Laguna Tablesaw

[Jeff Geltz]

Hey guys. First post to the forum. Been impressed for quite a while with the depth of experience on this board and I decided I can keep mum no longer.

I'd like some advice with respect to an upcoming tablesaw purchase I am considering. I am way down the path of a Laguna TS and I wondered if anyone has feedback on the saw from a personal perspective.

Thanks for your help!

[tod evans]

welcome jeff! never driven that saw, sorry.

[Frank Pellow]

Welcome to Saw Mill Creek!

I tried out the saw at a woodworking show a couple of years ago and I really liked it there. In particular, I liked the riving knife and the sliding table. I took a long time to decide what I was going to buy to replace my 25 year old Craftsman, and for about 6 months Laguna was at the top of the list. But, I kept reading about set-up, alignment, and support problems that folks were having with the saw so, in the end, I opted for a General 650 (which, unfortunately, does not have a riving knife).

[John Renzetti]

hi Jeff, My friend, Carl Knapp from Laguna gave me a good demo of the TS/TSS over a year ago at a show. Very heavily built machine. I think it's a nice fit between the pure cabinet saw like the Unisaw and PM 66 and a regular Euro slider. You get the familiarity of the American style rip fence like the Biesemeyer and the advantages of having a small accurate sliding table and if you want-scoring. The price seems right. I say go for it.
take care,
John

[lou sansone]

welcome to the creek.. best wishes on the table saw quest .let us know how you like it once and if you get it.

lou

[Tom Pritchard]

Hi Jeff, welcome to the Creek! Glad to have you with us. Sorry I can't be of any help with your Laguna saw question. A saw like that is one of the many reasons I still play the Lottery!!!:D

[Dan Larson]

Hi Jeff,

Welcome to SMC! I have a Laguna TSS with the scoring blade, so I'm familiar with all of the options available for the TS. My general impression is that it's a great saw. Here are my thoughts regarding the saw as configured as a TS:

Likes: Very robustly built in all respects. I think it weighs in at close to 1000 lbs! Rip fence is easy to adjust and solid. Throat plate is huge and there is an arbor lock, so blade changes are easy. Blade has a dust shroud, so dust collection is very good. True riving knife, so kickback is a very unlikely event. Plently of power from 3 HP Baldor motor. Fit and finish is pretty basic, but good enough.

Dislikes: The extension table is not especially flat. I can't remember exactly how much of a crown mine has (1/16" maybe?), but it is annoying. From what I've heard from other owners, this is par for the course. Fortunatley the cast iron main table is flat, though. The plastic blade guard is a little junky. I replaced mine with an overhead guard. The 4" flex hose that connects the blade dust shroud to the port on the cabinet is terrible. Looks like it was stolen from grandma's 30 year-old clothes drier (and mine was liberally soaked in the shipping grease.) This was, of course, easily replaced with a proper piece of flex hose.

Options: The scoring blade is nice to have when cutting sheet goods. Works as advertised. The sliding table is also a really nice option. It's well built and slides smoothly. My only complaint with this is that the crosscut fence design has some design weaknesses. Resetting it back to precisely square with the blade is a bit of a pain. Mobility kit is well worth the $$, too. It's the only way to move that beast!

Well anyway, I'm satisfied with the purchase. It's not perfect, but it is darn nice. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

Dan

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Welcome to the Creek Jeff! Good luck with you TS quest!

[Clay Crocker]

Jeff,

I was in the same boat about a year ago; I was looking pretty seriously at the Laguna tablesaw too. I ended up going with the General 650 and have absolutly no regrets with my decision. The bigest problem I had with the Laguna was just getting good information about the saw. I requesed literature and a video from Laguna through their web site but never received anything from them. I went to the woodworking show in St. Louis last February to look at the Laguna TS and was very unimpressed. The TS that Laguna had on "display" was shoved back in a dark corner and looked dirty, scratched-up and generally in pretty rough shape. I went to the Laguna booth three times while I was at the show and was unable to get anyone to help me or to answer any of my questions with the TS. The Laguna reps were focused on demonstrating their bandsaws; I don't even know why they brought the TS. The Laguna may be the best tablesaw on the market, but I will never know first hand thanks to Laguna. I just figured if I could not get any support before buying their saw what could I expect after purchasing one? I hope you have more success finding the information that you need to make your decision than I did.

Clay

[Jeff Geltz]

Thanks guys. All in all, I am not surprised with the feedback. I look forward to kicking the tires on one in person at the upcoming Milwaukee show. That is - assuming they don't have it hidden in a dark corner...:o

[Jim Becker]

Jeff, if you have not done so already, you may want to confirm with the vendor that they will have that tool at the show to "kick the tires".