Never say never. Laguna 5hp Pro Shaper!!!! My review

[Cary Falk]

I can be quoted on this website as saying that I would never buy Laguna because bad customer service stories and a brief talk with them about 10 years ago. I have also said that my Grizzly G1026 was enough to keep me happy despite the short comings in the fence. Well the fence and spindle changes finally got to me and I started to look at replacement fences. You can't find anything decent less than $1000 that is decent. I then started eyeing new shapers. I have looked at the PM2700 but was more then I wanted to spend. I looked at the Jet 35, the Grizzly G5912Z and a couple of Lagunas. Woodcraft was having a sale on Laguna. It's free ship to the store, no tax and it shares a lot of the features of the PM2700 so I took the plunge.

I am going to compare this to the G1026 AS REFERENCE ONLY because it is what I used before and maybe the information will help somebody make a decision down the line because Laguna is still lacking people that know their tools despite supposedly using them. Their website sucks also. Please do not turn this into a Grizzly bashing thread. I still have a lot of Grizzly tools and will continue to buy from them when they meet my needs.

So lets start with the packing. It came in a nice plywood crate fully assembled.




One minor problem. I would guess these brackets were meant to bolt the tool to the pallet. Dooooh!

Here it is side by side the G1026. The front wing of the Grizzly has been removed since I was prepping it to move to it's new home.




The miter gage is better than average. It is adjustable for slop and has a nice rubber grip on the handle. It does not have an extruded aluminum fence like the manual shows. The manual is a direct copy of the PM2700 manual with a few pictures changed. They completely missed their error as far as the fence is concerned.


Next is a shot of the difference in the draw bar and 3/4" spindle between both tools.(Grizzly is the smaller ones)

Router bit collet.


Spindle wrench. It's just shy of 1/4" thick!!!!


Next is the fence. This is the frustrating part. I called them asking them how/if the fence faces were adjustable so the are in the same plane. The PM2700 and the Jet 35 are completely adjustable and is spelled out in the manual. The PM and JET fence was also spelled out in the Laguna manual on line. Another complete miss when the manual was copied. I talked to Laguna and they said that the fence wasn't adjustable but they didn't have any complaints about the faces not meeting up. The manual has been updated with the correct picture of the fence but no info about adjusting it. I was happy to find this when I took of the fence faces off.




It has metal wheels. They all point in the same direction. They aren't great but will probably be good enough that I won't build a mobile base. We'll see.

I haven't wired it up yet but so far I am very pleased with everything I have seen so far. Again, this is not a comparison to the G0126. It is used as a size reference similar to using a beer can. This shaper is more on par with the PM2700, JET35X or maybe the G5912Z. The spindle changes, Router collets, belt changes, and manual are identical to the Jet/PM. The table is comparable to the PM2700.

I hope this is helpful to somebody looking for a shaper because Laguna still don't know what they are selling. If you have any questions pleas ask. I will post more stuff once I get some more time with it.

Cary

[Ben Rivel]

Wow, well we still dont know how itll perform nor how long itll last, but it SURE does LOOK purdy! Makes me want one! How much did you get it for?

[glenn bradley]

Sweet looking unit Cary.

I talked to Laguna and they said that the fence wasn't adjustable but they didn't have any complaints about the faces not meeting up.

I don't know that any manufacturer is free of the odd-ball who is too proud to say "I don't know" and go find out something for you. Sorry that guy answered the phone. Looking forward to you report after some use.

[Peter Kelly]

Next is a shot of the difference in the draw bar and 3/4" spindle between both tools.(Grizzly is the smaller ones)

Did you not receive an 1 1/4" spindle? It's a nice upgrade with a larger machine.

[Cary Falk]

Did you not receive an 1 1/4" spindle? It's a nice upgrade with a larger machine.

It came with a 3/4" spindle, 1 1/4" spindle, 1/4" and 1/2 router bit collets. I didn't show the 1 1/4" because the Grizzly only had a 1" so there wasn't nothing to compare it to.

[Cary Falk]

Wow, well we still dont know how itll perform nor how long itll last, but it SURE does LOOK purdy! Makes me want one! How much did you get it for?

It is normally $2999. Woodcraft had it for 10% off. OR has no sales tax and I don't have any shipping if they order it and ship it to the store. Nobody else had it cheaper and I like to support the local Woodcraft when I can. They always treat me right.

[Cary Falk]

I got to play around some.
Here is a picture of the tools they sent. Oddly enough the didn't send a big enough allen wrench for the top of the spindles.


Both back corners are tapped for a feeder. It would have been helpful if they had mentioned the size they were tapped. Luckily the starter pin was the same. So I took it to HD to get some bolts. They are M12mmx1.75mm.

The shaper has 2 4" dust ports. One that surrounds the spindle and one in the hood.

I put in a Freud raised panel router bit and tried it out. I expected it to do better then this.





This is it without the lower port hooked up.


This is what a shaper cutter on top with both ports hooked up looks like.



The on/off/reverse switch is mounted on a pole with a built in spindle height DRO. It swivels. I found out that my swithc/motor is wired backwards. I have to run it in reverse to spin the spindle counter clockwise.


AS a side not in the above picture, Laguna makes a big deal about the precision of the silver knobs that move the fence in and out but see the large bumps on top of the fence as crude to judge the revolutions. I will be putting some marks closer to the knobs in the future. I'm weird like that. It might not matter in the end.


The spindle lock in the upper left corner makes spindle changes super easy. The box above the door opening on the right is a interlock which prevents the motor starting if the door is open.


I will say that while the huge wrench is great up above to change the spindle, it is too long and causes problems trying to tighten the draw bar inside the cabinet.

I am loving the fence. It is super easy and super fast to adjust. I also like the guard and feather boards. Likewise the spindles and router bit collets are to change out. The spindle lock is very helpful.

It runs really smooth. I am guessing under hobby use it will hold up just fine.

[Clint Baxter]

Carey, I have the same shaper. Got it last year and have used it sparingly since I finally got it set up. Curious on your spindle rotation. Do you have it in forward or reverse when feeding right-to-left? this is my first shaper and after always using a router table, figured that would be forward. On my Laguna, however, I need to set it to reverse, for counter-clockwise rotation of the spindle.

How owe do you like the digital readout of the spindle height? I've found it to be quite precise during my use to date. Have been able to measure my test pieces with a digital caliper, adjust the shaper by that amount via the digital readout, and pretty much come out spot on.

I've been quite happy with mine so far, but as said earlier, have never used one before and have no knowledge on what to compare it to. Will be curious to know how much you like it as you spend more time on it.

Clint

[Cary Falk]

Clint,
my shaper is running in reverse if I want to feed from right to left. That is backwards to me. I have not tested the accuracy of the DRO yet.

[Martin Wasner]

Why do I not know what a draw bar is?

[Jared Sankovich]

Why do I not know what a draw bar is?

The threaded rod holding the removable spindle to the main spindle. Same as a drawbar on a milling machine if you are familiar.

[Martin Wasner]

Ah, now I understand. Of my shapers that have a removable spindle , thew lock in the machine.

[rudy de haas]

Clint,
my shaper is running in reverse if I want to feed from right to left. That is backwards to me. I have not tested the accuracy of the DRO yet.

I am glad to hear it - I bought my shaper (a G1026, but labelled Craftex) used and have often wondered if I'm doing something wrong running it in reverse or whether someone had miswired it. I feed [my] right to left.. so I still don't understand it, but at least am reassured that it's not wrong.

[Cary Falk]

I am glad to hear it - I bought my shaper (a G1026, but labelled Craftex) used and have often wondered if I'm doing something wrong running it in reverse or whether someone had miswired it. I feed [my] right to left.. so I still don't understand it, but at least am reassured that it's not wrong.

I just checked and my G1026 and it is set on fwd. Some of the literature I have read says that fwd should be CCW rotation. I don't know what it should be but I guess I won't bother rewiring it.

[David Kumm]

You should be able to swap leads to change the motor direction. You will also want to bring in a 6" line before splitting into two 4". Shapers need a lot of cfm because the cut occurs so far away from the port. Are they made in Bulgaria? I've seen some nice machines come from the old Eastern block countries. Dave