Laguna

[Dean S Walker]

A few months ago I purchased a Laguna 18bx bandsaw. It is what everyone said it would be works great. I found the table not quiet level , when facing the saw as you would use it the far right hand side is slightly lower. I don't feel this will cause me any grief as I shimmed it slightly at the leveler and most went away. the fence fitting needed .002 shim again no real issue. These are things that came up on reviews so I somewhat expected an issue or two. After all I did not buy the Italian made. I have had and do have some grizzly tools and it always seams you have to tinker just a little bit to get them perfect. Mostly it's some little thing that is easily fixable in an hour or so. Well worth the cost savings. Any time I have ever had any trouble from grizzly they were johnny on the spot getting to corrected. I think their reputation exceeds them in this area and is well known. Back to the laguna I find it a real nice saw, again for the money. I did not think I needed the extra height but I have used it already and I am glad I have it. The ceramic guides so far are the cats meow, I think they shine for the green wood and sense this is at least 50% of why I use it I feel it is going to suffice.

The bad news is the on/off switch failed. I thought, ok no problem and called the tech department. I had already trouble shot it but went and did what they asked anyway. They determined it was the switch. I agree I said. This was last Thursday. I told the tech guy I have a large amount of wood on the ground that needs to get processed asap, while green, so please get the switch to me as soon as possible. He replied and asked what service I thought would be most dependable in may area, being that it was Thursday I said send it USPS 2day priority and maybe I will get it Saturday at worst Monday. He said ok he would ship it right out. So I spent the Friday and Saturday chainsawing up some very large blanks and keeping them wet. No part came on Saturday so I figured soak it all down and tarp it keep it wet. No part Monday, hum I'm patient so I waited till Tuesday still no part. I called because they sent no way for me to track it and after getting bounced around I wound up at and answering machine. So I left a message, no call back, called the next day same senrio. Called again today and when the guy answered the phone I told him of my troubles and asked if he could look into this and see where that part is. He did and told me it had not been shipped yet. Well that kind of did it, that made me very angry with laguna several calls and in the end they never shipped the dadgum part. This is straight up poor service. I certainly hope this is all that goes wrong with this machine. So I spent several hours sealing up entire blocks of wood trying to keep it green as I can till the part comes in and now I have to go back to work. I work 7 days on and 7days off out of town. so I hope this wood isn't all cracked to poo by the time I return. I really hate wasting sealer. Right at this moment I would not advise anyone to buy Laguna if for no other reason the service. I know things go wrong and I really do not mind dealing with little issues but when I need them to hold up their end of the bargain, I expect them to. Now not when ever they want to get to it. Yes I'm angry and I'm just venting but dangit they need to get their service right.

I realize this is just a machine, but I work on machines called helicopters for a living and I'm certain that the people riding in them expect me to do my job right. Everytime!

Thanks for listening to the rant I feel much better now!

[Reed Gray]

I needed a new on/off and safety on/off box set up for my Laguna 16HD, which is 18 years old or so. The price they wanted was outrageous. So, searching around the internet, I found one a lot cheaper. Some times it is a lot easier to source the piece locally if you can...

robo hippy

[Roger Chandler]

CS problems have been noted all over the forums regarding this company, and it seems to ebb and flow with some folks getting good service and help, and some having issues, so you seem to be having one of those times when you got connected with the wrong person on the other end. There seems to be times when a sales rep answers when you need tech support, then get the kind of thing you have spoken of experiencing here.

Seems no amount of need, time frame, or expediency on your end of the issue affects how quickly they move on their end. I think it is the same in a number of places...follow through .....they move at their pace, do things their way, and responsiveness to your particular need is a shot in the dark ...if they manage to hit the target, well it was all just a coincidence!

Good luck going forward with your bandsaw....and I hope your wood does not crack before they get your issue resolved!

[Richard Coers]

Jury rig up something until the switch get's there. Lots of ways to put in a temp switch. I even used a double pole light switch for a while on a Minimax.

[andy bessette]

Jury rig up something until the switch get's there...

This. Just wire around the switch and plug it in.

[Barry McFadden]

I have a Laguna Revo and for a couple of minor issues they resolved it very quickly and same thing for other Laguna owners that I've read about on SMC... I would not condem a company just because of one issue... things happen.... on the other hand you are raving about Grizzly CS .... you may want to take a look at the nightmare Dustin is going through with Grizzly... https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?261003-Grizzly-G0766-vibration-issue-If-you-have-this-lathe-please-comment

[Thomas Wilson80]

I had set my mind on a Laguna (either the 1836 or 2436) but recently started having doubts after seeing threads like this and also, recently I found out that Craft Supplies quit selling anything Laguna within the last 1-2 years because of too many customer service issues.

[Barry McFadden]

I'll agree that in the past their reputation for CS was not good.... ask anyone here how it's been in the last few years and I think you'll see there has been a 100% turn around... I don't think that can be said for Grizzly with the problems and long waits for parts or a resolution....or, in Dustin's case, to even get a reply..he started the thread almost a month ago and don't see anything yet that indicates he's even heard back from them yet...

[Dean S Walker]

I’m sure I just got an idiot on the other end. I have been reading that there cs has gotten much better which is what made me feel better about buying from them. It is a really nice saw that fits my needs it is just disappointing when things go off kilter.. I was just angry and I’m sure we will get it worked of. I have heard of grizzly issues as well although generally they are good but maybe Dustin got the dummy there as well. So long as the make it right it will be ok.
thanks for listening

[Roger Chandler]

"I would not condem a company just because of one issue... things happen.... on the other hand you are raving about Grizzly CS .... you may want to take a look at the nightmare Dustin is going through with Grizzly... https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....please-comment" (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?261003-Grizzly-G0766-vibration-issue-If-you-have-this-lathe-please-comment)

FYI, Justin originally posted over a year ago on 1-5-2018. Nothing from him on this since his last post on 1-19-2018, so he may or may not have found the source of his issue...we don’t know. I do know that several of us owners of the same lathe model did all we could do to try and help him. To me, he seemed to be leaning towards an electrical issue causing his vibration problem. I believe they were in the harmonics produced by his setup. Unless he gives us an update, we might not know definitively...

No condemnation of any company from me, including Laguna. My only point is that they have had CS issues, and every company that sells lathes and other woodworking machines made in Asia seem to have had someone who had a problem at some time.

[Alex Zeller]

While I believe that the company who sold you the piece of equipment should stand behind it and resolve problems in a timely manor I have also come to the conclusion that when it comes to the Chinese made stuff it's often worth my time to upgrade the defective parts if not too expensive. Things like switches and potentiometers are usually sized to just barely do the job. Sometimes it takes some modifications but the end result is usually much more reliable.

[Stefano Bastianelli]

I have a Revo 1836 and as I said in other posts, CS was above any expectations. Little problem with banjo, few days later got the new one for free and they told me to keep the old one.
In December I wanted to change the belt and just sent an email for asking advice like if there were any particular instruction to follow for disassembling the spindle. After 2 days I received an email that they shipped a brand new headstock even if my warranty was expired.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

All this talk about a typical low cost made real cheap switch, I would advice to install a quality switch, as I have and replaced a couple of these switches.

Bandsaw, belt sander, Jet mini lathe and bench top drill press, all made in Taiwan/China and by different manufacturers, but the same cheap switches.

I found out how cheap these things where when I took my Jet mini lathe along to my sons place, (long weekend) and the darn switch stopped working, so I took the switch apart.

A paper thin crescent shaped copper piece about 3mm wide that had to rock back and forth when switched on or off, it had broken in half, it was a wonder that thing had lasted as long as it did, well I got a rocker switch from my son's stash and replaced that piece of Chinese junk, never had any trouble with that again, as it was a good quality US made switch.

Of course it had nothing to do with Jet or in this case Laguna, but the makers of those switches, if you get an identical new one, you still have a cheap Chinese switch that will give you trouble later.

[Jason Ramey]

I just received a 24/17 bandsaw and a Supermax 25/50 from them and the communication and sales help before the sale has been excellent.The salesman was patient and knew every detail of the machine ( this didn’t happen when I looked at their CNC machines). The salesman knew nothing at all about the machine he was trying to sell.

[Wade Lippman]

I had a Laguna drill press and needed belts for it. It took 3 months to get them. The guy was very cooperative; he simply had nothing to ship me and it took him that long to find a substitute.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I had a Laguna drill press and needed belts for it. It took 3 months to get them. The guy was very cooperative; he simply had nothing to ship me and it took him that long to find a substitute.

Really ?, measure length and width and order at any place selling belts, probably will be the same or better quality

Places like "Belts for anything" will ship it to you and you'd have it a day or two later, I've bought from them a couple of times, best CS you can ask for.

[Reed Gray]

I had to change the belt on my Laguna 16HD. Called one tech and he told me a few things. Had a problem or two and called again and got another tech. Whole different story..... "He told you what????". Second one was far more competent...

robo hippy

[Dean S Walker]

Well the saw is back up and running. The switch did come in the day before I got back from work. That is two weeks plus for service. The saws running fine and is working good and I got that wood all cut up and roughed out in the last few days and all is well. I will take the advice of others here and if this happens again I will just find a suitable quality switch system. I am really displeased with the service I received and such I doubt I will buy much else from them. Of course if the price is right on a used piece I might consider it but I know what I'm dealing with now. I wish I could afford to buy all the top equipment but I cant justify the top stuff so I will continue down this road and monkey around with this equipment to get it running right. Sorry for all the ranting but I was just disappointed.