Laguna ceramic guides

[Jeff Bartley]

I’ve looked at ceramic guides for awhile now and had a question for those who have experience with the Lagunas: have any of the ceramic pieces come out?

I’ve now heard at least two tales of a ceramics coming out of the holder which makes me wonder if these are a good option. I can only imagine the potential trouble this could cause; ruined blade etc. or worse a ruined workpiece.

My saw (Agazzani) has euro guides and I need to replace the upper thrust bearing.

Given Lagunas reputation for customer service I would imagine you’re on your own to fix it.

[Jim Becker]

AFAIK, the Laguna guides have been around for a long time. I've never felt the need to change to them. Heck, I have a set of "cool blocks" for my MM16 that I've never bothered to put on the machine. But if you are faced with replacing one or more of the guides anyway, it's certainly worthy of considering alternative types. What size bands and your usage could also be a factor here so hopefully anyone who owns the ceramics will comment on that, too.

[Ted Calver]

I've had them on my Laguna 24 for many years (since they first came out) and they have been great. IIRC they are super glued in the holders and if one pops out you just re-glue it back in place. I don't know if the modern version works the same.

[Nick Lazz]

Mine have worked just fine for several (10?) years. No issues.

[jerry cousins]

i've used laguna ceramics on a mm16 for 8+ years -have not had any problems - started with the european guides that came with the saw - then tried carters and finally lagunas - totally happy with the ceramics. i think they provide the best/closest blade support
jc

[Wes Grass]

I had a 16HD with them. I thought they were awesome, once you get over the fear of sparks near sawdust. My current saw has the euro guides, and I hate them with a passion. Will replace them with 'something' ceramic at some point

Another option is 'Space Age Ceramics' ... I think I have that right ... replacements that plug right into the euro guide system.

The only issue I had with the Laguna's is the inserts weren't perfectly parallel with each other, and they were a little out of square with the base, so they would bind on the blade if I just tightened them up. Took some fiddling.

I flattened the inserts on a diamond 'stone', and milled the backs square. Setting them after that was a breeze.

[Jeff Bartley]

I had a 16HD with them. I thought they were awesome, once you get over the fear of sparks near sawdust. My current saw has the euro guides, and I hate them with a passion. Will replace them with 'something' ceramic at some point

Another option is 'Space Age Ceramics' ... I think I have that right ... replacements that plug right into the euro guide system.

The only issue I had with the Laguna's is the inserts weren't perfectly parallel with each other, and they were a little out of square with the base, so they would bind on the blade if I just tightened them up. Took some fiddling.

I flattened the inserts on a diamond 'stone', and milled the backs square. Setting them after that was a breeze.

I’ve looked at the space age ceramics, the downside to those is that they simply replace the euro guide blocks; you’re left with the same mounts.

Jim makes a good point about blades: the stakes are higher if you’re running a carbide blade.

[Michael Burnside]

Mine work great, no issues. May try Carter someday if they need replacement but so far they’re great.

[lou Brava]

I have a Laguna SUV 14, put space age ceramic guides in it (there just same as stock guides) used Resaw King carbide, & 3/8" to 3/4" regular blades and have no problems in fact I think the ceramics are a plus. The only time they could fall out is if there not glued in. Space age recommends epoxy & I think Laguna recommends super glue. Taking the old guides out I had to knock em out with a small punch there was no way they would have ever fallen out they were super glued in.

[Jason Evans]

I just bought a new bandsaw and didn’t go with a laguna, with one reason being the sparks. I read a few accounts of people finding smoldering sawdust in their saws hours after working with it. I’m sure most people will dismiss this concern, but any risk of fire that can be avoided is worth it to me. I bought a Harvey alpha with roller bearings and I love the saw.

[John Kananis]

Hmm... I'll admit that first time I saw sparks, I gave pause but wouldn't this be a common source of catastrophe considering how many saws laguna sells?

[Jason Evans]

Probably very rare. For me not worth the risk. There are too many other things to think about in the shop.

[Jeff Bartley]

Euro guides throw sparks too but I don’t think quite as much as ceramics.

Jason, do you remember where you read about smoldering sawdust?

[Jason Evans]

Euro guides throw sparks too but I don’t think quite as much as ceramics.

Jason, do you remember where you read about smoldering sawdust?

Sorry. Can’t remember. When I research new tools I read everything I can about the different saws, a little much maybe, so there are too many conversations to keep track of. I remember I heard about it once then I googled laguna ceramic guides fire or laguna bandsaw fire and found a few more mentions of it.

[Brian Deakin]

I have had Laguna ceramic guides for many years One guide did fall out but the reason may have been operator failure by me I forgot to tension the blade ,destroyed the upper tire on the wheel The giude then fell out at a later piont in time
If you look at the guides blocks carefully I think they are not rectangular but may be some form of trapaziod
So it is important to study thier shape carefully before re glueing them

If you do chip the edge of one of the ceramics you can turn the guide 180 degrees ,put in a spacer and refit
The best video I have seen for setting the guides is Half inch shy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0goh3RbsJ6M&t=63s&ab_channel=Half-InchShy

and please also see

https://www.youtube.com/@HalfinchshyWWing/search?query=laguna

[Wes Grass]

I've seen smoke from using dull blades, band or circular. So that could be a factor, as well as not having the guides set properly and damaging the teeth.

I never saw a shower of sparks, and the particles are so tiny I really don't think they're still going to be glowing by the time they get down into the cabinet. It's not as if you're using an angle grinder up there. Of course, I never watched under the table with the door open to see what the lower guide was doing ... that might require more than a few 'toddies' for even me to be that stupid.

And I watched the Felder install video. I didn't realize they replace everything. No wonder they're $250 a set. I was going to design and build my own someday.

[Greg Quenneville]

I bought an 40+ year old Agazzani basket case that was missing the lower guide set. The price of a replacement set was a lot more than the Laguna ceramics, and I don’t love Euro guides anyway. I have had those ceramic guides now for about 20 hours of use and would buy them again.

If you had a milling machine and a couple of chunks of aluminium it would be a simple job to make the holders.

[john hejmanowski]

I have a set of Laguna ceramic guides for sale in the classified if anyone is interested.

John H

[Jeff Bartley]

I have a set of Laguna ceramic guides for sale in the classified if anyone is interested.

John H

John, your ad is the reason for the thread! I visited a pals shop the other who told me he had one of the ceramics pop out. He simply glued it back on and didn’t even bother contacting Laguna. But after talking to him I wondered if this was a common occurrence.

I would like to buy your guides but I could get by if I just bought a replacement thrust bearing from space age ceramics. That would certainly not be the same but sometimes needs and wants are not equal!

[Justin Rapp]

I’ve looked at ceramic guides for awhile now and had a question for those who have experience with the Lagunas: have any of the ceramic pieces come out?

I’ve now heard at least two tales of a ceramics coming out of the holder which makes me wonder if these are a good option. I can only imagine the potential trouble this could cause; ruined blade etc. or worse a ruined workpiece.

My saw (Agazzani) has euro guides and I need to replace the upper thrust bearing.

Given Lagunas reputation for customer service I would imagine you’re on your own to fix it.

Jeff,

I have had my Laguna 14BX for a number of years and know others who also have ceramic guides. I have yet to hear of one fall out, only wear out. So that is interesting that you heard of two cases of them falling out. With my luck, this will happen to me tomorrow since I have to resaw something for a small project.

Anyway the guides are easily obtained from Laguna's web page. https://www.shop.lagunatools.com/bandsaw-accessories/bandsaw-ceramic-guides. I ordered another part for my bandsaw from their site and it was shipped right out. My son turned on the saw before I tensioned the blade and it cut the dust guard thing to pieces.

I do want to correct a statement however about Laguna's reputation for customer service. I have 3 Laguna machines, a bandsaw, dust collector and a jointer. I have been in contact with Laguna's tech/customer support a few times with questions (pre and post sales) and had one failure on the contactor or circuit board on my dust collector. I have always had a response either before I got off the phone or within an hour or so. The dust collector took a day or so due to resolve due to some back and forth debugging, but once the problem was isolated to the contactor, which was out of stock, the entire control box assembly was sent to me to correct the issue. With Laguna's big push into the market, they have really stepped up their game. If they still had crappy customer service, you most likely wouldn't see a fair majority of their tools on display at the wood working stores we tend to visit and they sure wouldn't be able to sell there automated CNC smart-shop machines with price tags between $41K-235K. Jeez now I sound like a Laguna salesperson.

[Mike Wilkins]

I have had my LT18 since 2001, and had one of the side guides come loose once. A call to Laguna put me in touch with one of their techs who suggested using gel super glue to put it back in place.
Did that and it has held tight since 2012 or there about. The saw came with the original Euro guides and made the upgrades.

[Jeff Bartley]

It’s great to hear positive experiences with customer service; all too often we only hear the negative!

[Paul Saffold]

I had a blade break on my 14-12 and it broke off about 1/3 of one of the upper ceramic side guides. Found a seller of the ceramics on line and replaced it. I do find it difficult to get the knobs tight enough to keep the guides from loosening over time, especially on the lower guides where there isn't much room to work.

[lou Brava]

It’s great to hear positive experiences with customer service; all too often we only hear the negative!

I thought that was what the internet was for :)

[Brian Gouldman]

I had a blade break on my 14-12 and it broke off about 1/3 of one of the upper ceramic side guides. Found a seller of the ceramics on line and replaced it. I do find it difficult to get the knobs tight enough to keep the guides from loosening over time, especially on the lower guides where there isn't much room to work.

I need to take a closer look at the space on the lower guides on mine, but I was considering buying some of the ratcheting lever handles with threaded rod on them to put in place of the existing knobs. There are similar ones elsewhere on the saw, like the table angle fasteners and the upper guide depth shaft fastener.

[Justin Rapp]

I had a blade break on my 14-12 and it broke off about 1/3 of one of the upper ceramic side guides. Found a seller of the ceramics on line and replaced it. I do find it difficult to get the knobs tight enough to keep the guides from loosening over time, especially on the lower guides where there isn't much room to work.

on my 14BX, I just remove the table - it takes just a few minutes and I know the guide setup is much better on the bottom of the table.