........I have had it for two years without any problems at all, and it has performed very well for me. There were a couple of negative reviews about the Laguna, and that is true for any make of lathe [almost] especially ones made in China.

For $1200.......if it is in good shape, and the owners have had no issues........it is a lot of lathe for the money!

[Jeff Fagen]

Looks like a deal,I'd bite!:)

[Doug Herzberg]

I have the Grizzly version. It's a lot of lathe for the money. The design is straightforward and it looks like it will be easy to fix if something goes wrong after the warranty. I've read bad things about Laguna CS, but my own experience (with sales, at least) has been the opposite. If they don't provide adequate support, I would guess that most parts from Grizzly, Busy Bee, etc., will be available and interchangeable.

I would jump on it, unless there's an obvious problem. What is his reason for parting with it so soon?