Laguna LT-16 SEC Bandsaw

I have recieved lots of support and questions from fellow Ponders about my recent purchase of a Laguna bandsaw and so I promised a review of the saw once I could assess it. I should start by saying that I had considered various brands and models of saws for some time. I was torn between the Delta Platinum, the Jet 18", and the Laguna. All fine saws from my investigation.

Now that I am serious about a lifetime of woodworking my tool buying philosophy has changed. I'm in it for the long haul and so I buy tools that will last me and will meet any eventual growth in my needs. Thus I tend to buy a little more tool than I may have immediate need for. I once thought that to be excessive when I bought my 52" Unisaw. But it wasn't long before I was glad to have that extra capacity.

That being said, I not only looked at how these saws could meet my current needs but also my future needs. Specifically I know that resawing will be an important task in my future woodworking. I chose the Laguna LT-16 SEC because of its resaw capacity (12") and its power (2 1/2 HP motor).

Laguna has been in the process of moving its west coast facility. As part of that move they offered a promotional sale. That sale brought the cost of a standard LT-16 down to $995 and the LT-16 SEC down to $1,295. Pure guilt over the cost caused me to order the base model. But, like Mark Gonzalez, I eventually realized (with some imput from others) that I should go for the gusto and avoid any future regrets.

I had been forwarned that the sales staff at Laguna were like car salesmen. To some degree I found that to be true. However, they were not pushy and they answered my questions well. FYI- They have room to negotiate deals with you on price.

The saw was shipped via ground shipping (350 lbs) and that provided delivery to my house with a lift gate truck. So I don't have any whacky delivery story (my Unisaw was a different matter). The saw arrived well crated and bolted to a pallet.

Initial inspection found the fit and finish to be excellent. After cleaning the cosmoline from the table I found the grind of the table to be coarser than of the polished tables of other tools in my shop. After confering with other Laguna owners I was eased that the grind was normal and did not affect performance. The table was sufficiently flat and uniform. After applying force I could not find flexion in the table. The trunion is heavyweight steel. It works well but I admit that a cast iron trunion (available on bigger models) would be nicer.

The riser is adjusted with rack and pinion which is very handy. I had heard concerns from others of vibration in the riser in lower positions but so far I have not encountered vibration of any significance. The upper guides are Carter guides that were aligned properly and easy to adjust. The lower guides were also aligned well but I found that the post for the thrust guide got stuck due to a tight fit in the collar. Hopefully a little filing will cure that.

The wheels are 16" cast iron wheels. I noticed a little rust on the rims but was easily cleaned with steel wool. It only took a few minutes of easy tweeking to get the wheels coplaner. The saw accepts blades from 1/16" to 1". There is a blade tension indicator on the neck of the saw. While it does not give a true tension amount it is a handy reference.

The saw comes without a power cord. I made one with a rubber coated 10-3 cord and heavy duty plug. It was a breeze to wire and install. Once operational the motor started very smoothly and the machine felt very solid and quiet. The combination of the 2 1/2 HP motor and a new Timberwolf blade made cutting and resawing a pleasure. It was like a hot knife through butter!

The SEC model comes with a footbrake. This is a handy but not essential feature. It slows and eventually stops the blade. This saves the wait for the blade to stop. It also come with 2- 4"dust ports, one below the table and one at the saw base. I connected mine with short sections of hose and a Y connector. They provide very good dust collection for a bandsaw.

Like some other saws I found the fence to be a weaker point of the saw. It is a cast iron fence that rides a flat steel rail. It was reliably 90 degrees to the table but I feel it is small and not very versitile. Very likely I will drill it to accept an auxillary (taller) fence more suitable for resawing.

The other notable shortcoming was the owner's manual. You may recall my recent post about this. The manual covers several different models of Laguna bandsaws. Not all the info is relevant to my saw. I found it was poorly written and printed. For those of us who are not mechanical geniuses a good manual can be essential. Fortunately the saw comes mostly assembled and is very straight forward to work with.

To wrap up, I am very pleased with the Laguna LT-16 SEC. It is a well made machine that offers a lot of power and capacity. Despite some minor gripes I would recommend this saw highly.