Tool parts questions

Re: Tool parts questions

Mark Nowicki

So what is your question?

Re: Tool parts questions

Mark Nowicki

I re-read your post and it appears that you got excellent customer service.

Your calls were answered in a timely manner, the parts are in stock or available.

You just don't like the prices.

Re: Tool parts questions

Barry Irby

Mark, maybe I left out too much detail or maybe I am suffering from being a Boomer.

I was never able to get a person on the phone until I finally got a person on the phone. I would call in and poke around in the menu and then be told to leave the message in the General Mailbox. Then they would call me back several days later or e-mail me if I left an e-mail address for them. On several occasions the system just hung up on me because I suggested a mailbox that was full.

Eventually I got the name and internal number of a person in South Carolina. I ahve3 not searched the website carefully, but I only found out today he was in SC. I thought I was calling California so I was trying to time the calls to west coast time.

The Exploded Diagram in the manual did not have key so there was a bit of a language barrier over whether the piece I wanted was this or that. They e-mailed me a different diagram with a key. At first part of the problem was that apparently THEY did not have the diagram in the manual. The second one they sent me was completely different. I was stunned at the fact they wanted $900 for the table and fence, more than half the retail price and I nearly gave up on recovering the saw. Then several people said to just build a table so I'm back on it. When I get the saw working I am going to give it to a young woman who is quite a wood worker.

So, perhaps through my own fault, I did not understand how to operate their phone system. The disjointed nature of calling in and waiting for an e-mail or return call did not make sense to me and I failed to extract things like the particular tech's internal number.

Originally, they did not have parts. The machines are made in Italy and the could only get parts by stealing them off another machine, making it unsaleable. Now the particular machine has been discontinued and they took the lasted five and stripped them down for parts, but the parts were then shipped to Texas. But they never gave me the number for the parts department. The guy I was talking to would contact them and then repeat that info to me in an E-Mail.

Apparently they don't want to sell those few parts because then they would not have any.

On their website they laud their phone system highly with word like system, superior, management monitoring and many more new age BS phrases I choose not to remember. There is a difference between customer service and talking about customer service.

Re: Tool parts questions

Clint Searl

Some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you.

Re: Tool parts questions

Garthfromsandiego

Barry - Sorry for your experience. I have two Laguna tools, an 18" bandsaw and a drillpress. Both were apparently made in Italy. Both were costly and had defects. I don't think that they even offer a drillpress anymore. Bottom line is that I have managed to make both function, although still really unhappy with the drillpress. I won't recommend Laguna tools and will not buy anything again from them. The only exception is that resaw king blade performed very well. Sorry for your issues with the company, but recommend that you cut your losses and move on.

Re: Tool parts questions, Garth Resaw King ?

Barry Irby

Thanks for the response....

I have two of these bandsaws. I paid about $450 for the first one and it was complete but had suffered a little road rash, the doors were dented, so it no longer had a pretty face. But it was completely functional.

The second one came up so I bought it thinking I could resell it at a profit. Then I discovered it had been plucked clean and Laguna wanted $900 for the table so the idea of reselling it went out the window. Several people suggested just making my own table and using it for resaw only. It dawned on me that in thirty years I had rarely if ever tilted the table so I took a shot.

I am modifying some cheap aftermarket trunnions to mount a plywood table and have bought a real Laguna insert. I think I am going to end up with a functional saw and will give it to my cousin's daughter. If all goes well she will even be able to tilt the table.

Have you liked the Resaw King blade? I was strongly considering one but I watched about five videos on YouTube where the blades broke. I have never seen any other blade with so many failures. As I mentioned, the Laguna Tech said they had solved that problem but that's a lot of money to spend on an experiment.

I am sorry you had a poor experience with Laguna as well. I just think they are clueless when it come to customer service.

Re: Tool parts questions, Garth Resaw King ?

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

Several years ago I was in the market for a replacement for a Crapsman bandsaw. I had narrowed the market to either a Laguna or Minimax 16" saw. The reviews on the web were generally saying Laguna was a decent saw but the after sale service sucked!

I went to the tool show in Indianapolis to see both saws demonstrated and get prices. Both demo's were similar and both appeared to be sturdy saws but the Minimax demo impressed me and the rep was quite friendly and answered all my questions quickly. Prices were close to each other, (both pretty costly). In the end I settled on the Minimax had a few features I liked better and had far better reviews on the net. So I purchased one - been quite happy with the saw over the years!

Resaw King breaking

David Yoho

Barry, you mentioned the saw is a 14-inch. While researching re-saw blades for my Mini Max 16, way back when I bought it, I went with a Lenox Tri-Master 1-inch carbide tooth blade. It was very pricey but has performed perfectly.

However, my point is, I seem to remember there being some discussion and warning that trying to run a blade like that on a smaller diameter saw would end up breaking. I just don't recall all the details and perhaps blade technology has changed so it isn't a problem now. It just seems it had something to do with the smaller wheel diameter and the wider width and the steel the band was made of.

Like you say, it's a high price to pay for an experiment to go wrong. Going with a narrower blade and brand like others have suggested might be your best bet and be easier on your pocket.

Re:  Resaw King breaking

Barry Irby

David, I am certainly no expert but I think the critical dimension is the thickness of the blade and not so much the width. That at least makes sense to me. I can't remember who had what, but one blade was .025" thick and the other was .037" (I think). Even thought those are small numbers, one of the is 50% more than the other. It makes sense that constantly flexing the thicker blade would develop more heat and stress. At the same time it's odd that the difference between 14" and 16" is the critical factor.

Also, one of the blades said NOT to use it on green wood because of the very narrow kerf. That's a bummer.

Re:  Resaw King breaking

Garthfromsandiego

I'm using the resaw king on an 18" saw. I don't use it frequently, but very happy with a clean smooth cut face. I too remember reading of blade breakage on smaller saws. Have also used a woodmizer blade and happy with that. Provides a relatively smooth cut. For utility work I use inexpensive blades from McMaster Carr. Biggest problem I've had was to convince myself to change blades to suit the job. Applies to tablesaw as well. Takes a little more time, but results are worth the effort.

Re:  Resaw King breaking

Walt

It stands to reason that a thicker band is going to be less flexible and more prone to breaking when flexing around a smaller diameter wheel. Lenox does make a TriMaster whose band is .025" thick 1/2" wide 3 TPI. They're not easy to find.