Laguna 18-36 - any experience?

[Roger Chandler]

Congrats Prashun! I think you made a good choice for your needs. I went all out and got the G0800, should be in the first week in February. I did some rearranging to make a space to put my radial arm saw in my back building, and will take down one of my modular work benches to make room for the 0800 beast. Now I need to run another 240v circuit from my panel.

[Jack Lilley]

There is a review on youtube by SG Art Turning. He has had the 1836 for awhile and recently purchased the 2436.

[Prashun Patel]

Jack-Thanks, I saw that review. It was very helpful.
Roger-Yup, I considered the G0800 as well briefly. In the end my instinct was that it was in a similar price range to the Laguna 24-36 and that just made it feel a tad excessive for me. I am making no statement about relative quality of any of these machines.
William-Got any pix of your balast?

[William C Rogers]

Jack-Thanks, I saw that review. It was very helpful.
Roger-Yup, I considered the G0800 as well briefly. In the end my instinct was that it was in a similar price range to the Laguna 24-36 and that just made it feel a tad excessive for me. I am making no statement about relative quality of any of these machines.
William-Got any pix of your balast?

Prashun, here are some pictures of the ballast I added to mine. The box is made from 3/4" plywood. I think I made everything from one 4'X8' sheet. I painted the wood the hammered grey. First picture shows the bottom area where I fit five 50# bags of sand and then filled gallon and quart freezer bags with another 30#. I made three pull out shelves above the ballast box. Initially I had some of my chucks in those, but they were heavy for the cheap drawer slides and since I had quite a few centers and drives I store them there and a few other things. Still have room to lay my chisels on top of the pullouts. There is a thin white piece of plastic that I pull out and dump the shavings that accumulate on the top of the pullouts. I ended up putting my chucks on a cart I had.

John Keeton also added ballast to his lathe and can search his threads for those pictures.
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[John Keeton]

Bill, Prashun and I have been emailing and I sent him pics and info on my ballast box and drawer unit.

[Stefano Bastianelli]

I pulled the trigger and purchased the Laguna REVO 18-36 (220v). I thought I'd write this for the benefit of anyone in my boat considering this.

I was considering the Powermatic 3520C, the REVO 24-36, and even the Robust lathes.

For ME, I don't turn enough to justify the investment into the super premium lathes, so after some deep breaths, I realized MY money is better spent on upgrading my accessories and tools than in horsepower and mass. I anticipate needing to turn larger and rougher things less and less as I age. I believe I was wooed (for better or worse) into considering pricier lathes by people who turn far more frequently and larger than I do. In the end I had to step back and consider my own potential use.

The 18-36 has a conical headstock and a lower stance. Being a shorter bowl turner, these things are good me. The weight @ 400+ lbs is more manageable for me to get into my basement, but about 3x what I'm used to, so I suspect it will be fine. I also suspect that the lower height will contribute to improving stability even at reduced mass. I like that the lathe extension can be mounted perpendicular to the headstock as well as on the end. I haven't purchased the extension, but I like having the option if it comes up on occasion.

The 24-36 was my second choice. This featured of course larger capacity and power, but also has a 3" taller (standard) spindle height. This is good for some but I prefer the lower stance. It also features a moveable control box. I did not like this machine $1000 more than the 18-36.

My only trepidation with Laguna was a reputation for sub-par customer service. However, current users don't seem to share this opinion, and therefore I have reason to believe this may be a thing of the past. I also don't (this is MY opinion) don't want to trust that the quality of a 2018 PM3520C is equivalent to a 2008 PM3520B. I could not find any user reviews of the new PM for me to make an informed decision.

Unfortunately I did not have the luxury of being able to try any of these machines prior to purchase (bring on the criticisms!), but there it is. I'll report back when I've had some history with this machine.

Prashun, don't worry about the customer care. As i wrote in another post, I had a problem last May with the banjo and they were awesome.

[William C Rogers]

Bill, Prashun and I have been emailing and I sent him pics and info on my ballast box and drawer unit.

That sounds familiar.

[jon minerich]

Prashun,

I have had my Revo 1836 for about 4 months. It is the 110 volt version. I love it. It is smooth, quiet and and heavy. I have turned some bowls, boxes and lots of Christmas ornaments. The machine has performed flawlessly. Change overs are quick and easy. Overall it is a very nice machine and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Jon

[Ashwini Kaul]

Any opinions on leaving the machine plugged in vs out when not in use.
I noticed that even when off its using some juice and even the display stays on. Dont know what kind of power its uses in this standby state.
I usually dont unplug my machines unless I am servicing them but with this one I have been and its a minor annoyance.

[John Keeton]

My Laguna is the only stationary tool in my shop that has complex circuit board electronics, so I unplug it whenever it is not in use to avoid lightning or surge damage. It isn’t the power usage that concerns me.

[William C Rogers]

Same as John, unplug every time for surge potential.

[carl mesaros]

Congrats Prashun! I think you made a good choice for your needs. I went all out and got the G0800, should be in the first week in February. I did some rearranging to make a space to put my radial arm saw in my back building, and will take down one of my modular work benches to make room for the 0800 beast. Now I need to run another 240v circuit from my panel.

Congrats to you too Roger! I know you will be more than pleased with your new GO800. You will be amazed at the difference 800 lbs. makes.
I turn every day and the only reason I'd ever move up is purely the beauty of a Oneway or Robust.
I will be watching this space for a complete review of your new lathe and to see if your expectations were met.

[Roger Chandler]

Congrats to you too Roger! I know you will be more than pleased with your new GO800. You will be amazed at the difference 800 lbs. makes.
I turn every day and the only reason I'd ever move up is purely the beauty of a Oneway or Robust.
I will be watching this space for a complete review of your new lathe and to see if your expectations were met.

Thanks Carl. I will put it through its paces, and since this is my 5th lathe I will have owned over the years, and my experience with many other models including 11 of the PM 3520b's, a Serious SL2542, a Robust American Beauty, numerous Jet 1642 evs, and midi's as well, I feel like I have a good and varied background and experience in which to be able to assess the performance of this G0800.

If I could get one of my son's to film me doing a project [time for them is always an issue] then I would be tempted to do a youtube review......not sure that is in the cards however, but one never knows.....

[carl mesaros]

Thanks Carl. I will put it through its paces, and since this is my 5th lathe I will have owned over the years, and my experience with many other models including 11 of the PM 3520b's, a Serious SL2542, a Robust American Beauty, numerous Jet 1642 evs, and midi's as well, I feel like I have a good and varied background and experience in which to be able to assess the performance of this G0800.

If I could get one of my son's to film me doing a project [time for them is always an issue] then I would be tempted to do a youtube review......not sure that is in the cards however, but one never knows.....

Great idea hope your son's can find the time.

[Prashun Patel]

I am having trouble getting the Robust bowl tool rest to seat securely in the banjo. It's a little loose and slides down even on tightest setting.

The Laguna straight rest does not have this problem.

My thought is to condition the post a little with sandpaper, but don't want to ruin it.