John Davidson
10-29-2007, 7:57 AM
A few weeks ago I was on the hunt for a new bandsaw. I have wanted to upgrade from my 14 inch Jet for several years. With my new shop completed, I had been thinking about it more when Larry Gelder put out a call in the classifieds that he was looking for his first bandsaw, maybe a 14 inch to start. So, Larry and I worked out a deal and I started thinking about the replacement.
In the past years I had looked at the Mini Max and Laguna saws at the Charlotte and Atlanta WW shows. However, There seemed like more saw and money than I needed. I called Mini Max and Laguna to see what they had that might be more in line with my budget and started doing my research on the web as to what I could expect for my $2000 limit I had set. Many people referred me back to the FWW review of 18 inch saws done in 2004.
In the FWW article the Bridgewood had won top honors with the Laguna second. The dark horse pick was the Rikon, said to offer solid performance for only a $1000. Unfortunately when I did some checking around I found out the Bridgewood was no longer supplied to the US market. Also, I read many articles that the Rikon’s upper wheel tracking assembly had been redesigned and that many felt that the saw had lost its claim as the dark horse contender. So it was back to MM and Laguna.
I talked to MM first about their E16 as it seemed to be the most they had to offer in my budget. Then on to Laguna to discus their LT16 as it seemed to be their saw in my budget. At the same time I started researching these and other saws. As a result I added the Agazanni 18b to the list.
Mini Max was pleasant to deal with and refused to bad mouth the other 2 saws on the list. They pushed to win the sale on the merits of their saw at the price point that they were offering it and their reputation of customer service. They discounted the saw by $200 dollars making it the only saw I was looking at that put it at the door well within the budget. ($1679)
Dealing with Laguna was a bit different. They had no trouble bad mouthing the E16 telling me why the felt that the LT16 was a better saw which mostly came down to the Laguna guides and the slightly larger Baldor motor. But since the foot brake was standard on the MM, an option on the Laguna that added $105 right of the bat, the Laguna seemed high. Then Laguna said they would not discount the price any. Total cost shipped to the door $1976. Also, later that night after I had went to work they called the house and told my wife that they where having a sales contest and wanted to know if I would go ahead and commit to the sale. I couldn’t help to wonder if I was dealing with a tool salesman or a car salesman.
Next it was Eagle tools. They didn’t bad talk any other saws, only talked up the features of the 18b. They were pleasant to deal with but a little slow on the email responses. They also discounted their saw and gave a to the door price of $2258.
When compared, the Agazanni was the larger heavier saw with the feature and adjustments that were more in line with MM and Laguna’s heavier MM16 and 16HD saws. The Agazanni was clearly more expensive than the E16 or LT16 but it was a lot more saw for the money. In fact, the only big differences I could see was the 3 inch less resaw capacity and the smaller motor. However, I gained a wider throat and larger wheels. My research had indicated that the larger wheels were desirable as it works the blades less and more power is applied to the cut. Some of the articles I read made it clear that they felt 18 inch wheels was the absolute minimum to run high end carbide resaw blades on due to the extra fatigue that the blade would develop on smaller wheels. And last, the FWW article had awarded the Bridgewood best resaw but the Laguna had extra full 2 horses on it. It is not always all about HP, I think.
So with all that said I ordered the Agazanni from Eagle Tools. I had decided that even though the saw was $258 over my budget it was by far a major step up and was getting me closer to the MM16 and LT16DH territory. Jesse and Raul of Eagle told me the saw would be checked and verified before it would be crated and shipped. I found this to be a major sailing point as I had came across threads where people had gotten saws both from Laguna and MM that were not right and I had not found a single person that had that experience from Eagle.
The saw arrived last Tuesday. It was completely crated. Unpacked it was clean and ready for use. The only thing I had to do was get it up and to the desired spot, put a cord and plug on and level to feet. I put on a ½ inch 6 th/inch carbon steel blade, nothing fancy. I didn’t even have to adjust the tracking. The first thing I cut was some beech. I sliced off 4, 1/16 inch veneers from a 4 inch wide board. Them I tried a few curves with great results. Later I ran a 7 inch hard maple board thru to get a 16th inch veneer. The saw also passes the nickel test. I haven’t had time to do more but so far so good. The fit and finish is the best of any power tool I have ever bought.
A few weeks ago I was very confused about this purchase but in the end I am happy and think that I have made a good choice. It seems that the bandsaw purchases get a lot of discussion on the forum and everyone has their reason why they made the choice they did. I just wanted to let everyone know what my experience was and hope that it might help others with theirs.
Thanks
John
In the past years I had looked at the Mini Max and Laguna saws at the Charlotte and Atlanta WW shows. However, There seemed like more saw and money than I needed. I called Mini Max and Laguna to see what they had that might be more in line with my budget and started doing my research on the web as to what I could expect for my $2000 limit I had set. Many people referred me back to the FWW review of 18 inch saws done in 2004.
In the FWW article the Bridgewood had won top honors with the Laguna second. The dark horse pick was the Rikon, said to offer solid performance for only a $1000. Unfortunately when I did some checking around I found out the Bridgewood was no longer supplied to the US market. Also, I read many articles that the Rikon’s upper wheel tracking assembly had been redesigned and that many felt that the saw had lost its claim as the dark horse contender. So it was back to MM and Laguna.
I talked to MM first about their E16 as it seemed to be the most they had to offer in my budget. Then on to Laguna to discus their LT16 as it seemed to be their saw in my budget. At the same time I started researching these and other saws. As a result I added the Agazanni 18b to the list.
Mini Max was pleasant to deal with and refused to bad mouth the other 2 saws on the list. They pushed to win the sale on the merits of their saw at the price point that they were offering it and their reputation of customer service. They discounted the saw by $200 dollars making it the only saw I was looking at that put it at the door well within the budget. ($1679)
Dealing with Laguna was a bit different. They had no trouble bad mouthing the E16 telling me why the felt that the LT16 was a better saw which mostly came down to the Laguna guides and the slightly larger Baldor motor. But since the foot brake was standard on the MM, an option on the Laguna that added $105 right of the bat, the Laguna seemed high. Then Laguna said they would not discount the price any. Total cost shipped to the door $1976. Also, later that night after I had went to work they called the house and told my wife that they where having a sales contest and wanted to know if I would go ahead and commit to the sale. I couldn’t help to wonder if I was dealing with a tool salesman or a car salesman.
Next it was Eagle tools. They didn’t bad talk any other saws, only talked up the features of the 18b. They were pleasant to deal with but a little slow on the email responses. They also discounted their saw and gave a to the door price of $2258.
When compared, the Agazanni was the larger heavier saw with the feature and adjustments that were more in line with MM and Laguna’s heavier MM16 and 16HD saws. The Agazanni was clearly more expensive than the E16 or LT16 but it was a lot more saw for the money. In fact, the only big differences I could see was the 3 inch less resaw capacity and the smaller motor. However, I gained a wider throat and larger wheels. My research had indicated that the larger wheels were desirable as it works the blades less and more power is applied to the cut. Some of the articles I read made it clear that they felt 18 inch wheels was the absolute minimum to run high end carbide resaw blades on due to the extra fatigue that the blade would develop on smaller wheels. And last, the FWW article had awarded the Bridgewood best resaw but the Laguna had extra full 2 horses on it. It is not always all about HP, I think.
So with all that said I ordered the Agazanni from Eagle Tools. I had decided that even though the saw was $258 over my budget it was by far a major step up and was getting me closer to the MM16 and LT16DH territory. Jesse and Raul of Eagle told me the saw would be checked and verified before it would be crated and shipped. I found this to be a major sailing point as I had came across threads where people had gotten saws both from Laguna and MM that were not right and I had not found a single person that had that experience from Eagle.
The saw arrived last Tuesday. It was completely crated. Unpacked it was clean and ready for use. The only thing I had to do was get it up and to the desired spot, put a cord and plug on and level to feet. I put on a ½ inch 6 th/inch carbon steel blade, nothing fancy. I didn’t even have to adjust the tracking. The first thing I cut was some beech. I sliced off 4, 1/16 inch veneers from a 4 inch wide board. Them I tried a few curves with great results. Later I ran a 7 inch hard maple board thru to get a 16th inch veneer. The saw also passes the nickel test. I haven’t had time to do more but so far so good. The fit and finish is the best of any power tool I have ever bought.
A few weeks ago I was very confused about this purchase but in the end I am happy and think that I have made a good choice. It seems that the bandsaw purchases get a lot of discussion on the forum and everyone has their reason why they made the choice they did. I just wanted to let everyone know what my experience was and hope that it might help others with theirs.
Thanks
John