Laguna Pro7.5 versus Grizzly g7214z shapers

[Bobby Robbinett]

I am looking to buy a new shaper sometime this month or next and have sort of narrowed down my search to the Laguna Pro 7.5HP unit and the Grizzly g7214 which is also 7.5HP. I do have 240v 3 phase power in my shop and have good dust collection. I would like to hear some of your opinions on this topic and see what you guys would suggest. I would primarily be using it for cope and stick cabinet doors and sometimes entryway doors. Might also be used for raising panels.

Both are 7.5HP but the Laguna can spin up to a 7.5” cutterhead and the Grizzly can only support a 5” cutterhead. My cutters are most Freeborn 4”+ brazed tooling but at some point I do intend to get into insert tooling which is usually larger than brazed tooling.

I will be honest, the Laguna looks to be the superior machine but would like to hear from you guys. My main concerns are the bearing sizes and life spans in the spindles, as well as the ease of setting and changing cutters and of course power and life span. What do you guys think?

[Ronald Blue]

It sounds like you've made your decision already. I have no dog in the fight and no experience to offer. However looking at the specs a couple things popped up. One is the Grizzly can be slowed down about 25% slower than the Laguna. 3600 vs 5000 rpm. I don't know what rpm's you run large cutters at so this might be nothing. Also they state 5-7/8" maximum cutter size. I looked at 3 different sellers and didn't actually see the maximum specified cutter size on the Laguna. The other minor thing is the Grizzly has three spindle sizes standard. Good luck in whatever you get.

[Jared Sankovich]

Both are relatively light duty shapers, 7.5hp is overkill for either of them.

I owned the tilting / sliding version of the grizzly. The fence is horrible and the belt tension system is absurd.

Of the 2 I would get the laguna (but I've never seen/used one)

Personally i would suggest a used machine.. For the same money you can do a lot better on the used market. $3500 will get you a t130 or equivalent which is 10x the shaper of either the grizzly or laguna.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Both are relatively light duty shapers, 7.5hp is overkill for either of them.

I owned the tilting / sliding version of the grizzly. The fence is horrible and the belt tension system is absurd.

Of the 2 I would get the laguna (but I've never seen/used one)

Personally i would suggest a used machine.. For the same money you can do a lot better on the used market. $3500 will get you a t130 or equivalent which is 10x the shaper of either the grizzly or laguna.

I second that suggestion. Keep your eyes peeled on the used market and something much stouter will come up for less money than you’re talking about spending on a new Taiwanese machine.

[Cary Falk]

Out of the 2 I would pick the Laguna any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I used to have the G1026 and upgraded to the Laguna Pro 5hp about 5 years ago. I know the G01026 is not completely comparable to the G7214 but it does share some similarities. The 2 Lagnuas are the same except for the motor. I also want to say that I still have some Grizzly machines so I am far from a Grizzly hater.

One of the reasons I got rid of the Grizzly is the fence. I hated it. The adjustments were crude. There wasn't any way out of the box to make the fence faces coplanar except to to shim them. The wood fences are screwed on so when you needed to move them for different size cutters they had to be removed. The Laguna has 4 Teflon set screws behind each fence to adjust for coplanar and a turn of the knob loosens the fence and it can slid in or out towards the cutter. The G1026 fence was bolted to the the table. You could move the infeed and outfeed fences in and out individually but if you had them adjusted where you wanted and wanted to move the whole hood in or out you had to unbolt it from the table move it to the next set of bolt holes and then adjust the in and outfeed fences. The G7214 looks like it has some travel and maybe easier to adjust but it doesn't have the travel that the Laguna does. The Laguna all you have to do is loosen the lock knob and there is a gear know that allows you to adjust the position of the hood in or out. The lock knobs for the infeed and outfeed fences for the Laguna are on top. The G1026 have the lock levers on the side and just a pain to get to. The gutter guard on both you are looking at are similar. The fence on the Laguna are nice extruded aluminum. I can make wood ones If I want.

There is no spindle lock on the G7214.

There is no digital height gauge on the G7214.

The Laguna has two 6008 bearings on both the top and bottom of the spindle. The G7214 and 2 on the top and 1 on the bottom.

The stamped steel wrenches on the Grizzly were horrible. The G7214 look similar but maybe slightly bigger.

The manual for the Laguna looks like it has been revised. When I bought mine it was inaccurate and actually had pictures of the Powermatic 2700 in it.

The feather boards on the Grizzly are probably functional. I hate them and never used them on my G1026.

My dislikes on the Laguna: I wish the controls were below the table. They get in the way of the feeder sometimes. I am trying to come up with an elegant solution to move it below the table. Laguna CS has a bad reputation. When I called to ask questions about the Pro they couldn't answer my questions about features of the shaper.

Here are some pictures of the G1026 vs the Laguna Pro. Again, Teh G1026 is not a direct comparison to the G7214 but there are some similarities and maybe give you a better look at the Laguna that you can't find online.
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[Mike Kees]

I would not buy either of them. Listen to Jared and Phillips advice. I own a Delta/Invicta RS 15 with a 7.5 h.p. motor. The spindle cartridge/bearings are way bigger (like two to three times) than the laguna pictured above this post. This machine has the capacity for 14"-16" diameter cutters to give you an idea of the difference. The build underneath the table and the fence build quality are at least as if not more important than the motor size. For the work you are suggesting that you want to do you want a true industrial type machine. I am not saying either of those two shapers are junk ,just not in the right class of machine if you do not want to outgrow them in about six months. I paid $1200 for my machine and then spent about 300 more on new spacers etc. Good luck with your decision.

[David Kumm]

You generally don't want a hollow spindle with a drawbar or a light quill ( the ones in the picture look more like 3hp machines ). Look for a used Felder 700 or a SCMI T110 or 130. They can be had for 4-6K and are better choices. The 110 and the 700 are a little lighter than the T130 or The Delta RS referenced above but good machines. Dave

[Ronald Blue]

Here's a link to some used machines up for auction. Looks like some are worth serious consideration. Since you don't list a location I have no idea if any are close to you.

https://www.irsauctions.com/

Just type in shaper in the search window.

[Jared Sankovich]

If considering used..

In addition to the felder or scmi, don't overlook Casolin, Griggio, Casadei, EMA, GOMAD, invicta (and a bunch of others)

The 5 series imports (511,512,513) are not bad either, just not in the same class as the Italian, German or Polish machines.