"stoutman" .@. wrote in message
m...

I am also still looking at bandsaws. Thanks fir the heads up on the wood
shows. I am probably gonna hit the Chantilly show and take a serious look
at the LT16.

I am considering the LT 16 and 14 also however these 3 smaller saws are
built differently than the 16HD and up band saws. In particular, the guides
under the table are situated differently. With the 3 smaller saws the
turnions are located at the back and front of the table. The lower guide is
located behind the front trunion and in front of the back trunion. Although
the table incert allows adjustments through the top I fear that the right
hand will have to reach under to do some adjustments that are hidden by the
front trunion. The larger saws have the lower guides in front of the
trunion in plain view and they will adjust up and down. I do not want
another saw that is a PIA to adjust. I too hope to see if this is an actual
problem when at the show.

Are the tires usually a problem? How often do they need replacing? Would
it be possible to replace the laguna tires?

Typically the tires are not a problem and the ones on my 23 year old
Craftasman were still soft and plyable when I sold it a few weeks ago. I
have read that in general tires may need to be replaced as often as every 2
years on any particular brand saw. I think that has more to do with the
kind of blades you use and how many hours a day you run the saw. The glued
on tires are replacable but would obviousely be more trouble than tires
designed to be changed quickly with out an adjesive. I wonder what the
advantage would be to the glued on tire vs the MiniMax style tire.


I just finished watching the Laguna DVD. If you have not requested it, I
highly recommend it!

Is that the one that demonstrates the Knapp Combination machines also. Way
cool. I confess that I have watched that DVD more than one, er three or
four times. LOL
I noticed that Mr."Laguna" changes out a blade on the 14" saw and shows how
to adjust the upper guides but for some reason skips over showing the
adjustments on the lower guides. This could be hiding the difficulty on
those guides hidden by the front table trunion.

For piece of mind, I ordered the MiniMax DVD for comparison also and it is
quite interesting also.
The MM16 MiniMax comes with European guides. I have used neither ceramic or
European guides but my main desire is to resaw and the ceramic guides along
with the Resaw King look better for this procedure. The mobility kit
available for the MiniMax also seems to be awkward when using the Johnson
bar to lift and push the saw around. It hooks into the foot brake. Humm.
The MiniMax is heavier but when you hit 450 lbs I wonder if 50 lbs is a big
advantage over the Laguna. Additionally the MiniMax has a touch more HP and
has a cast iron fence. Neither seems to be a real advantage over the Laguna
as the Laguna fence is aluminum and can be set up as either tall or short.

When I talked to the Laguna rep about the show he indicated that the show
normally offers better pricing and free shipping.