Yesterday I got a call from my Laguna salesman in California. My LT16HD is
on its way and I expect to see in about 4 to 5 work days. Also yesterday I
received my owners unpacking, setup, and basic usage DVD. Wow that was
cool. The DVD starts off showing how Laguna opens up the crate that the BS
was shipped in from Italy. They add the accessories and the Baldor motor
and seal it all back up. They then go on to show how to spot damage to the
outside packaging and how to note damage on the freight bill. This is
followed by how to unpack the saw, set up the mobility kit if one was
ordered, and how to mount the motor. From there the table is mounted and
then they go through a detailed explanation of how to mount the blade,
adjust the blade, adjust the guides, and adjust the fence for drift.
Finally they go through a few demonstrations of resawing 12" wide boards and
curved cutting. Finally they show how to fold the blade back up.

Boy, if only all the other large tools manufacturers supplied a DVD like
this.

what kills me is when you get a video, but it is a piece of crap anyways



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"bent" wrote in message
what kills me is when you get a video, but it is a piece of crap anyways


Are you a real dickhead, or do you just imagine that you play one on TV?


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/13/05

"bent" wrote in message
...
what kills me is when you get a video, but it is a piece of crap anyways


Is there anything in particular that you are talking about, perhaps you
work?

That's great Leon. I'm sure you will be happy with it. Let us now how it
turns out! The good and the bad.

I got my new motor today from Rikon! I just need to swap it out.

--
Stoutman
http://www.garagewoodworks.com
(Featuring a NEW look)

"Leon" wrote in message
. com...
Yesterday I got a call from my Laguna salesman in California. My LT16HD
is on its way and I expect to see in about 4 to 5 work days. Also
yesterday I received my owners unpacking, setup, and basic usage DVD. Wow
that was cool. The DVD starts off showing how Laguna opens up the crate
that the BS was shipped in from Italy. They add the accessories and the
Baldor motor and seal it all back up. They then go on to show how to spot
damage to the outside packaging and how to note damage on the freight
bill. This is followed by how to unpack the saw, set up the mobility kit
if one was ordered, and how to mount the motor. From there the table is
mounted and then they go through a detailed explanation of how to mount
the blade, adjust the blade, adjust the guides, and adjust the fence for
drift. Finally they go through a few demonstrations of resawing 12" wide
boards and curved cutting. Finally they show how to fold the blade back
up.

Boy, if only all the other large tools manufacturers supplied a DVD like
this.


That is pretty cool. It sounds like Laguna is increasing the quality of
customer service. Many years ago I purchased the Laguna stand alone morticer
table. The only instructions were a short review that was published in a WW
mag. I called Torben was told that was the instruction manual.

"stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
That's great Leon. I'm sure you will be happy with it. Let us now how it
turns out! The good and the bad. +

I'll keep y'all a breast of the secheation. Ther are a few that wanted for
me to post the whole process.
I doubt that there will be any "bad" other than the price. ;~)


I got my new motor today from Rikon! I just need to swap it out.

Cool. Lets hope that fixes the problem. Fortunately, IIRC, the Rikon motor
does not look too heavy. I mave a 4.5 hp Baldor to mount on mine. It is
not mounted during shipping. The DVD makes reference to having a frined
come over to move the saw from the pallet. Have a friend come over help
mount the mobility kit. Have a friend come over to help mount the motor.
Have a freind come over to help mount the table. I'll add my own here, have
a friend come over to help pay for the saw.

"Frank Drackman" wrote in message
. ..


That is pretty cool. It sounds like Laguna is increasing the quality of
customer service. Many years ago I purchased the Laguna stand alone
morticer table. The only instructions were a short review that was
published in a WW mag. I called Torben was told that was the instruction
manual.


The WW mag being the instruction manual would suck... I have heard stories
like that and do not doubt it at all. I have been very pleasantly surprised
with my dealing with them so far. 3 weeks ago the Laguna salesman suggested
a refundable $500 deposit to put myself in line for the next shipment. I
had indicated to him that I was not going to make a decision until I saw the
MiniMax at the Houston WW show last weekend. I called him last Friday to
finalize the deal. He said that the saws were expected this week and that
it would probably go out this week. As I previously indicated, he called me
yesterday to confirm that the saw was going out that day. So far, what they
say is what I get.
On the flip side of that coin, MiniMax called me 2 times last Friday and 2
times Monday wanting me to hold off on my Laguna Order so that they could
have a 3rd try at trying to show me a smooth resaw sample. I had to turn
them down as they have yet to come through on any promises so far.

Thanks for confusing me . . . I was Laguna all the way for months . . . Then
after several horror stories I read on the net, I turned to Mini Max . . .
Now I respect you guys opinons very much, so which is the better saw and why
.. . . LOL LOL

Thanks in advance,
Steve

"Leon" wrote in message
m...

"Frank Drackman" wrote in message
. ..


That is pretty cool. It sounds like Laguna is increasing the quality of
customer service. Many years ago I purchased the Laguna stand alone
morticer table. The only instructions were a short review that was
published in a WW mag. I called Torben was told that was the
instruction
manual.


The WW mag being the instruction manual would suck... I have heard
stories
like that and do not doubt it at all. I have been very pleasantly
surprised
with my dealing with them so far. 3 weeks ago the Laguna salesman
suggested
a refundable $500 deposit to put myself in line for the next shipment. I
had indicated to him that I was not going to make a decision until I saw
the
MiniMax at the Houston WW show last weekend. I called him last Friday to
finalize the deal. He said that the saws were expected this week and
that
it would probably go out this week. As I previously indicated, he called
me
yesterday to confirm that the saw was going out that day. So far, what
they
say is what I get.
On the flip side of that coin, MiniMax called me 2 times last Friday and 2
times Monday wanting me to hold off on my Laguna Order so that they could
have a 3rd try at trying to show me a smooth resaw sample. I had to
turn
them down as they have yet to come through on any promises so far.

On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:40:43 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:


I doubt that there will be any "bad" other than the price. ;~)

You'll get over it! Especially if you've fought with under
sized/powered or cheap equipment before.

I, however, got no instructions with mine, I even ordered the video
about a month before hand and never got it, it didn't come with one
either. The fairly simple manual was inside the box which is all
wrapped up.

I mave a 4.5 hp Baldor to mount on mine. It is
not mounted during shipping.

It does come wired though....I had to tip mine over to get it through
the doorway, so I thought I'd take the motor, table, fence, box of
stuff, out of the way to make it lighter, not having any friends
When I lifted the heavy motor to remove it, I found it was connected.
That could have been a disaster. I had to take apart the box and
unwire it. I was able to install the motor by myself without too much
trouble, YMMV.

I sawed off part of the pallet too, to fit through the doorway, left
the thing bolted to the rest of the pallet till I can figure out a
stand and the table height I want. It's not bad up that 4". I'm 6'.

Oh and I got the work light with magnetic base from LV, treat
yourself!

The DVD makes reference to having a frined
come over to move the saw from the pallet. Have a friend come over help
mount the mobility kit. Have a friend come over to help mount the motor.
Have a freind come over to help mount the table. I'll add my own here, have
a friend come over to help pay for the saw.

The table was also pretty easy, but removing it from the pallet,
unless you can lift it from overhead, get help



--------------------
Steve Jensen
Abbotsford B.C.
chopping out the mortise.
BBS'ing since 1982 at 300 bps.
Surfing along at 19200 bps since 95.
WW'ing since 1985
LV Cust #4114

Nothing catchy to say, well maybe.....
WAKE UP - There are no GODs you fools!

"Steve DeMars" wrote in message
news:qwGZf.46$B42.1@dukeread05...
Thanks for confusing me . . . I was Laguna all the way for months . . .
Then
after several horror stories I read on the net, I turned to Mini Max . . .
Now I respect you guys opinons very much, so which is the better saw and
why
. . . LOL LOL

Thanks in advance,
Steve


Charlie B had a piece concerning the service from both companies.
Apparently the Laguna people have addressed the service issue in recent
months. Seems that when MiniMax became basically a new company here in the
states 3 or 4 years ago they moved to Austin TX and recruited many of the
Laguna people. Apparently the Laguna people have since returned to Laguna.
Personally I have only had disappointing meetings with MiniMax.
For 2 weeks I had an appointment with MM to go their to their store to see
the saw and try the saw out. The meeting was confirmed 3 days in advance
and when I got there on a Monday morning the saw was missing parts. I drove
from Houston to Austin. 1 week later I went to the Houston WW show and the
MiniMax produced inferior cuts when compared to the Laguna saw + some of
their equipment was broken. The paper thin slices that the Laguna cut has a
very smooth finish with only very slight tooth marks that are noticeable in
the right light. The MiniMax produced tapered cuts with the middle of the
cut being wider than the beginning and end of the cut and the tooth marks
were quite visible. I would have to say the Laguna service and saw is
better than MiniMax AFAIAC.

You can find an equal amount of complaints about both companies. I
ultimately went with the saw that produced the smoothest cuts when resawing.
For me Laguna has delivered on schedules and performance while MiniMax seems
disorganized and unprepared.

The paper thin slices that the Laguna cut has a very smooth finish with
only very slight tooth marks that are noticeable in the right light. The
MiniMax produced tapered cuts with the middle of the cut being wider than
the beginning and end of the cut and the tooth marks were quite visible. I
would have to say the Laguna service and saw is better than MiniMax AFAIAC.


Leon,

When referring to the quality of the cut and "tooth marks", how do you know
you are not just comparing the quality of the bandsaw blades and not the
quality of the machines? Is it possible that the Minimax machine would
produce a better cut if it was using the Laguna blade?

A real comparison of cut quality (IMHO) would have both machines using the
same blade.

Leon,

When referring to the quality of the cut and "tooth marks", how do you
know you are not just comparing the quality of the bandsaw blades and not
the quality of the machines? Is it possible that the Minimax machine
would produce a better cut if it was using the Laguna blade?

A real comparison of cut quality (IMHO) would have both machines using the
same blade.
Good Point and, I questioned the possible difference in blades, the Laguna
Resaw King vs. the Lennox carbide blade on the MiniMax. The MiniMax sales
rep actually said that the blades should not have made the difference. I
believe that both blades are top notch with maybe the edge going to the
Laguna. The big difference was that the Laguna produced paper thin cuts
that were consistent in thickness. The MiniMax produced cuts that were
tapered on both ends and thick in the middle. That was either a blade
tension problem, a fence that was not set up for drift for that blade, or
perhaps a guide problem. That problem would have probably showed up if the
Laguna Resaw King had been mounted on the MiniMax. It seems to me that the
MiniMax should have been set up better if that was possible. And then there
was the stunt at the show where the MiniMax salesmen thought it was more
important to grab the guide bar and yank the saw to tip it than to
concentrate on cut results. That could not have been good for the saw and
perhaps the resaw results reflected that.

All things being equal, had both machines been set up so that they had equal
quality cuts I'd have picked the Laguna's simply for fit and finish.
The insides of the MiniMax look a lot like something that Harbor Freight
would market. The wheel casting looked terrible and there was paint over
spray on the black rubber tires. The Laguna looked as good as the Rikons.

On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:40:43 GMT, "Leon" wrote:


"stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
That's great Leon. I'm sure you will be happy with it. Let us now how it
turns out! The good and the bad. +

I'll keep y'all a breast of the secheation. Ther are a few that wanted for
me to post the whole process.
I doubt that there will be any "bad" other than the price. ;~)

I was thinking about price when I read your post about the DVD... and imagining
how bad the DVD would be if one came with my $300 ridgid 14"..lol
You get what ya pay for..
Mac

https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:40:43 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:


"stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
That's great Leon. I'm sure you will be happy with it. Let us now how
it
turns out! The good and the bad. +

I'll keep y'all a breast of the secheation. Ther are a few that wanted
for
me to post the whole process.
I doubt that there will be any "bad" other than the price. ;~)

I was thinking about price when I read your post about the DVD... and
imagining
how bad the DVD would be if one came with my $300 ridgid 14"..lol
You get what ya pay for..
Mac

You know, maybe not. I think that if the manufacturers produced a DVD for
each machine that it would probably save them money from fewer phone calls
for tech help. The DVD was produced by the Laguna employees and was quite
simple. Once edited these DVD's could be reproduced for pennies. Their DVD
was probably shot with a home camcorder setting on a tripod.