New Bandsaw Purchase: Laguna vs. Minimax

[Dave MacArthur]

Okay Aaron, now you really do need to say what saw this is. Rather than "protecting the guilty" what you're doing is besmirching an entire country based on one bad saw from one company... and you're not even telling us what model/company to let folks draw their own conclusions! Come on now, that's not fair at all-- I can go find a bad product from every country in the world, that doesn't mean all the rest of that country's product is bad! Particularly since you're smearing what is generally recognized as some of the best home-use band saws available (Agazzani, Centauro, ACM, MM and SCM), you're gonna have to post the company and model.

I just had to walk out to my shop and look at my guide post to be sure you weren't saying my saw was a POS I bet thirty other guys will too! It's not only OK to be specific with a poor review of a machine, it's kinda mandatory in that you shouldn't be posting vague and broadly negative comments that could be misinterpreted by readers as against a company, when that company is in fact not "at fault".

Awaiting your update!

[Montgomery Scott]

Aaron's experience is one data point. The composite of all the data points for European saws shows his experience is an anomaly or at best is representative of a single model from a single manufacturer. Most people share positive experiences with their Italian made bandsaws. It is easily justifiable to dismiss anomalous data points.

[Alan Heffernan]

I bought a large bandsaw from Laguna several years ago and I can tell you that then and several years later, their customer service was as poor as I have experienced in my life. I think they are still owned by the same person and I wouldn't buy anything from them even if it was half price.

[Aaron Rowland]

Okay Aaron, now you really do need to say what saw this is. Rather than "protecting the guilty" what you're doing is besmirching an entire country based on one bad saw from one company... and you're not even telling us what model/company to let folks draw their own conclusions! Come on now, that's not fair at all-- I can go find a bad product from every country in the world, that doesn't mean all the rest of that country's product is bad! Particularly since you're smearing what is generally recognized as some of the best home-use band saws available (Agazzani, Centauro, ACM, MM and SCM), you're gonna have to post the company and model.

I just had to walk out to my shop and look at my guide post to be sure you weren't saying my saw was a POS I bet thirty other guys will too! It's not only OK to be specific with a poor review of a machine, it's kinda mandatory in that you shouldn't be posting vague and broadly negative comments that could be misinterpreted by readers as against a company, when that company is in fact not "at fault".

Awaiting your update!

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I'm in a bad situation here. I'm new on the site and don't know the rules but have been told that the monitors will come for you if you do certain things Trying to make a few friends and fewer enemies. If you want trouble insult a mans Tools, wife, ugly kids and ugly dog-. in that order- in a bar- on Sat night!. I see no purpose in naming one specific model in a product line that is over 5 years old. I'm not sure they are still making that particular 18" saw .I mentioned things to watch out for when buying and stand by that advice. Look at the plastic insert on the deck that the blade runs though to start. Its black in color and has several small holes. Rectangular in shape. Does it fit or is the top concave and below the deck surface? Look at the hole it sits in. Is it machined or is it just a rough casting that has no hope of ever matching an insert? That's just for a start but real easy to check. Pull the top wheel. Is the slider a block about 4x 6" made out of common rectangular steel? Mine was and ran on a painted steel surface. When it jammed I was told to grease it. Get out of here. Grease and sawdust are not good. I stripped the paint off and used dry lube. Next look at the back side of the sliding block. Has the tilt rod dug into it? I had to JB weld a piece of hard steel over the dug in portion to solve that hickup. Right now while I wait for a new Baldor motor I have the guide post assembly at a machine shop to add bronze bushings. Does your saw use bronze bushings or to the parts run in a punched hole in sheet metal? Is the tension device run with bearings or does it use Allen head bolts sliding on untempered steel? By now I'm an expert on what not to buy but a bit late. Dues are expensive to this club. These comments apply to all Band saws. Look before you buy. The name of the supplier or maker is not important except for revenge on my part. I'm an Engineer and skilled at design. I think I can save this saw. The 14Ga frame has me scared at bit. I will run a stress test on it after the rebuild is complete. Books by Dave or others do not get into this stuff. Consumer Reports does not take advertising $ and comes close in their tests. In no way believe tests runs in the mags that are supported by full page advertisers. They may or may not tell the whole story.

[Dave MacArthur]

Interesting points to look for, and I thank you for the design specifics--those sort of things from mechanically minded folks like you are really useful for looking at saws. Many of those items wouldn't spring to mind for me, or others I'm sure, so it's a great help. Thanks!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Aaron,

The Moderators at this site won't come for you. What is required however is that members abide by the TOSs that they all agree to when they register. You certainly can name the company and the model number but you also need to back it up with factual data so that if the company involved want's to respond, they can.

While it is important to protect the consumer from being taken advantage of by businesses, it's just as important to protect businesses from people who unfairly want to rant about a product. At SawMillCreek, we are just trying to be fair.

You can complain about products here but it must be backed up with factual information not generalities.

[Chris Colton]

Hi Dave,

next time you visit your brother, please feel free to visit me and I will show you the N4400 and we can run some wood through it.

Chris

[Dave MacArthur]

Thanks for the offer! Sounds like fun, and I'd guess a quick run for me up to Oxford PA to visit Hearne's Hardwoods would be easy too!

[Hugh MacDonald]

Mike, I ended up buying the newly redesigned Hammer N4400. It seemed like a very capable saw at a fair price. Waiting for it to arrive; will no doubt proffer a detailed gloat with pics when it does.

[Dave MacArthur]

Congrats, I'll be interested to read your thoughts after you've used it a bit. Enjoyed the thread and shopping with you!

[dirk martin]

What was the cost, delivered?

[Chris Fournier]

I have been working with a Felder Rep pretty closely lately and during a visit to the showroom we discussed the BS in passing. It is a branded ACM unit according to the Felder Salesman. It looks just like my Italian unit.

[Dave MacArthur]

someone just posted a Felder FB540 on the classifieds here... doh. A day late.

[David Kumm]

I have a laguna lt 18 from about 1999 that I would sell if you are near Wisconsin. Don't mean to use this forum to try to sell but I am a believer in bigger is better to the extent you can fit it in. Laguna saws used to be sourced from acm, just as felder and bridgewood. ACM made a lighter and a heavier version-at least in the 540 and larger saws. The smaller saws have their limitations on resaw height due to rigidity and motor. The older saws were generally in the 12 inch resaw range which is frankly about all an 18 or 20 inch saw can handle regularly. Dave

[Russ Apple]

For those still monitoring this thread, I just wanted to let you know something. It's easy to be suspicious. Last Friday, I received a suspicious email showing an unknown UPS Quantum View tracking number in my name. Neither I nor my wife had ordered anything. She suspected some phishing ploy. The sending source did not appear anywhere. No unauthorized charges had been made so far.

There was a package waiting for me when I got home on Monday. It was a new 1" bandsaw blade from FELDER! I had been a "victim" of a random act of kindness! Apparently someone must have seen my posting to you guys and wanted to say "thanks". Now I will have to find out who sent it. Now whenever I mount this blade I can't help but remember how I got it. Pretty sneaky if you ask me.

I have some cherry logs cowering in the corner. I will let everyone know my thoughts on this blade when I doing some cutting later next month.