Another Jointer/Planer Question (Laguna)

[Brian Tax]

I have been thinking about buying a Jointer/Planer combo machine. This is strictly for a hobbiest shop. I know the Hammer and MM are the best, but a bit out of my price range. I have been looking at the Jet and Grizzly. I just found the Laguna Platnum 12 " http://www.lagunatools.com/combo.platinum12.aspx

I can't find much info on it, anyone have any info on it, how does it compare to the Jet/Grizzly or the Euro's, somewhere in between?

Thanks, Brian

[C Scott McDonald]

I did some checking into that and pretty sure it is just a china clone. You can call Laguna and they will mail you DVD's of them working. Probably save a lot of money getting a grizzly as this one already has a spiral head in it all ready.

http://grizzly.com/products/12-Jointer-Planer-w-Spiral-Cutterhead/G0634

Good Luck either way.

[Barry Vabeach]

Brian, I have been looking at the 10 inch Laguna. My concerns were that I haven't seen any reviews of it. I watched the video of the 10 inch version on their site ( http://www.lagunatools.com/videos.htm) and thought the changeover looked clunky in that it wasn't clear where you should stand when you run the wood through the planer. I really want the combo so I can sit it up against the back of another machine, but I am concerned you may have to go around the back to feed the wood into the planer because of the way the guard flips out when planing. Someone elso did a post the specs on the Grizzly, Jet and Laguna, including cuts per minute, so you might want to look for that.
I have a strong interest in the 10 inch due to the price and that while it is a 10 inch, that is 6 inches more than my current jointer, and it can't be that often that I need a board that is more than 10 but less than 12 inches in width. The last 200 bd ft ( 54 boards) of cherry I bought had only 2 pieces that were more than a 1/4 inch over 10 inches and one of those was 16 inches. I liked the tersa style head and Laguna overall has a good reputation. I will try calling them to see if there is one nearby i can look at. Good luck and let us know if you get one. BTW, the site says there show pricing is in effect until the end of the month.

[jason lambert]

I kind of ran away from that one for the same reasons no one has review it and is intrested in it. Parts might be hard. The Hammer is the best but the draw back is no hericial head for that money come on! Not even a retrofit and the price increase over the past year is redulicus on it, almost double I have have a problem with that just justifing it to myself.

I settled on the Jet they are redesigning it for a hericial head. You can get the stright one now but for the price and the ability to get parts and service any where I think the jet is my best bet being a hobbiest.

The grizzley intrests me but I can't remember what in the design I didn't like and no one seems to own one. Several happy people own the jet that chimed in here and other places.

[Mike Heidrick]

If going asian imports....

The Grizzly looks great on this tool choice IMO. Then the Jet second. Not sure why the Laguna is $500 more.

[Craig McCormick]

I have a Robland X-31 combo machine from Laguna and I like it overall. The changeover from jointer to planer is very reasonable. I don't know if it works the same as the machine you are looking at. I bought my machine used and have not dealt with Laguna's customer service. If I were to buy a J/P combo I would buy the Jet only because of local service. There is a large Jet dealer 8 miles from our shop. I considered buying the Jet untill I found the used combo machine.

Good luck,

Craig McCormick

[Brian Tax]

Thanks for info. I think that I am down to the Jet and the Grizzly, with the Grizzly a bit ahead due to the helical cutter head, longer bed, and the fact that I live in Seattle and the showroom is about 90 miles up the road in Bellingham. My only fear is that I have never bought any Grizzly stuff before, but there have been a lot of favorable reviews the J/P and other Grizzly machines. If I ever decide and take the plunge, I will be sure to post a goat.

Thanks, Brian

[Mike Wilkins]

I don't have the Laguna J/P machine you are referring to, but I have his identical cousin. I got the J/P machine from Andreou Machinery out of New Jersey. After comparing my machine to the Rojek and the Platinum Series from Laguna, I came to the conclusion they are from the same factory. Just a different paint job. I will admit it is not a Felder, MM or Hammer. But for the money it has been a good machine.
4 knife cutterhead, 3 horse single phase motor, standard Euro cutter head guard, and a cheesy aluminum fence. Like the Laguna & Rojek machines, the tables tilt to the front to access the planer function. This feature will allow you to push the machine right up against the wall, provided you have enough infeed/outfeed space.
The height scale for the planer function is only in metric for my machine, but I always use calipers to sneak up on the desired thickness anyway. I may look into mounting a digital guage to the machine like the Wixey that others have used. Overall a good machine that will serve me well, at least until I find some winning lottery numbers.

[Andy Pratt]

Brian, I recently bought a used 12" robland/laguna j/p combo, I'm just down the road in Lacey and you're welcome to come take a look and run some boards through. I haven't used it much yet myself or I could give you some better feedback.

The tables flip out toward the user (where you would walk by when using the jointer) so it is a different design in that respect than the JET and grizzly. It would appear that the easiest way to walk around when planing boards would be if the other side was accessible, but I can't do that in my current shop so I'll have to work with this, which isn't that bad.

I'll say that it is a solidly built machine and runs much quieter than my jet 6" jointer. Laguna imports the machines, made by robland in belgium, and they provide support for them. There is a horizontal moritser attachment available for $800 and a byrd spiral cutterhead available for $1000, both through laguna (spoke with a rep last week).

If you have questions just let me know, or p.m. met to set up a time to take a look at it (this applies to anyone in the area who is interested).

Thanks,
Andy

[Brian Tax]

Was that the one in Craig's List for $1800? That is what got me looking at the Laguna. I may take you up on your offer when I get some time.

Thanks, Brian

[Samuel A. Livingstone]

Grizzly spiral cutter heads are much inferior to a Byrd cutter head. The grizzly is nothing more than cutup staight knife pieces arranged in a spiral. grizzly knives cut straight into the wood. Byrd carbide cutters are set at angle and shear cut the wood. Both are quieter but the Byrd is worth the money.

[Ken Garlock]

Good day, Gents.

An FYI: the current issue of Woodworkers Journal, P 76, has a review of the Jet JJP-12, $1999, and Laguna A175003, $1495, jointer/planer combo machines. The tester like both machines, but was somewhat disappointed by the short in-feed/out-feed table lengths.

You might want to pick up a copy for a "don't insult your advertisers" review.:rolleyes:


Regarding the helical heads, I installed the helical head from Sunhill in my Sunhill 8" jointer. It cuts a surface that it is ready to glue, sanding optional. I have run a couple hundred feet of hard maple through my jointer, and it does a beautiful job.

I just checked my jointer, and the cutters are parallel to the helix, and thus they do cut at an angle to the wood's direction of travel.