Over the past 10 years as a hobbyist woodworker my experience with using a bandsaw has been limited to using my dad’s 14” Rigid bandsaw a few times. I used the bandsaw to cut a couple of curves and one unsuccessful attempt at resawing (which I blame more on the stock blade than anything else). The bottom line is that I have very little experience with bandsaws, so please take that into account with this review.
There have been numerous projects where I knew a bandsaw would be a safer and better way to complete a cut. I also wanted to be able to do some resawing, so I started to look for a bandsaw. After a ton of research I had narrowed down my selection to the Grizzly 513X2 and the Laguna 1412. The Grizzly had good reviews and is established in the bandsaw market, whereas the Laguna 1412 came out last year and there were only a few reviews available. As fate would have it, my local Woodcraft had a bandsaw demo for the Laguna 1412 one weekend and I quickly rearranged my schedule so I could attend.
The demo was put on by the owner of the Woodcraft and I appreciated how he went through step-by-step setting up a brand-new saw (which had already been put together). He also did a side-by-side comparison between the Laguna 1412 and a Rikon 10-325. He said that the Rikon is one of his most popular bandsaws and that it is very well made, but there are a few things that made the Laguna , in his opinion, a little bit better. The trunions were clearly bigger on the Laguna, the Laguna table was thicker, and the overall fit-and-finish of the Laguna seemed just a little bit better than the Rikon. Another very noticeable difference is the table height on the Laguna, which is 1 ½” shorter than the Rikon at 38”.
One of the biggest differences in my opinion between the Laguna and every other model that I looked at is the guide blocks. I have found the ceramic guide blocks on the Laguna to be very easy to set up. Essentially the ceramic guides are intended to touch the blade, so the guides are set by adjusting the guides so that it just touches the blade without applying any pressure. The upper guides are very easy to set, the lower guides are more difficult since they are under the table.
Now because Woodcraft was offering 10% off the saw due to the demo, it was a no-brainer and I bought one on the spot (and the mobile base). Be aware that the Laguna 1412 does not come with a blade, which from what I have read is a good thing since stock blades are all garbage. I also purchased a ½” - 3 TPI Timber Wolf blade (115”). When I measured the size of the box, I was short by 2” to get it to fit in my Land Rover, so I had to drive home, get my wifes Expedition and then go pick up my new toy.
Set-up was relatively straight forward. There is a stand with 4 sides/8 bolts which then bolts to the bottom of the saw. Install the table, blade, fence and you are good-to-go. I will say that the instructions were lacking on detail when it came to installing the mobile base kit, but I did finally figure out how to get everything put together, which took me about 2 hours.
The next day I spent about an hour tuning the saw up, using the step-by-step instructions from the demo. I know that if I hadn’t gone to the demo the tune-up would have taken me much longer. Once everything was set up I did some simple test-cuts just to see how that saw was running. Everything seemed to work great so I figured it was time to try some resawing for the first time and I grabbed the thickest piece of wood I had, a 12” wide x ¾” piece of poplar. I was very pleased with the results, a few passes with the planer and I had a perfect ½” thick piece. I also attempted to resaw a 5” X 8/4” piece of hard-maple that I had and the saw didn’t even break a sweat. The result of the cut on the hard-maple was dead-on 90°.
I have the saw hooked up to a 1hp dust-collector via a 4” hose and I would say that the dust collection is good. Even while re-sawing the 12” wide piece of poplar, I would say that 65-70% of the dust was “collected”, I imagine that more powerful dust collector would be an improvement. The only time I had an issue was when I forgot to open the blast gate for the bandsaw.
Blade changes are straight-forward, especially with the quick-release blade tension lever. The only tool needed to change the blade is a screwdriver to remove the throat-plate. The tracking adjustments are straight-forward and easy to accomplish through the window. There is also another window that displays the blade tension.
The fence on the Laguna is very nice, but be aware that this is my first exposure to a fence on a bandsaw since my Dad’s Rigid doesn’t have one. The fence can be set at either 5 ½” high or ½” high and is easily changed using two knobs. When I first set up the band saw I did need to shim the fence to get it square to the table which was easily done with a single strip of electrical tape. There are two bolts that can be loosened using the supplied allen wrench to square the fence to the blade. The fence slides smoothly side to side and locks down securely.
I didn’t buy the Laguna light kit since I had the have the LED Work-light from Lee Valley (
http://www.leevalley...596,43349,71189). In fact, the Woodcraft owner didn’t recommend the light since the light is mounted right at head-level on the front of the saw, not in the best position.
There are a few items that I am less than enthused about, but are not deal breakers. First are the small knobs used to adjust the guide blocks. The plastic looks and feels cheap, to where I don’t know how well they will hold up over time. Maybe I will be surprised, but they just seem out of place on an otherwise high quality saw. Second is the lack of storage in the stand. Now the stand is incredibly well made and is very heavy duty, but it would have been nice to have an open shelf or a door available for storage.
Overall I have no regrets purchasing the Laguna 1412 and I expect that it will last for many years.
