I am getting my new Laguna LT14 SUV saw delivered today. I am very psyched. I wanted to ask a couple of question though.
How many of you folks use your bandsaw for both resawing and for scroll type work? The reason I ask is that I bought the SUV because it is billed as the "ultimate bandsaw". Now I am not that naïve that I believe Marketing fluff, but I did assume that you could do everything on this saw that you can with other bandsaws. If its "ultimate" it should do every typical bandsaw operation, and hopefully better. Well, I found out after I ordered the saw that it wont do scroll work (meaning you can't use narrow blades) without first purchasing a set of accessory "Cool Blocks". I was a little annoyed, but figured "how much can they cost"? Well - they are $200.00 a set! I was shocked when I saw this. IMHO that little detail should be made much more clear than it is in any of their literature. I didn't actually find out about this until I started thinking about accessories. I came across the Cool Blocks on their accessories page and it had a small note that these were required on my saw to use blades 1/4" or smaller. I cannot anticipate how I will use this saw - but I can bet I will need to cut some curves, and likely need a narrow blade. Yes I wanted a good resaw saw, but I just assumed for the price it would do small blades as well. I kind of feel mislead.
Anyone else have this saw? Are the Cool Blocks absolutely necessary? Can I use a small blade with the stock guides (Laguna uses ceramic guides)? Is that idea making you cringe about warranties and somehow ruining the ceramic blocks? Did anyone gripe about this to Laguna and get any satisfaction? I think it is a marginal case of bait and switch. Its not easy to find this point in their literature. I think it is intentionally misleading. I also think they are pricing these things way too high - why are a couple of hunks of steel and some relatively small guide material $200?
Anyway - it is new saw day, and I am not going to let this screw my mood up too much. Now if it shows up with some other problem I may let loose.
Thanks
Joe