Laguna Revo 18 36 220V unboxing

[joseph moses]

Hello Creekers,

I picked up a Revo 18 36 today and thought I would share a little bit about the purchase and unboxing.
If you are looking for a review there is a good one by by John Keeton here. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...guna-Revo-1836.

Otherwise, this is simply about the purchase and unboxing. I will post a review after I have had it for a while.

I agonized over this purchase for a good long time. I have been turning on a Rikon 12x20 vs for a while and I have truly enjoyed the lathe. I keep bumping up the size of my turnings and I find myself having to chase the lathe around the shop a little bit. I think that the Rikon is a great lathe but I needed something more substantial. I looked at everything I could find including products by Vicmarc, Robust, Oneway, Jet, Powermatic, Laguna, and whatnot. The forum posts on Sawmill Creek had a lot to do with my decision-making process. I tried to read everything I could and then after I had determined my price range went out to see the lathes.

I started out wanting a Robust or a Oneway lathe but finally determined that I just couldn't afford it. One day, I will upgrade to the dream lathe, but for now, I must settle for something a little less expensive and a lottery ticket.

I travel a lot and so get to visit woodworking stores across the nation and had the opportunity to discuss different lathes at woodworking supply stores in Ohio, North Carolina, Colorado, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. I managed to see the Nova, Jet, Powermatic, Laguna and Rikon lathes and talk to salespeople about them. Most salespeople I spoke with seemed to know little about the Nova lathes and scared to talk about the Powermatic because of the price. They all seemed very knowledgeable about the Jet, Rikon, and Laguna lathes.


After a while, I had narrowed things down to the Powermatic 3520B and the Laguna 18 36. The price difference between the two products is significant but the reputation of the Powermatic is powerful. In fact, I was dead set on a 3520 B. I found myself spending my free time going to the local woodworking store to visit my future lathe. Every time I would go in I would see the Laguna sitting right next to it. After a while I began to investigate it a bit. Finally, after finding out everything that I could, it seemed like the Laguna has a better feature set for me and the price was certainly right. I am pretty sure that the Laguna is a sleeper and that when enough people find out about it the price will start going up.

I spent the day purchasing, picking up and assembling the lathe.

Today was a beautiful day in the south to go lathe shopping. I think that it was close to 70 degrees. After reading all of the input and looking at the Revo side by side with a new 3520b I awoke with the decision made. The Revo is magnificent in person and it is a lot of steel for the money. The reputation of the 3520B versus the newness of this Laguna lathe made this a very difficult decision.

I called all of the Woodcraft stores within reasonable driving distance to see if there was one in stock. All of them offered to sell me the floor model but I wanted it in the box for ease of travel. After pulling it out of the box I realize that it may have been easier to have bought the assembled unit. With the box on the floor, it just seems so much heavier.

The Roanoke Woodcraft had the model I was looking for in stock. That's about a 2-hour drive for me. I didn't mind the ride as it meant that I didn't have to wait for the lathe to ship from Laguna. I used a Home Depot trailer $39.00 for the day. I got the one with the tall sides. The Lathe was on sale for 2249.10. The guys at Woodcraft were very professional and had it ready to go when I arrived. They put it on the edge of the trailer and from there it was easy to slide it around the trailer with a little effort. I drove it home and was able to slide it off of the trailer and into my garage by myself. It is a VERY heavily constructed cardboard box. I have posted a couple of pictures below.
IMG_0592.jpgIMG_0591.jpg

Once I got it off of the trailer and opened the box I found that the lathe is packed in two layers.
The first is all of the small parts and the second is the heavy stuff. Here are some pictures.

IMG_0595.jpgIMG_0593.jpg

To get the heavy stuff out of the box you will need to destroy it unless you can pick it straight up out of the box. The box is designed to keep anything from moving and it is very effective. To remove the headstock, tailstock, and tool rest you will need to remove the stops from both ends of the ways. Below is a pic of the stop and of the beat up box.

IMG_0622.jpg


I seem to have run out of room for pics so I will continue on anothe page

[joseph moses]

IMG_0598.jpg

Here are some pictures of everything out of the box. I found that if I moved each part individually that I was able to manhandle the lathe around the back of my house and into the basement with a hand truck. It was heavy but by keeping my lifts short and paying close attention I was able to get the job done. For liability reasons, I feel that I should say. “Doing this job alone is not safe.” It was difficult for one man but would be quite easy for two men working together. Here are pictures of the box contents laid out for inspection. The only tools that I needed to do this were a #6 and #8 hex wrench, a box cutter, an adjustable wrench and something to hold the end of the ways while installing the 1^st leg.

IMG_0600.jpgIMG_0599.jpgIMG_0601.jpg

I used part of a pallet to place the headstock on because I did not want it to sit on the dovetails and bolt while I was assembling the rest of the lathe. Be very careful with the headstock. I don’t think that bumping the VFD would be good for the lathe.
IMG_0600.jpg

There was a thin coating of grease all over the lathe that serves to keep it from rusting during travel. I don’t know what it is but it is much friendlier than cosmoline. It came off easily with some judicious use of a rag and some WD-40.

Here is a picture of the greasy coating.

IMG_0598.jpg

I turned the bed over while cleaning to inspect it. Everything looks well done. Here is an example of the welds from under the bed. They all seemed well done with no splatter. The steel ways are all scraped and well machined.

IMG_0609.jpg

I put a straight edge on the ways in every direction that I could and the ways are dead flat. I could not find a defect anywhere.

IMG_0610.jpgIMG_0611.jpg
Here are some pictures of the leveling feet being installed. I used a ruler to get them somewhat even so there would be less work later.

IMG_0613.jpg

[joseph moses]

IMG_0619.jpgIMG_0612.jpg
Here are some pics of me installing the ways onto the legs. It was a very simple task. I put the ways onto a workbench and slid one end off and onto the leg. I then bolted it to the leg with the four #6 hex socket cap screws that were included.

IMG_0616.jpgIMG_0614.jpg

Here is a picture of the ways installed onto the legs. I am amazed at how quickly the assembly is going at this point.

IMG_0621.jpg

At this point, I coated the bed in Boeshield T9 with a coat of Johnsons Paste Wax over the top of it. I have had tools rust in the past when I only use wax.
IMG_0627.jpgIMG_0623.jpgIMG_0626.jpg

[joseph moses]

Here is a picture of the 220V plug that is on the lathe. It appears to be a 220V 15 amp rated plug. IMG_0628.jpg

Here are some pictures of the underside of the tailstock and tool rest. I have a ruler next to some areas to indicate how beefy the construction of these are.

IMG_0630.jpgIMG_0634.jpgIMG_0632.jpgIMG_0633.jpg

Here is a picture of the alignment out of the box. The tailstock was a little loose fitting in the ways but a ¼ turn with a hex wrench and it was perfect with no alignment necessary

IMG_0636.jpg

Here is a picture of the lathe with some sawdust on it. It is truly smooth and vibration free.

IMG_0637.jpg

[joseph moses]

The Nickel test

[John Keeton]

Congrats, Joseph! You are going to love this lathe and as far as the "dream lathe" if you get the bed extension I don't think you will ever have a need for anything bigger or "better." It will turn anything you ever want IMO. The design is superb and the quality excellent. I turn on a lot of PMs and while they are quality lathes, I wouldn't trade my Revo even for one.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on your new lathe Joseph! I know John really likes his and he is super picky about everything! Thanks for the pictorial - it will help answer a lot of questions for those folks considering upgrading. Have fun turning!

[Adam Petersen]

What a sharp looking lathe! Great set of unboxing photos too. Color me jealous.

[joseph moses]

Thanks, guys. I am extraordinarily happy so far. Every nut, bolt, and thread went together like butter. I am really impressed.

[Jon McElwain]

Thanks, guys. I am extraordinarily happy so far. Every nut, bolt, and thread went together like butter. I am really impressed.

Of course I have had Lego kits that had less assembly required! But really - congratulations! I've been curious about these lathes and have seen them in the store. I bought several Laguna tools a few years back and gave mixed reviews on their quality, service, and design. I think they have come a long way in the last 3-4 years. Good luck!

[joseph moses]

Thanks for the post

[Russell Neyman]

I have two friends who own this lathe and absolutely love using it when I get the chance. The ONLY nit picky comment I have is I tend to rub up against the speed control when working on the spindle side, which is annoying

Great lathe. Good fit and finish.

[Robert Weatherman]

Hi Joseph, or anyone who owns of these. I appreciate the review and pictures, particularly of the plug. I do have one question for anyone that may know the answer or has already inquired about this to Laguna. Laguna's web site description of this lathe states the circuit size to be 20 amps. However what confuses me is the manual for this lathe from the same web site states the recommended circuit size is 15 amps. I guess the question is what size circuit are you guys using? Joseph is correct that it does appear to be the 6-15 plug which is a 15 amp plug so I'm assuming the manual is correct vs. Laguna's web site description. I saw one review of this lathe on you tube where the guy smoked the power board on the lathe and I don't want the same to happen to mine (once they ship it to me) by installing a 20 amp circuit that has the potential to deliver more current than the tool can use. Btw, this is my first post and I look forward to getting this lathe and plan to post a similar review as did Joseph. My perspective will be coming as a brand new, green bean to wood turning Thanks to you all for any responses to this question and hope to hear from you soon.

Edit: I did buy the 220v version.
LagunaDescription.PNGLagunaManualSpecSheet.PNGLagunaManualSketch.PNG

[tom lucas]

Congrats. Nice lathe. Enjoy and be safe.

[John Keeton]

My 1836 2 hp has been on a 20 amp breaker for 2 years with no issue. An electrician might be better to shed light on this query, but I would think the breaker is more of a safeguard of the wiring so that an appliance or machine doesn’t draw a load in excess of the rating for the wiring.