I recently purchased a Laguna bandsaw and dust collector from Wood Werks aka thisiswoodworking during a 10% off sale. I was a little worried given the horrible customer service reviews Laguna received 10 years ago that you find anytime you search for Laguna products. I was happy to experience the opposite! I suppose it goes to show you that the internet never forgets. Anyway, this review is mainly about the buying and initial set-up experience as I need to get some electrical work done still.
Context
I ordered the 14BX bandsaw in 220v and the P-Flux 3 dust collector. I wanted a bandsaw because I do not want a table saw (short of a Euro slider...I'd also like to win the lottery and a larger workshop than 1 bay of a so-called 3-car garage), and my Festools (TS-55, various rails, small Domino, Carvex, 1400 and 1010 routers, CMS, MFT, CT-36, CXS, sanders, etc etc) cover most other use cases pretty well. I needed a dust collector because bandsaws need dust collection. Also my super loud Dewalt planer makes me sneeze for days even running it outside. I chose the P-Flux 3 because I had a 30A limit for this particular circuit and did not want to deal with 100+dB fun times with a 5-HP ClearVue or pay the extra $1-2k for an Oneida (not to mention the very odd web censorship that seems to happen in regard to that brand). I considered going the VFD route and all that. I also looked at a Felder RL200 and decided to not spend $5k+.
Buying
While not quite the six-month lead time you get with Felder/Hammer, I did have to wait about 6 weeks for my stuff to ship, so not too bad. The only hiccup here was that the first warning things were shipping (early) was when the freight company called to schedule delivery the next day. This may have been a WoodWerks thing, since the retailer is supposed to handle notifications on drop shipments.
Set Up
The 14BX was a breeze to set up. I think it took longer to unpack than it took to put the approx 4 pieces together. It did show up rather well palletized. The mobile base instructions were crap, but a quick web search confirmed that there's an extra piece like a vestigial limb for the 1412.
The P-Flux3, on the other hand, really does personify "some assembly required." It's clear that they took a good lesson from IKEA here, and most reviews like on Sawmill Creek will say the same thing. It's going to take you a full day or at least half of one. Using a CXS on the lowest torque setting will cut that time by about an hour. Best I can tell you is to throw away the manual and just use the video Laguna made to show you how to set it up. The video is great; the manual was written by someone who has not actually seen a P-Flux3. When you call Laguna for help, and you probably will, the first question they will ask is whether you have seen the video. They ask that for a very good reason; it's a good video. The interactions with their customer service are really the only reason I'm writing this review.
What Happens When You Call Laguna in 2017
Things were probably different before, but really I cannot complain. Here's how my interaction went. It was about 445pm central on a weekday when I ran into an issue. A part was not tapped, so the venturi tube would not attach. There were also two loose rivet nuts/threaded inserts. I called Laguna, and someone took my initial info and opened a ticket. Told me to expect a call-back. OK, I figured I'd hear from them the next day. Instead, 15 minutes later Rachel called for some initial triage. While she had never heard of this happening, she said she'd have a tech (tier 2?) call me. I sent in my serial number and some photographic evidence late that night. The next day, Adam Chapman called. (I mentioned I might write a review of the whole experience on FOG, and Adam asked me to share his name so that people with issues with their dust collectors can ask for him directly.) While this was a minor problem, I wanted some confirmation to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong. Adam confirmed that it was not normal, and they'd let the factory know since it's a pretty obvious QC issue. I was able to tap the unthreaded 4 holes with an Irwin 5/16-18 tap fairly easily. For the loose rivets, they offered to overnight the two pieces to me, but with a longer bolt and a nut and some washers, I was able to tighten them down. For saving them the cost of overnighting two heavy pieces of metal, they gave me an extra bandsaw blade.
Experience Using These Expensive Things So Far
Mainly I walk by the bandsaw and cut my elbow on the corner of the fence. I also roll both machines around (buy the mobile base for the 14BX) a bit to move them out of the way until I can rearrange things.
Overall, the experience has been quite positive. Ask for Adam Chapman if you have problems setting up your Laguna dust collector.
Context
I ordered the 14BX bandsaw in 220v and the P-Flux 3 dust collector. I wanted a bandsaw because I do not want a table saw (short of a Euro slider...I'd also like to win the lottery and a larger workshop than 1 bay of a so-called 3-car garage), and my Festools (TS-55, various rails, small Domino, Carvex, 1400 and 1010 routers, CMS, MFT, CT-36, CXS, sanders, etc etc) cover most other use cases pretty well. I needed a dust collector because bandsaws need dust collection. Also my super loud Dewalt planer makes me sneeze for days even running it outside. I chose the P-Flux 3 because I had a 30A limit for this particular circuit and did not want to deal with 100+dB fun times with a 5-HP ClearVue or pay the extra $1-2k for an Oneida (not to mention the very odd web censorship that seems to happen in regard to that brand). I considered going the VFD route and all that. I also looked at a Felder RL200 and decided to not spend $5k+.
Buying
While not quite the six-month lead time you get with Felder/Hammer, I did have to wait about 6 weeks for my stuff to ship, so not too bad. The only hiccup here was that the first warning things were shipping (early) was when the freight company called to schedule delivery the next day. This may have been a WoodWerks thing, since the retailer is supposed to handle notifications on drop shipments.
Set Up
The 14BX was a breeze to set up. I think it took longer to unpack than it took to put the approx 4 pieces together. It did show up rather well palletized. The mobile base instructions were crap, but a quick web search confirmed that there's an extra piece like a vestigial limb for the 1412.
The P-Flux3, on the other hand, really does personify "some assembly required." It's clear that they took a good lesson from IKEA here, and most reviews like on Sawmill Creek will say the same thing. It's going to take you a full day or at least half of one. Using a CXS on the lowest torque setting will cut that time by about an hour. Best I can tell you is to throw away the manual and just use the video Laguna made to show you how to set it up. The video is great; the manual was written by someone who has not actually seen a P-Flux3. When you call Laguna for help, and you probably will, the first question they will ask is whether you have seen the video. They ask that for a very good reason; it's a good video. The interactions with their customer service are really the only reason I'm writing this review.
What Happens When You Call Laguna in 2017
Things were probably different before, but really I cannot complain. Here's how my interaction went. It was about 445pm central on a weekday when I ran into an issue. A part was not tapped, so the venturi tube would not attach. There were also two loose rivet nuts/threaded inserts. I called Laguna, and someone took my initial info and opened a ticket. Told me to expect a call-back. OK, I figured I'd hear from them the next day. Instead, 15 minutes later Rachel called for some initial triage. While she had never heard of this happening, she said she'd have a tech (tier 2?) call me. I sent in my serial number and some photographic evidence late that night. The next day, Adam Chapman called. (I mentioned I might write a review of the whole experience on FOG, and Adam asked me to share his name so that people with issues with their dust collectors can ask for him directly.) While this was a minor problem, I wanted some confirmation to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong. Adam confirmed that it was not normal, and they'd let the factory know since it's a pretty obvious QC issue. I was able to tap the unthreaded 4 holes with an Irwin 5/16-18 tap fairly easily. For the loose rivets, they offered to overnight the two pieces to me, but with a longer bolt and a nut and some washers, I was able to tighten them down. For saving them the cost of overnighting two heavy pieces of metal, they gave me an extra bandsaw blade.
Experience Using These Expensive Things So Far
Mainly I walk by the bandsaw and cut my elbow on the corner of the fence. I also roll both machines around (buy the mobile base for the 14BX) a bit to move them out of the way until I can rearrange things.
Overall, the experience has been quite positive. Ask for Adam Chapman if you have problems setting up your Laguna dust collector.
