Opinions on Laguna 6" and/or 8" Wedgebed HH jointers wanted

Hi all, making a decision on either a really great quality Laguna 8" Wedgebed jointer with the ShearTec spiral head, along with a cheap thicknesser, or a good combo like the Woodman PT310, but reviews on Laguna jointers (and the Woodman for that matter) apparently are sparser than hen's teeth.

Has anyone bought one of these models or had experience with them? Or could suggest an equivalent quality, similarly priced model.

Assuming the Lagunas are actually as good as some people claim that is, while there appear to be virtually no reviews on the jointers. And yes, I'm aware there have been lots of threads on their customer service, but if they are good enough quality I'm prepared to cross that bridge if I come to it.

Okay, looking at this further, unless I'm mistaken, the 8" Laguna is almost an identical copy to the Grizzly G1018HW apart from the helical head and a few little size differences.

Hi,

Information from real users of this equipment does seem scarce from the lack of reply's to your query, maybe nobody is buying them.
From what it appears the units you are interested in are very similar/same as others but with different badges and paintwork. As others have pointed out in these forums before, just because a machine is made in the same factory as another the finishing touches and quality control imposed by companies such as Laguna can make all the difference to the final product and it's price.

I can't provide you with any useful information about these jointers but as you are considering a combo machine I think it would be worth looking at the Jet JPT310HH or the Laguna PT310. Both 12 inch helical head machines and they look like exactly the same machine to me.
I bought the Jet JPT310HH early last year an couldn't be happier, apart from a bit of a flimsy fence which required some shimming to get it spot on I really don't know what they could do to make it better. Having a 12 inch jointer is just luxury and I find the bed length adequate for what I do. After using mine for a while my Dad bought one for himself a couple of months ago. Both his and my machine came set up perfectly out of the box (at least to the resolution of my measuring equipment), I can mill a piece of 1800mm lumber to better than 0.1mm across all dimensions for the entire length without any adjustment to the machine and it has keep this accuracy for over a year which is good enough for me. Very quick changeover which was sold me on this unit in the first place. Only real problem (which is common to all combo machines that I know of) is having to move the planer bed down to make room for the dust hood when changing back to jointing mode but the analog/mechanical/digital/thingie height gauge is very precise so you can easily go back to the previous setting.

Not a rep just a satisfied customer.

Good luck with whatever you decide to purchase.

Regards
Bart

I did have a look at the Jet JPT-310 which is a beaut machine, but at 3HP it's just a tad too much power for my workshop and for what I really need, and I really want to avoid having to get any rewiring done as the entire mainboard will need to be replaced as well if I do. So roughly 2HP more or less is fine for my workshop. Especially as the vast bulk of my work is short runs of 300mm - 600mm generally.

I already have a 13" thicknesser for grunt work, and want a combo for the jointer aspect primarily, and the added convenience of the thicknesser secondary. So after looking at and analysing a multitude of 10"-12" combos, I've settled on the Jet JPT-260M, and I'm just waiting on either a discount at the working with wood show, or for it to be reduced in the Carbatec monthly sales. This month of course the JPT-310 is on special!

The CTS/Shelix spiral head for the 10" is around $1000, but I've had some really interesting chats with suppliers, and the general consensus is that the Jet is a very much more substantial machine than the 10" Carbatec combo with the spiral head I was looking at previously.

So now I wait!