Laguna 18/47 ?

[Bill Bolen]

I've been looking at an upgrade. Several machines on my short list. Nova DVR, jet 1642 and the 3520B, afraid the $$ for the mustard may remain out of my price range though. The Laguna 18/47 seems to have it all and is the leading contender. Anyone have this lathe and willing to offer their expierence with it. I have been following one thread on another forum since Christmas. The poor guy has had nothing but trouble but with Lagunas reputation there must be some good things to be said by other owners? I do not want to buy my last lathe and have a poor machine sitting in my shop. Thanks...Bill..

[Bob Hallowell]

Bill,
the laguna has been talked about here before but it is new and I don't think anyone owns one yet. They look like a nice machine but so Is the jet that has been proven by many here.

Bob

[John Shuk]

I think you'll find the Jet to be just fine to work with. 16" is actually alot of swing and with a sliding headstock you can go larger. With a 2 hp motor you'll have plenty of power.
As far as the Laguna goes it looks as if it has nice features. I have had my problems with a Laguna bandsaw and it was never put right. It was early in the models life. I have heard others say that they were happy with Laguna customer service. I was not.
Based on my experience I wouldn't hesitate to go for the Jet over the Laguna. What you are giving up in swing over the bed can be made up in peace of mind using a tried and tested machine and company to back it.
Remember that the Toolnut has a supporting presence here at the Creek and give them a call to see if you can get a good price from them.

[Nathan Hawkes]

I've been following that other thread too, and it seems that Laguna is in no hurry to fix the problem. Seems like its going to be their loss in the long run, as the woodturning community seems to be pretty computer savvy. It seems that Laguna doesn't have a lot of lathes sold yet, so the problem might be solved once the model has been out for a while---kinda like buying a brand new "newly redesigned" model of a popular car--wait until its been out for a couple years to let them work the bugs out.

[Gordon Seto]

I have been following one thread on another forum since Christmas. The poor guy has had nothing but trouble but ..

I don't know whether it is the same poor guy you are referring to. I met him at the Richmond Symposium and a bunch of us had dinner together. As far as I knew and from what he posted in another forum, he did talk to the President of the company. He said he couldn't help him and told him to talk to another representative. He was told the company would check into it after they returned from the symposium. The last post that poor guy had was on July 2nd and he is crating the lathe to ship back.

IMO, after sale service is as important as quality of the product.

[Mike Peace]

If you can't afford the PM I would go with the Jet 1642. The Laguna looks like a great lathe with specs falling between the Jet and PM. When I was buying a lathe in December I looked at it close but decided there were too many risks with a new machine. Besides, the shipping is over $300 on the Laguna so the cost delivered is pushing $2000 and as far as I know they do not go on sale like the Jet or PM. I also did not like the idea of no handwheel on the outboard of the headstock. Not sure what issues there would be if you wanted to install a vacuum chuck.

I went with the PM3520 delivered at about $2600. I felt like the piece of mind I got buying the PM was worth it. The Jet is also a great lathe especially if you can get it on sale.

[Bill Bolen]

Yep Gordon same "poor guy". My heart goes out to him to boot! Seems like only the "good" people get the short end anymore. The Laguna specs are sure tempting.....but I think the other 3 choices would give me the piece of mind required for this last purchase!...Bill...

[Gary Max]

You don't even want to hear the story about what I think of Laguna---yes I talked with the owner and trust me they will never get a dime of my money again.

[Gary Garmar]

Check out Woodworkers Classifieds on this forum, there are several lathes available for a reasonable price, some located within driving range of your location.

[Rick Mills]

I think I had my laguna 18/47 for about a month now, at first i had some problems with it and almost returned it. For the price, and the size it still seems like I got a good deal. One of the issues I had with it is the demo DVD shows them sliding the tail stock off the end of the bed to turn outboard. But the lathe I received was redesigned since the dvd and to remove the banjo or the tail stock you must remove the nut on the bottom. I have not done any outboard turning yet so it's not a big issue. Besides that the machine has been doing everything I need it to. and as soon as my shorter tool rest and chuck insert gets here I can really test it out on pens and bowls better.

[Bob Hallowell]

Welcome Rick and let us know how your laguna work for you.

Bob

[Mike Lipke]

I just looked at the Laguna website, and the lathe you are asking about.
It looks much like a Jet 1642, but without a handwheel and with a funky switch and reverse set up.

The missing handwheel would be enough in itself to buy my Jet again. The switch also looks cheesy and unnecessarily complicated. Jets are pretty bombproof for the money. Laguna looks like a real Beta machine. You will be the doing the field trials. Think about how these come in from where they are made: Container loads. Any improvements will be on the next container load, if then. How long to go thru a container? With an untested boutique product like this lathe, a long time.

Go with a tested lathe...

[John Shuk]

You don't even want to hear the story about what I think of Laguna---yes I talked with the owner and trust me they will never get a dime of my money again.

I'm right there with you Gary.

[Jerry Gerard]

William like yourself I am in the market for a new lathe and was looking at the 18/47 . After watching the video on it I thought I found the lathe I've been looking for but after doing some research online its back to looking again .:D

Customer Service doesn't seem to be the companies strong point . Even on their own forum they have unanswered questions and unhappy customers .

[Andrew Derhammer]

Their smaller lathes have the same problems as the grizzs too. They only start at 600 rpm.

[Bill Bolen]

Welcome Jerry! I'm sure you will find a lot of good people here. I sure have.Afraid for the money I am leaning away from the Laguna. Its a shame their rep isn't as good as their lathe specs...Bill...

[Doug Miller]

Way too much trouble with the Laguna. Company has enjoyed a great rep with some great tools, but they've dropped the ball with this lathe. Simply no customer service at all. I have the Nova and love it. In service for a year and a half and have had no problems at all. Great piece of equipment. At the same time I'm looking at the new Vega bench top bowl lathe. Spoke with the president of that company and he really sold me. I didn't take his word alone though. Checked with Bill Grumbine about it and he had nothing but words of praise for it.
Rev. Doug

[Rick Mills]

I wish this thread was around before I purchased the 18/47, I may have made a different purchase. I did hear some positive things about the 18/47, good value for the price. I will let you know if I run into more problems with it.

[Gordon Seto]

Rick,

No company can prosper without good customer support and relationship. I hope this would be a wake up call for the management.

As consumer, I would like to see more viable competitors. The last thing I want to see is just a few companies monopolize the lathe market, usually that would only drive the price up and degrade the service.

Wish you best of luck.

[Gary Max]

Gordon from what happened in my case---Managment didn't really did not want to take the time to fix the problem---it was like they where making so much money that they really just didn't care. I fought with them for a year and just finally gave up on getting my machine to run right.
I tell this story several times a year and hope it cost them sales every time.
One of the biggest things I look for when buying a machine is service---if a company will not stand behind thier product I will not buy from them. This is the biggest reason I buy Powermatic ---I get service and that means everything to me.

[Gordon Seto]

Gary,

I understand what you said.
In the past, I knowingly paid more to buy Craftsman brand stuff, because they were quality and I knew if something gone wrong, I didn't have to worry a thing. Now those business has gone to Harbor Freight. It is not that the quality from HF is any better. I feel I know what I am getting into; I am not hyped into something that is not. They may not have the best product, but their customer service is #1. Their exchange policy is beyond my expectation from a deep discount place. I just showed them the defective product, and was told to get a replacement from their shelves. That was it; didn't ask for receipt and there was no form to fill out.

I like Jet and Nova lathes, but I want more choices for those who can't afford the Oneway, Robust or Powermatic. WMH just raise a huge percentage in price on Jet and Powermatic since May. I believe they won't do it if they think they would lose market share to competitors. When there were more than 2 or 3 book stores, price at Amazon was much lower.

[Gary Max]

I hope these treads make them rethink the service side of selling tools. What was the saying about--- one unhappy customer can cost a company how much???????

[John Shuk]

Gordon from what happened in my case---Managment didn't really did not want to take the time to fix the problem---it was like they where making so much money that they really just didn't care. I fought with them for a year and just finally gave up on getting my machine to run right.
I tell this story several times a year and hope it cost them sales every time.
One of the biggest things I look for when buying a machine is service---if a company will not stand behind thier product I will not buy from them. This is the biggest reason I buy Powermatic ---I get service and that means everything to me.

Gary,
I'm still with ya.
It just sounds so similar to my story. The kicker was when I was still waiting for parts to get me new saw to run for the first time I was told by the customer service guy that Laguna had really stepped up to the plate for me.
I was floored. And selfish ole me sitting there crying over a $1500 saw that wouldn't work.

[Gary Max]

John-- lets see you top this----thier salesman called me and cussed me out---something about he didn't like my post over the net.
My wife had to tie me up and sit on me -----I wanted to get on a plane and vist Ca---really bad.

[Ralph Lindberg]

.... WMH just raise a huge percentage in price on Jet and Powermatic since May. I believe they won't do it if they think they would lose market share to competitors. ....

Actually everyone is, or is about to, raise prices. The Owner of Grizzly tools stated that there would be no Summer Sale this year, for the first time, due to higher prices. I expect him to raise prices. A tool maker remarked his raw stock price went up 17% in MAY alone.

There is just too much presure on materials and fuel for prices not to go up.

[Gary Max]

I know this is getting a bit off the topic---but-- Have you seen the price of screws????
I buy mine in 25 lb boxes and the have really jumped in the last 6 months.

[Gordon Seto]

High energy cost and the chain reaction. No doubt there is additional cost for the manufacturers. But at the same time, Nova is not raising their price; they are having a sale at Woodcraft. My point is supply and demand dictates the price. If the production exceeds sales, they would run promotions. A lot of restaurants are feeling the pain now. Their food cost is up, but the economy doesn't support them raising their price to pass on their cost increase to customers now.
When Oneway wants to self regulate their company size to under 50 employees because of less Canadian regulations if they do that. They always have back orders; as a business they would and should charge the highest dollar they can get and still keep them busy.

[John Shuk]

John-- lets see you top this----thier salesman called me and cussed me out---something about he didn't like my post over the net.
My wife had to tie me up and sit on me -----I wanted to get on a plane and vist Ca---really bad.

I didn't get cussed at but I did get the talking to about the topic I brought up on the forum. I didn't cuss either but I was pretty firm and was told by the BRAND NEW CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERT (their words not mine) that if I was done now he was gonna go. And he hung up on me.

This is one of those things that still causes me to start a slow burn but I end up really hot about it.

[Dennis Richardson]

Seeing how the media spins the news, are we right to question whether competing firms/salesmen would put in negative reviews/spin on competitors' lathes; whether it be Jet, Delta, Powermatice, Laguna, etc.

I have heard it is quite often done in certain industries to sway buyer opinion, but there is no way of telling whether the reviews are all genuine here in our lathe world. I suspect most are. My 2 cents. Wish I knew more about the 18/47!

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Sigh.....

You would think that a company, who's product is obviously trying to capture a share of the higher end lathes would have learned and started to give better customer service. Jet and PM have the 2 top mid priced lathes, and if they want a chip of the market, they need to wake up. I was also looking at the lathe, and was following the other thread too. But I guess this sums it all up......

[Dick Strauss]

Dennis,
The original person (poster) that had all of the issues with his Laguna lathe was a regular forum contributor that some folks knew personally rather than someone new to a forum AFAIK.

The great customer service for Jet and PM lathes is a known quantity.

Enough said...

[Gordon Seto]

Seeing how the media spins the news, are we right to question whether competing firms/salesmen would put in negative reviews/spin on competitors' lathes; whether it be Jet, Delta, Powermatice, Laguna, etc.

I have heard it is quite often done in certain industries to sway buyer opinion, but there is no way of telling whether the reviews are all genuine here in our lathe world. I suspect most are. My 2 cents. Wish I knew more about the 18/47!
Dennis,
If you care to look up the posts history of the people that you suspect who have an agenda, you will find that they are regulars of the forums. They post on variety of subjects. We all have opinions; forums are the place that we express them.
I think you are right to be skeptical on what you read in internet.
If I work for a auto industry, I bog that Lexus was running rough, falling apart in the first week & I didn't have any car to use for 10 days while in repair. I doubt such blog would have any traction, because it would have the opposite effect. It opens the door for others to say their positive experiences with Lexus.
Free speech doesn't mean that forum users are free to lie, spreading knowingly malicious rumors to harm a company. As individuals, nobody wants to spend his or her own money on attorney fees to fight lawsuits from a corporation.
I don't understand how you get the suspicious about the "agenda".
For me, I am a hobbyist turner. I have the Jet 1014 & 1220 lathes, Nova DVR. I bought all of them through retail stores. If you do a search on the past posts, I have been talking negatively on the Jet 1236 regularly. I also questioned Jet & Powermatic kept raising their prices more than their competitors. I challenge you to find I am in the pocket of any lathe company. Famous professional turners may get complimentary lathes; but they seldom express their opinion in forums. Regular folks seldom get any compensation. If any user wants to say anything nice, that's on their free will.
Most of us are not merely a screen name in the forums, some are also members of local turning clubs. Even some of us are from different parts of the country, we are introduced to old pals whom we have never met on occasions in Symposiums. The woodturning community is different.

[Dennis Richardson]

Gordon - Like I said, I believe the vast majority of those who comment are legit. In not way did I wish to infer that you may be in the pocket of any lathe company. I only wanted to receive some positive comments to help validate my desire to buy the Laguna 18/47. When people(including me) are unhappy they tend to be the more vocal. If happy they are less likely to state they are happy with their tools/equipment/ect.

As a member of the Woodturners Guild, I agree we are a special group. Sorry if my inquiry as to whether some of the complaints were possibly a competing companies' agenda offended anyone. Not my intent. Enough said, will order my 18/47 tomorrow. Gordon, best wishes and enjoy turning. Dennis