Should I buy the Laguna 14 SUV or the LT16 Bandsaw

[harold bowlin]

I have been researching for a new bandsaw for some time now and have finally narrowed the field to a laguna (either the 14 SUV or the LT16) The Lt16 is about $400 more than the 14SUV but if I forego the Driftmaster fence I had planned to buy with the 14SUV it will amount to the same overall cost. I am looking for an all around saw. I want to be able to do resawing but not exclusively. Any advice is appreciated. So far the folks at Laguna have been very pleasurable to work with.

[Jeff Monson]

I'd choose the LT16 all day long. The $400.00 now, will seem trivial a couple years from now.

[John Spitters]

The LT16 is a flimsy light built saw, I have the 16HD and it's ok but also has it's shortcomings, my biggest beef is that it uses a single v belt on the drive pully and all too often this belt winds up slipping especially on startup. If I was to buy another bandsaw my #1 choice at this time would be a grizzly product such as their 19" Ultimate series saw with the 19" resaw capacity. A friend of mine purchased one and let me tell you that is one well built saw and for so much less that what I paid for my Laguna. I should also add that I now have 5 of my friends whom have bought the Extreme series saws from Grizzly and they are all super pleased with them. Perhaps look at the 17" Ultimate @ $2400 I think it is an excellent buy.
John

[Nick Lazz]

I'm going to have to agree with the last poster. Laguna bandsaws are over priced IMO. I own one and wish I would have saved my money and bought something else like the Grizzly. Bandsaws aren't complicated or precise machines so if you have good wheels, good motor and well built spine you should be in good shape and many manufacturers offer that. Save your money and put it towards a machine that you want to or need to increase accuracy on or has features that make your life easier. Bandsaws aren't one of those machines IMO.

[Van Huskey]

The Grizzly Ultimate 17/19" bandsaws have their on series of compromises that make them not the perfect resaw nor the perfect contour saw. They do come in under the price of saws that don't make what I see as compromises.

The current Laguna ACM built saws are excellent and compare very well with the other Italian saws. The SUV is one of the better built 14" saws made currently but it is still a 14" saw. The value of the Asian made models is harder to define for me than the Italian built saws. One must set out a clear set of priorities when buying a bandsaw, they are a machine that has many variations.

Don't forget used, $1,500 will buy a lot of saw in the current market.

[Dan Wiese]

I looked at the 14SUV a year or two ago and almost bought it but a used 16HD came up for sale and I got it instead. The 14 inch Laguna I looked at was built like a tank and I assume it would have been an excellent saw based on the numerous reviews. My 16HD has been absolutely perfect for my needs with nary a belt slip or any other issues that would change my decision today. Even though the saw was used, Laguna was very helpful answering questions I had about its operation. It is an agonizing process to figure out what saw will suit you best so good luck trying to figure this out.

[Jim Andrew]

Haven't priced bandsaws recently, but when I got my MM 16 they were on sale. They threw in a carbide tipped 1" wide blade, and 3 Olsen steel blades. The MM wheel webs are about 1/2" thick. Compare that to the others. This thing is heavy. And it came with a tool to move it. There are 2 wheels on the saw, and the tool lifts up the opposite side and has wheels on which to roll it around. So no mobile base needed. The salesman said these saws are built to run 2 shifts a day and last for 20 years at that rate. Mine will still be like new when I die.

[Van Huskey]

Haven't priced bandsaws recently, but when I got my MM 16 they were on sale. They threw in a carbide tipped 1" wide blade, and 3 Olsen steel blades. The MM wheel webs are about 1/2" thick. Compare that to the others. This thing is heavy. And it came with a tool to move it. There are 2 wheels on the saw, and the tool lifts up the opposite side and has wheels on which to roll it around. So no mobile base needed. The salesman said these saws are built to run 2 shifts a day and last for 20 years at that rate. Mine will still be like new when I die.

There is no question the MM series saws are GREAT, I absolutely love my MM20 but the price is over twice the budget mentioned, though if he can stretch it...

I personally like the mobility kit on the Minimax but you need pretty flat floors or it won't work, many people use machine leveling casters instead.

[Matt Winterowd]

I can't comment on how the subtleties of build quality might factor into the equation, but on paper and in my experience the LT14 SUV is the better buy. The only advantage in specs for the LT16 is 2 more inches of throat capacity. The LT14 SUV has 2 more inches of resaw capacity and comes with a footbrake. The 16" wheels might provide a little more flywheel effect, but with 3 hp motors, these things are not lacking for power anyway. Even the Laguna sales rep admitted to me that he couldn't really see the point of buying the LT16 over the LT14 SUV. Now the 16HD...

I will say that I find the Driftmaster to be overkill. The stock fences are very nice, and the Driftmaster is so bulky and heavy that I find it to be in the way more than any extra value that I'm getting from it's cool features. I would suggest using the stock fence at first and see if you're not perfectly happy with it. Otherwise, I might be willing to make you a deal on the Driftmaster if you don't end up buying one from Laguna.

[Van Huskey]

There is a lot of truth in what Matt says about the two saws though the LT16 300 does also come with a foot brake it is resaw challanged compered to the SUV. I would expect the SUV to be their best selling saw. The time where I would rather have the 16 than SUV is if you add the DM fence, it is bulky and the extra 2 inches of throat would come in handy to park it. I love the DM but I think to bother with it you need to cut veneer on a regular basis, in any case it still is the best designed BS fence IMHO.

[tim young]

Another very nice BS worth considering is Felder FB400.

[Van Huskey]

Another very nice BS worth considering is Felder FB400.

Agreed, but if he wants to double his budget to get the Felder we can have an entirely different fun thread. The Italians vs Austrians vs old arn. At around that price point the Agazzani B-24 is my favorite if buying new.

[john lawson]

Buy the best used Italian bandsaw you can find. They go for 60 -65% of new price and they are the best built saws you can buy. I owned a 16" Laguna, and 18" Laguna SE, and now own a 24" Centauro (1984 model) that I refurbished. By the way the Felder bandsaw is Italian).

While I have a lot of respect for Grizzly and their improvement in quality over the years, it can still be a bit of a crapshoot as far as quality goes. A bandsaw is a funny tool, they seem pretty simple, but if you get one with vibration you may be chasing ghosts for years. You can buy a bad Italian bansaw, but it's a lot harder than buying one from China.

Look around for a used Italian saw from an amateur woodworker and you can hardly go wrong. Even one from a cabinet shop should be ok if it is not too old. (I drug mine out of barn and it was a rust bucket but very sound mechanically).

If you do buy a Laguna, the driftmaster fence is great, so are the ceramic guides. I might update my old Centauro with new guides from Laguna one day.

[mreza Salav]

I am surprised by those who are not happy with their Italian Laguna's and are suggesting Grizzly.
From someone who has owned neither and is considering buying an Italian bandsaw (like LT16HD or MM16), these have to be the first to point the other direction.
I feel I might be highjacking the thread if I ask for why they feel that way (i.e. aren't happy with their bandsaws).

[Sam Murdoch]

OK, I'm bookmarking this thread. I'm thinking on making a similar purchase but have been scared by the really negative reviews of the Laguna customer support, though I get the impression that the saw is very good a what it does including resaw. Keep talking so that I can know more please.:)

[David Kumm]

There is a Felder 540 on CL. The saw is the heavy ACM model made for Felder and basically the same as the Bridgewood 540. The heavier ACMs are generally the 440,540,640, etc. The lighter ones are the 400,500,600. At least in the older saws. Felder is now sourcing saws differently and I believe making some themselves. If resawing is going to be a major consideration, the only saw under 20" that is really made for it is the MM16. If buying used you need to step up to the 20" saws for resawing any volume. Dave

[Van Huskey]

Felder/Hammer saws are now almost if not all made in Hall in Tirol with the rest of the Felder line but seem to be made equally well compared to the saws they had built by ACM for them. Minimax Centauro built saws are my favorite but the ACM built Agazzani and Laguna saws are excellent as well. They all have their personality and you just have to find the one that suits you best, the size range that one tends to stand proud of the others is the sub 20" range where as David mentions the Minimax is pretty hard to beat. The used Italian market varies a lot by area, down here we don't see many of them on CL but they do pop up. You do have to educate yourself if buying used since many of the Italian built saws didn't get model designation changes even when significant changes were made to the saws. Particulary watch resaw height and motor HP.

[tim young]

Here is the link... this is about the same price as a new Laguna SUV14...

http://hartford.craigslist.org/tls/2848492653.html

[spurgeon locklear]

My new LT14 SUV will be here on Tuesday and it came with the free 1" resaw king blade it will be nice to do my own resawing.

[harold bowlin]

Well, I finally decided to buy the Laguna 14SUV. It should arrive any day now. Thanks for the help with my decision making. In the end I figured it would allow me to do all the things I needed to do with it as a general purpose bandsaw and offer me the options of great resawing capability for the size saw and, with the addition of cool block guides, the ability to use very narrow blades for scroll type work. I got the driftmaster fence, the mobile base, and an assortment of blades with it in a great deal directly from laguna. My experience with them so far has been great. I'll add an update as I set the saw up, start to use it and any further dealings with Laguna.

[Brian Loran]

Its a great saw. I have one and it is a beast! You will not regret it.

[Van Huskey]

Enjoy the saw and give us your review and pictures when you get her up and running.

[Nick Lazz]

Good luck with that. I would be interested to hear how the 14 SUV handles the 1" resaw king. My 14 SE, in my opinion can't handle it. That blade is collecting dust as we speak because I could never get it to work very well. I really don't think my saw can tension it well enough.

[Mike Heidrick]

I am surprised by those who are not happy with their Italian Laguna's and are suggesting Grizzly.
From someone who has owned neither and is considering buying an Italian bandsaw (like LT16HD or MM16), these have to be the first to point the other direction.
I feel I might be highjacking the thread if I ask for why they feel that way (i.e. aren't happy with their bandsaws).


The LT16HD and MM16 are not a LT16 or LT14SUV. You are talking a grand more for a LT16HD over a LT16.

I own a MM20 - Its an AWESOME saw. I would expect the same from a LT16HD or MM16. You will be fine with those choices.

I just added a used like new Jet JWBS-16 as a second saw today though. It was cheap and I am thinking it will be more than perfect for a small blade. I will give more feeling after it is setup again in my shop. I keep a 1 1/4" Resaw King or Trimaster or Woodmaster CT on my MM20.

I swapped to ceramic guides on my MM20 from teh bearings. they are nice but I do not feel better than the bearing guides that came with my MM20.

I do like my driftmaster though on the mM20. I may add a kreg fence to the Jet. First I am going to see if my old cast iron MM20 fence will work on it.

[Guy Belleman]

+1 for the Grizzly saws. Also, allot some of your funding to buy some good blades.

[Van Huskey]

I swapped to ceramic guides on my MM20 from teh bearings. they are nice but I do not feel better than the bearing guides that came with my MM20.

First I am going to see if my old cast iron MM20 fence will work on it.

On the guides: although my opinion gets poo pooed a lot I am of the strong belief guides make little to no difference when resawing if you are using a sharp decent gauge, wide blade, the saw it is built well enough to properly tension the blade properly and you don't overfeed the blade. A saw like the MM20 has all the strength and the blades you list are the big 3 for resawing on that saw, if everything is correct the blade should rarely if ever be significantly impacted by the guides. Although I love the Laguna guides I have avoided putting them on my MM20 since it is just a resaw and they would be mainly pretty jewelry.

I would think you could get the MM's fence to work on the Jet though it does have a significantly smaller table. I have a habit of wanting a fence for all my bandsaws but in reality I rarely use them on anything but the MM since my other saws tend to be countour only and the jigs I use tend to reference off the miter slots and not the fence. If you want a Carter Stabilizer for the Jet, I think I have the one that fits, cheap, PM me.

[harold bowlin]

I want to let everyone know how my bandsaw purchase has turned out. I finally received my 14 SUV on Friday, last week and promptly left town until Saturday night. I couldn't wait to get up Sunday and start unpacking and assembling my new bandsaw. Here is my evaluation of the saw and of dealing with Laguna. First of all I'd like to say that I got great service from Chris on the sales staff. He worked with me to ensure I had all the information I needed to make a decision and was always helpful and informative whenever I emailed or called. He made me a great package deal and has stood behind the sale (more on this later). The Saw was packaged as securely as a new born baby. The saw was bolted to a pallet, surrounded by a wooden frame, covered by cardboard, banded and surrounded by plastic shrink wrap. Oh, I forgot to mention that every part that would be prone to rust was protected by a thick coat of grease. Kind of a pain to remove but I'll take an extra thirty minutes of wiping with a rag over rust any day.

I have read a few posts on here talking about how the instructions that came with their Laguna tools were lacking in detail. Well, that may be true. I don't know because there are instructional videos on every aspect of assembly of their bandsaws available on the Laguna website. I watched all of them and I can honestly say that they were so detailed that I never even had to take the instructions for the saw or out of its plastic bag.

It took me about 2 1/2 hours to set my saw up and get it adjusted and tuned up. I will need to drill some holes in my base to mount the Driftmaster fence so I need another weekend to make sure I get that right. After I got everything adjusted I couldn't wait to see how it cut so I mounted my Resaw King, tensioned it according to the instruction in the videos and took a piece of 3/4 melamine and ran it about 3 inches into the board. I looked at the kerf and decided I needed to adjust the fence a little to the right on the outfeed side. I loosened the bolts and adjusted the fence until the blade appeared to be perfectly centered int eh kerf. I ran another three inch cut and the kerf still appeared to be centered. Then I pulled the fence over and cut a 14 inch piece off the edge about 1/8 inch wide. I put my digital calipers on the front and back of the piece and couldn't believe my eyes. There was only one thousandth difference. I ran another cut of about the same size and this time there was absolutely not difference in thickness (to four decimal places on my calipers. Everything about this saw is first rate. It looks good, sounds good, is vibration free, the dust collection works like a charm, and is easy to adjust and use. I can't say enough about how pleased I am with the saw. The only glitch in the entire process was that although I bought the mobility base, and it was listed on the packing list that came with the saw, it somehow got left out. Sunday night I sent Chris an email to let him know I was missing the mobility base and asked him for instructions on how to resolve it. I went to work Monday and left my cell phone in the car. When I checked for messages at lunch there was a call from Susan at Laguna customer service saying she had gotten a call from Chris about my missing mobility base and was shipping one out that day. I didn't even have to talk to customer service but they reacted to a problem with an immediate fix. I got another call today confirming that the base had shipped. For all those folks that have heard or had poor customer service from Laguna I will attest to the fact that it those days are long gone. As far as the fact that my mobility base was left off in the first place I have to say that I take zero points off for that. Anyone can make a mistake but fixing the mistake as quickly and painlessly as Laguna did has confirmed to me that they are really serious about customer service. It gives me a lot of confidence for my future dealings with them. I would highly recommend Laguna for a great machine and equally great service after the sale.

[Van Huskey]

I am glad you got your saw in and are enjoying it. There is nothing like cutting veneer and hitting it with calipers and being amazed at the small differences and seing the finish the RK leaves. I hope you get a chance to slice some veneer soon.

[Jim Matthews]

A word on purchasing bandsaws - they're pretty simple machines, so after the sale service is unlikely.
Most bandsaw failures are due to shipping damage, and that may not be evident until you get it completely uncrated.

I would choose a saw in this category more on features than point of sale. If the item is being drop-shipped, what value does a storefront ad?
Peruse the delivery terms to find out who is responsible for repairs to any damage on delivery.

jim
wpt, ma