Agazzani 18" Bandsaw Review - Take Two

I decided I needed a bandsaw after I saw what my neighbor could do with a 14" Grizzly and a Woodslicer blade. I'd never owned a bandsaw, or even seen anything bigger than the 14" models in stores, but I knew I only wanted to go through the process of buying a bandsaw once. I spend 20-30 hours a week in the shop, between house projects and furniture, so I figured it would get pretty regular use. I thought they were only good for scrolling, but the woodworking forums set me straight on that. I use it as much or more than my table saw. I do all rough ripping on it, resaw after face jointing rough lumber because my planer is wimpy, and the usual curves.

I wanted a saw that could resaw at least 12 inches, that I would look forward to using, and that I wouldn't have to replace for anything short of starting my own company doing wood-working. That gives a choice of everything from a 14" Grizzly with a riser kit on up. So I sent away for a Laguna video, said, "wow," and from there decided to set my sights a little higher. I heard many people on the forums say they wished they had opted for the Laguna 16HD, instead of the lower 16" models, and an 18" was only $100 more. So I ended up with a monster (to me) 18" Agazzani. Why Agazzani? Who knows? Maybe just because everyone else has a Laguna.

If you don't want the rationale, skip this paragraph. Agazzani's representatives in the US do business almost by word of mouth, because they are small. They can't afford to offend too many purchasers, because every owner is a salesman. After reading James Krenov's book, I would put him down as a perfectionist, if he owns one (unknown age) and is happy, I figure it will be good enough for me. If the saw is built well, then probably no one will be making parts for it by the time I wear them out.

Shipping

The saw arrived fine, I requested Eagle Tools ship it to my workplace (loading dock and forklifts,) and the crate arrived in good condition (thanks to Watkins Freight). It had been shipped on its back in a heavy cardboard box on a pallet. I got it out of my pickup with a cheap wire come-along with no problems, and uncrated it. The saw has a handy padeye on the top (but not over the balance point) that aids in standing it up and getting the mobile base under it.

First impression

My first impression was that the thing was big, it's about 6'3", and the box is big enough for a coffin. But there is no such thing as too much tool, right? The saw arrived with a ½" blade tensioned on it, three other blades made by Lenox, and a very terse instruction manual.

There are several plastic knobs on the saw, but all of them seem to be well made, none of them have broken or cracked. There is one 4" dust port and a 4"S&D pipe fits right over it for connection to the dust collection system.

I checked out the European style blade guides, and some were a little stiff, so I sprayed some WD-40 in them, and most freed right up with a little turning. Wiring the thing up was no problem, (after all, I had to change the panel box just to get space for the extra breaker,) the terminals were easy to get to, and pretty self-explanatory. I fired it up to make sure it ran, then went over the saw closely.

Paint

They use powdercoat paint, and it immediately flaked off of several edges where the sheet metal was sheared with a brake. I assume the surface finish or grease has something to do with that. There were no scratches or dents, and good coverage in all visible areas.

Welding

The saw is heavy gauge sheet steel, all the main frame welds are good, but some of the tertiary welds have blow throughs. I expect the saw will rust in two from old age before any of the welds break.

Table

The table is good sized for a bandsaw, milled different than I am used to, it has small ridges ≈.002" deep running parallel to the feed direction, about ½" apart. No problems so far, but not a mirror surface.

The table is relatively flat, it dips down ≈.008" forward of the throat plate, on either side of the blade removal cut, with no pin to join halves. A pin might help solve the dip. Not all of the table is cast iron, there is a small area towards the spine of the saw that is heavy duty sheet metal, about 4" wide, and runs the length of the table.

The fence is not too bad, it's heavy aluminum, with two positions like a Delta Unifence. It has effective adjustments for blade drift, using bolts and jam nuts. I just do it finger tight—with no problems so far. I had a problem figuring out how to adjust it for square to the table for resawing, then after a couple of days…er, weeks, I figured it out. Doh! Just loosen the fence a smidgen, and rotate it till it is plumb. Too used to fancy doodads, I guess.

The throat plate is UHMW I guess (white slippery stuff,) about 1" thick, and tapered to fit a tapered square recess. I doubt if it will be easy to make a new zero clearance one.

The tilting mechanism is heavy, but rudimentary. The bolt to loosen the trunnion is accessible with a normal wrench (metric) and effective. I believe the next size up (20") has a quick release for the tilt.

Guides

• The guides are European style, with no ball bearings or anything, just a shaft inside a bushing.
• The upper set is on a rack and pinion guidepost, and the lower set is below the trunnions, inside the dust collector housing. They are all adjustable with only fingers, no wrenches required to change blades. The side adjustments are threaded, with a jam nut, and the thrust bearings you move by hand, then lock them down with a knob.
• The upper guide post is stabilized by a bolted plate, and about three inches lower, a bored hole in the frame. Not real impressed with that, it seems like the lower hole might wear fairly quickly. A tube containing the rack post would be much more desirable.
• The upper guide can be adjusted with two bolts inside the cabinet, allowing you to move the upper plate. I have found that there is enough play to adjust the post manually to center the guides on the blade, then lock the rack and pinion down without unbolting the upper plate.
• Resaw capacity is about 12¼"

Wheels:

181⁄8" in diameter, cast iron, well balanced, and pretty true. The bottom wheel surface was excellent, and radial runout was .004". The upper wheel radial runout was .002" —except for a couple of small indents and two ridges. The largest of the ridges was .007" high, running transversely across the face of the wheel, and only about 1⁄16" wide. I carefully sanded them down until they were smooth, took about five minutes. The indents are about the same size, and shouldn't affect the blade at all. Don't know if the tensioned blade on it when shipped was the culprit—shouldn't have been.

I called the people I bought it from, and they handed me to someone named Jesse. I explained it, and asked his opinion, and he offered to send me a new wheel if I was not satisfied with this one, but agreed that if the runout was down to .002" then there shouldn't be a problem.

Blade runout— .001". I can live with that.

The tires are vulcanized on, with almost flat surfaces. Before I bought the saw, the Agazzani salesman measured one for me, and claimed the peak in the middle is about .030". With the wheels coplanar, the blades track slightly forward of center. Adjusting the upper wheel angle is simple, with a plastic knob, and a jam nut with a plastic handle. The lower wheel adjusts easily, with bolts on all sides of the axle, just like the Laguna video shows. Don't look for it in the manual, because along with just about everything else, it isn't there.

Brake

It works, and has a microswitch to shut off the motor at the same time.

Vibration

Passes the nickel test, nickel might turn a little, I expect that a link belt would do it good. The wheels don't stop in the same place when rotated with no blade installed, so I can only assume they're balanced.

Blade changes

No problems, I have owned the saw less than two months, and I can do it in less than five minutes.

Power

2½ horses, haven't been able to make it slow down, except when I tried to make a ½" radius cut with a ½" blade.

Dust collection

One 4" port, a cover to help enclose the trunnion (not mentioned in the manual what that extra part is, but it shows on the exploded view,) and a small housing in the lower cabinet to house the guides and dust port. There is also a brush on the lower wheel. When I remember to turn the DC on, (650 Jet) it leaves a couple of little piles in the bottom, and virtually nothing on top. No dust on the table that I remember.

Safety features

Has an emergency stop switch, a switch on the foot brake, and the regular switch. The upper guides are enclosed behind a wrap around cover in front, and the blade is contained in a box that moves up and down with the rack and pinion. It has a simple design to allow the inboard side to remain covered at all times. There is also a small window in the front, so you can put the cover right down on top of the board, and still see what you are doing.

Tensioning gauge

It's okay, but it works on the movement of the upper wheel, not actual tension. I strum the blade, listen for what I can only call a "clear note" and that seems to work okay for me. And the LOML said that it can't carry on a conversation with me! Hmph.

Experience with it

I've run probably several thousand linear feet through it, resawing, freehand, etc. I initially had difficulties with the European style guides, I try to get them so close they almost touch, and maybe turn slowly with the saw running. Takes some fiddling and experience. On 6" oak, the saw marks will plane off in about 1⁄32", watching how the planer cuts, I would say no more than 1⁄64" "bow" in the cut itself, and pieces 1⁄16" thick are no problem.

The table is fairly low, even on a mobile base. I do all freehand stuff on my knees, as I'm 6'2" (okay, so I'm only 6'-1¾". )

Came with ½" 3 tpi, ¼" 14 tpi, ¼" 6 tpi, and 3⁄8" 6 tpi. All Lenox, all okay.

Problems

One of the side blade guides would catch on something as it rotated, two spots about 180° apart. I played with the thing, and figured out you could press the shaft out of its holder using the adjustment threads. Well, it popped out, and I could see that there used to be a clip that held the shaft in. Apparently, it had been dragging on the back side of the bushing. I slipped the shaft back in, and it turned perfectly. I discussed this with the company I purchased the saw from, explaining that I had fixed the problem and broken the guide simultaneously. He wanted to send me a new one. I didn't take him up on the offer. For wheel problems, see above notes in the wheel section.

Conclusion

Works as advertised. I don't fight with it, and I enjoy using it. I used to only really like my table saw, but now I think it's getting jealous. My wallet might not like it, but I'm glad to own something that I don't think about replacing before I own it a month. It cost me more than any three other pieces of equipment I owned at the time, but I don't regret it. Sorry this was so long, but I figured if you're really thinking about buying one, then you might as well get all the information I can give you. If there are any questions, feel free to email me.

Vega Mobile Base

Works as advertised, but if you are going to put your stuff on mobile bases, buy a welder and a chop saw. Not entirely impressed with it, but now I have a design to go off of.

Update

I used the saw for about four years before I moved overseas. During that time, I used the heck out of my Lenox carbide blade and found some other saws in nearby showrooms.

Lenox Carbide Blade

My recommendation to all saw owners that can use a carbide blade on their saw is to get out their wallet and buy one. These blades may not work well on small saws because they have a thick body and this will fatigue much more quickly on smaller diameter saw wheels. I never bothered to replace or sharpen any of the small blades that shipped with the saw, I put on the little one for scrolling, but the ¾" 2⁄3 pitch carbide blade is my go to blade.

How good is the cut?

I made a lampshade out of cherry one day when I was bored. I took a scrap about 4-5 inches wide that was planed on both sides and sliced it into sheets that light would pass through easily. When the light shone through it, you could see the blade marks, but you could also see the marks from nicks in the planer knives just as easily. LOML put the pieces into the lampshade before I could even sand them. I don't have the lampshade anymore and can't find the pictures, sorry.

Frequently Asked Questions

I've had several woodworkers ask me similar questions, because we all have the same doubts before buying a piece of equipment.

• Where did you buy the saw?

  From Eagle Tools, whose advertisements can be seen in Fine Woodworking, and their website is www.eagle-tools. com. Even though my email is similar I am not affiliated. I work for a nonprofit shipping related company, www.eagle.org.

• How much did you pay for it?

  I bought it a couple of years ago, and prices have changed I'm sure, but if you shop between Bridgewood (www.wilkemachinery.com) and Laguna (www.lagunatools.com) then you should be able to get a competitive price between them. The manufacturers of Laguna saws and the Agazzani are different, but the saws should be of similar quality. Here's a link to another good saw, the Felder. Check out Minimax too.

• How does it compare to the Laguna and Felder and Jet?

  I haven't actually used a Laguna, but I have looked at one on the showroom floor, and they seem to have similar strengths and weaknesses. The guides looked like they could have come out of the same factory, and the tires and wheels did not differ wildly. Both saws cost about the same, and it gets back to the same brand name argument that goes around every woodworking site.

  I haven't seen a Felder, but unless it has chrome exhaust and electric seats, I don't see how it could be a whole lot different. The design for these saws is pretty basic, and it comes down to the little things that make it nicer.

  I have looked at a Jet on the showroom floor, and it may be an excellent machine also. I believe the motor is somewhat smaller, and maybe slightly less resaw capacity, the wheels are not as heavy, and I don't think the upper guide arm is quite as beefy. I have not seen one turned on, and have no personal experience with it.

  I've seen a Minimax 16", and seen it cut bamboo of all things. The owner of the saw was my local machinery dealer, and he swore by them. I saw the Jet and maybe the Laguna there too.

  I've also seen a Grizzly on the showroom floor. It's a lot of saw for the money, I don't know about the quality for that money, but if you need a big saw for small cash, then it might fit your bill. Very similar design.

  If it's all about motor size, ask them what current the motor draws so your can size your breaker. This answer will give you the best judge of motor horsepower. I believe Laguna told me their saw was 6 HP, so I told them that would require a 30 amp breaker or something similar. They told me a 20 amp was fine. 6 HP would give about 27 amps at full load. HP=(Volts)(Amps)(eff ≈.75)/746

• Have you had any problems with the saw?

  Nope. Nada. I've used it since November of 2000, and haven't done anything to it besides change blades and rotate the lower blade guides up to the top when they get covered with sawdust. The lower side guides do not tend to rotate as much, and eventually start to get stiff. Moving them up to the top keeps them wearing evenly and spinning freely.

• Would you buy the same saw again?

  Sure, why not? I enjoy using a piece of equipment that does what I want it to, without excessive fiddling or cursing (and with me, that says something—a couple of years at sea goes a long way towards extending one's vocabulary).

  When buying a large piece of equipment like this, for perfect results it's going to take a little time to fine tune the machine. I've actually fiddled with this saw less than any of the other major pieces of machinery I own after the initial startup.

• What would you do differently?

  The only thing that is slightly annoying is that the stock fence (which I actually use 99% of the time) has to be squared back to the table whenever it is moved. This gets annoying when cutting tennons, and the slightest movement means a huge difference. The answer to that is to use a fixed fence/jig that does not require setting the fence square to the table for every movement (or doing the fix shown below). There's good examples of various fences in the book The Bandsaw Handbook by Mark Duginske.

  Here are some pictures of what other woodworkers have done to fix things they didn't like.

  

  Bob Erfle had the same problem with the fence, and he added a shim to keep the fence tightening knob torque from twisting the fence.

  

  

  Jamie Buxton didn't like the thrust bearing, so he made a roller thrust bearing.

  I believe the throat plate design has been modified in newer models, it is no longer a three dimensional trapezoid that would be very difficult to replicate, it is now a flat plate that would be easier to make a zero clearance plate to fit in the slot.

  

  Here is the jig I made out of a piece of luan plywood to check that the saw wheels are coplanar for good tracking. I've had no problems with this method and have never had any tracking problems.

  If you use your bandsaw a lot, then you will make your own fences. I made a tall fence for resawing wide stock and a fence with a sliding taper for fine adjustment when making tennons.

• Do you really need that much saw?

  Probably not. I personally probably could have gotten a Laguna 16LT or HD, but it was only one or two hundred bucks between the HD and my 18, so it didn't really cost that much more. No such thing as too much tool, unless it dims the lights on the whole block when you start it up.

  Several people have asked me if it's big enough for resawing. If you resaw thirty linear feet of 12" thick wood each day, buy a bigger saw. You could do it, but you would have to take a lot more time and care to do a good job. If you're going to be doing that much resawing, then you need to buy a stock feeder and either build or buy a special fence for the occasion.

• Can one saw do it all?

  The European guides found on big saws aren't real easy to use with small blades. If you already have a 12" or 14" saw, don't get rid of it unless you need the money for a carbide blade for the big boy. A 14" saw with guideblocks will be much easier to make fine scrolling cuts with than any big saw with European guides.

• What do I recommend?

  If you are a hobby woodworker, I recommend that you get a saw that you like, one that you will enjoy every time you turn it on. I can't speak for the other major brands, but I enjoy using my saw almost every time I turn it on. As far as differences go, a bandsaw is a simple design. The things that can be better or worse are the guides, tensioning device, upper guide mechanism, and tilting device. I seldom tilt my saw, so mine is fine with no quick release device. Do your level best to look at as many as you can, and buy the one you want.

Happy Hunting.