Tbone,
Just my $.02 worth. I went through the same quandry as you recently and
have no access in my area to Mini-Max or Laguna dealers. After reading
reviews of bandsaws decided I would buy a Laguna 14SE which has gotten
fantastic reviews. When I tried to order the saw there was over a 3 month
waiting period for delivery and Laguna tried to get me to upgrade to the
16HD -- quite a price jump! Ended up ordering the LT 16 to expedite
delivery and compromise on price. After I ordered I read about vibration
problems with this saw on their web site. Spoke to the salesman and he
assured me this was resolved on the batch of saws mine was coming from. Got
the saw with their upgrade kit which included a Resaw King blade plus 3
other blades, a mobility kit and "free shipping" for another $300. The
Resaw King blade is fantastic. Once you set the saw up square you can resaw
using the fence with absolutely no drift and cut as thin of a veneer as you
desire. The saw does have some vibration and the Laguna personnel are of no
value in helping resolve this "issue". Lacking experience with bandsaw
vibration I compared it to my Unisaw and there is no comparison. A nickel
will stand on my Unisaw on edge for an eternity even during start up and
shut down. After you get the LT 16 up to speed and after plently of tuning
I can get a nickel to stand on edge for 30 seconds to a minute.
I went to the LI Woodworker's Show two weeks ago and it was the first time I
got a chance to see the Mini-Max, the Laguna LT 16 and Laguna 16HD side by
side. After tuning my LT 16 doesn't vibrate any more than the MM16 or
Laguna's LT16 demo which has had the wheels dynamically balanced. I drooled
over the 16HD however. The saw although $650 more than the LT 16 is a real
step above -- better table, better fence, a heavier and smoother operating
machine with a true rack and pinion blade guide system and rack and pinion
table tilt mechanism. Had I been able to see this saw before I purchased
mine I would definitely (and painfully) separated with the extra bucks.
My LT 16 with the Resaw King blade though has resawn 9" maple without drift
and with ample power and is a joy to use in cutting tenons and making
straight rip cuts. The ceramic guides provide great support for the resaw
blade to prevent twisting but due to less contact area on a 1/4" blade are
of little value in improving the narrower blade's performance. All in all
this saw provides the utility I need but don't depend on Laguna's tech
service to bail you out of problems. Table will tilt 15 degrees to the back
and 45 degrees to the front and comes with a foot brake which is nice since
it takes the cast iron wheels a long time to spin down on their own. Hope
this harangue has been helpful.
Dave
"Tbone Dano" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,
Just another woodworker here trying to decide on what to buy. There
are many points to consider when buying a tool, and for me, I've
decided I want something more than a 14" bandsaw, but don't have the
funds for the big dogs, i.e. Laguna 16HD or 18, or the MiniMax MM16 or
MM20. So I'm somewhere in the middle. I've bought top of the line in
my table saw, jointer and planer, all Powermatic stuff, with 5HP on
the saw and planer both, but as I'm building my shop, I can't justify
spending another $2500 on a bandsaw.
Here's the story on what I'm looking at:
The Mini Max S16 is the OLD Laguna 16SE, manufactured by Meber, in
Italy. Here's a link to Mini Max's site, as well as a review of the
old Laguna 16SE. And there's an additional link to the General saw.
http://www.minimax-usa.com/specials.html
http://www.internetwoodworking.com/w...aw/review.html
http://www.general.ca/product/inter/90240anfea.html
From all that I've read, the current LT16 hasn't really made customers
too happy (though I'd love to hear from those on the forum who feel
otherwise--I'm just going on what I've heard and read). The new LT16
is made in Bulgaria. Note: this is different from the LT16HD, which,
from what I understand, is made in Italy.
Some changes have been made, however. On the original LT16, the
trunnions were stamped steel, and on the Mini Max version, they're now
cast iron. They've also incorporated a 2-piece Welded Steel Column,
which according to the guys at Mini Max is a change and an
improvement, which brings added rigidity and stability when resawing
(capacity is 12").
The rack and pinion is an option, and this seems a little flaky, since
it has a nylon rack with a steel gear. Owners of the old LT16
contended with this as well, but it seems to work out as well. It
also has a cast iron fence, which I believe the LT16SE has as well.
Negative feature on the S16 is that it only tilts 5 degrees to the
left. 10 or 15 would be nice to allow for making pins for dovetails.
Here's the kicker: the current price is $1395, which is $200 off the
regular price. By adding the foot brake and rack and pinion (which
isn't standard), that adds the price another $75, and with $200 for
shipping, that brings in the total for $1670--a lot of money. Most on
the forums have said buy as much as you can, which I agree with. For
me, I was initially looking at a 14" and decided I wanted more power
and resaw capacity. I can afford $1670, but I can't afford going
another $500 to get the MM16, or the Laguna 18. I'm a bit torn, since
I'm certain this S16 will be a great saw for me, but at that price,
plus an additional $$$ for a mobile base from HTC, I'm looking at over
$1700. The only real negative I see is the price and the fact that
the saw can't tilt 10 degrees to the left, plus I think the low table
could be a pain, but workable. I've also had my eyes on a 2HP 17"
General International at a local dealer. I've seen it fired up--seems
to be a great saw. Has steel trunnions however. The rack and pinion
is steel, and the other plus for me is that it tilts 10 degrees to the
left. Table is cast iron. The price is a bit easier to swallow too.
With taxes, and delivery charges, it'll run me $1200. I'll still need
to get a mobile base, add roughly $75. The other nice feature of the
S16 is that it will come with three blades--the General comes with one
only. So, for me, it's looking like a difference between these two
saws of around $400, $1275 vs $1700+. I can afford both, but it
sounds to me like the S16 is a bit overpriced. However, they state
that a price increase is coming due to the inflated price of cast iron
and steel all across the world, which I feel is most likely
legitimate.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! And if anyone has any
experience with the General 17", I'd really like to hear from you.
Thanks!