Cary Falk
05-06-2016, 10:26 PM
I can be quoted on this website as saying that I would never buy Laguna because bad customer service stories and a brief talk with them about 10 years ago. I have also said that my Grizzly G1026 was enough to keep me happy despite the short comings in the fence. Well the fence and spindle changes finally got to me and I started to look at replacement fences. You can't find anything decent less than $1000 that is decent. I then started eyeing new shapers. I have looked at the PM2700 but was more then I wanted to spend. I looked at the Jet 35, the Grizzly G5912Z and a couple of Lagunas. Woodcraft was having a sale on Laguna. It's free ship to the store, no tax and it shares a lot of the features of the PM2700 so I took the plunge.
I am going to compare this to the G1026 AS REFERENCE ONLY because it is what I used before and maybe the information will help somebody make a decision down the line because Laguna is still lacking people that know their tools despite supposedly using them. Their website sucks also. Please do not turn this into a Grizzly bashing thread. I still have a lot of Grizzly tools and will continue to buy from them when they meet my needs.
So lets start with the packing. It came in a nice plywood crate fully assembled.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_153353_zps39cokmyy.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_162356_zpseskxd6dv.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_162544_zpsjnagxjl9.jpg
One minor problem. I would guess these brackets were meant to bolt the tool to the pallet. Dooooh!
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_164257_zpsmufttoho.jpg
Here it is side by side the G1026. The front wing of the Grizzly has been removed since I was prepping it to move to it's new home.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_174119_zpssq9xxpzr.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_174158_zpstnkl0uqq.jpg
The miter gage is better than average. It is adjustable for slop and has a nice rubber grip on the handle. It does not have an extruded aluminum fence like the manual shows. The manual is a direct copy of the PM2700 manual with a few pictures changed. They completely missed their error as far as the fence is concerned.:eek:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_174701_zps7ft5fesb.jpg
Next is a shot of the difference in the draw bar and 3/4" spindle between both tools.(Grizzly is the smaller ones)
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_175352_zpsgjwaoedf.jpg
Router bit collet.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_175514_zps81ibbbpv.jpg
Spindle wrench. It's just shy of 1/4" thick!!!!
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_175604_zpsjkvgot9i.jpg
Next is the fence. This is the frustrating part. I called them asking them how/if the fence faces were adjustable so the are in the same plane. The PM2700 and the Jet 35 are completely adjustable and is spelled out in the manual. The PM and JET fence was also spelled out in the Laguna manual on line. Another complete miss when the manual was copied. I talked to Laguna and they said that the fence wasn't adjustable but they didn't have any complaints about the faces not meeting up. The manual has been updated with the correct picture of the fence but no info about adjusting it. I was happy to find this when I took of the fence faces off.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_181233_zpsldjoif7j.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_173356_zpsz1jfclsk.jpg
It has metal wheels. They all point in the same direction. They aren't great but will probably be good enough that I won't build a mobile base. We'll see.
I haven't wired it up yet but so far I am very pleased with everything I have seen so far. Again, this is not a comparison to the G0126. It is used as a size reference similar to using a beer can. This shaper is more on par with the PM2700, JET35X or maybe the G5912Z. The spindle changes, Router collets, belt changes, and manual :eek: are identical to the Jet/PM. The table is comparable to the PM2700.
I hope this is helpful to somebody looking for a shaper because Laguna still don't know what they are selling. If you have any questions pleas ask. I will post more stuff once I get some more time with it.
Cary
I am going to compare this to the G1026 AS REFERENCE ONLY because it is what I used before and maybe the information will help somebody make a decision down the line because Laguna is still lacking people that know their tools despite supposedly using them. Their website sucks also. Please do not turn this into a Grizzly bashing thread. I still have a lot of Grizzly tools and will continue to buy from them when they meet my needs.
So lets start with the packing. It came in a nice plywood crate fully assembled.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_153353_zps39cokmyy.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_162356_zpseskxd6dv.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_162544_zpsjnagxjl9.jpg
One minor problem. I would guess these brackets were meant to bolt the tool to the pallet. Dooooh!
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_164257_zpsmufttoho.jpg
Here it is side by side the G1026. The front wing of the Grizzly has been removed since I was prepping it to move to it's new home.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_174119_zpssq9xxpzr.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_174158_zpstnkl0uqq.jpg
The miter gage is better than average. It is adjustable for slop and has a nice rubber grip on the handle. It does not have an extruded aluminum fence like the manual shows. The manual is a direct copy of the PM2700 manual with a few pictures changed. They completely missed their error as far as the fence is concerned.:eek:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_174701_zps7ft5fesb.jpg
Next is a shot of the difference in the draw bar and 3/4" spindle between both tools.(Grizzly is the smaller ones)
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_175352_zpsgjwaoedf.jpg
Router bit collet.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_175514_zps81ibbbpv.jpg
Spindle wrench. It's just shy of 1/4" thick!!!!
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_175604_zpsjkvgot9i.jpg
Next is the fence. This is the frustrating part. I called them asking them how/if the fence faces were adjustable so the are in the same plane. The PM2700 and the Jet 35 are completely adjustable and is spelled out in the manual. The PM and JET fence was also spelled out in the Laguna manual on line. Another complete miss when the manual was copied. I talked to Laguna and they said that the fence wasn't adjustable but they didn't have any complaints about the faces not meeting up. The manual has been updated with the correct picture of the fence but no info about adjusting it. I was happy to find this when I took of the fence faces off.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_181233_zpsldjoif7j.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/20160506_173356_zpsz1jfclsk.jpg
It has metal wheels. They all point in the same direction. They aren't great but will probably be good enough that I won't build a mobile base. We'll see.
I haven't wired it up yet but so far I am very pleased with everything I have seen so far. Again, this is not a comparison to the G0126. It is used as a size reference similar to using a beer can. This shaper is more on par with the PM2700, JET35X or maybe the G5912Z. The spindle changes, Router collets, belt changes, and manual :eek: are identical to the Jet/PM. The table is comparable to the PM2700.
I hope this is helpful to somebody looking for a shaper because Laguna still don't know what they are selling. If you have any questions pleas ask. I will post more stuff once I get some more time with it.
Cary