Laguna Tools Drum Sander

[Robin Cruz]

Has anyone heard any reports abou the Laguna drum sander?
http://www.lagunatools.com/platinumsander2.htm

[Adam Grills]

Just by going on the picture. Why on earth is Laguna putting their name on it??? Is Laguna doing what Delta has done and gone cheap?
Adam

[Peter Quinn]

Just by going on the picture. Why on earth is Laguna putting their name on it??? Is Laguna doing what Delta has done and gone cheap?
Adam

No Fear, Laguna still sells a $40K wide belt for those who need one. They are doing what General did with General International. Laguna offers the Platinum series as an entry level Chinese import for small shops and hobbyists on a budget. I just got the platinum slot mortiser and its well made. Its not the same as the $5000 Austrian model, but its not junk either.

I think Laguna is trying to reach a wider audience with out watering down the flagship brand name. They are after all largely resellers more than tool makers. With delta its a crap shoot...they don't tell you which tools are top quality and which ones are cheap imports, though you may be able to infer the quality from the price.

I have heard nothing about the drum sander in question.

[Robin Cruz]

Just by going on the picture. Why on earth is Laguna putting their name on it??? Is Laguna doing what Delta has done and gone cheap?
Adam

what looks cheap about it in comparison to the Jet 16/32 for example? it is $400 cheaper then Jet (Amazon) if you account for the table extensions and wheels (no tax or shipping on either).

[Dave Lehnert]

Remember when Ryobi had a drum sander? Wonder if it's a remake of that?

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki...t.aspx?id=5967

[Joe Jensen]

No They are doing what General did with General International. Laguna offers the Platinum series as an entry level Chinese import for small shops and hobbyists on a budget.

I understand the strategy, but the branding seems a little strange. Why call your entry level stuff "Platinum" what's the other, "silver" or "gold", or maybe uranium

[Robin Cruz]

You know it looks very very similar to the Ryobi. the Laguna also looks almost identical to the Steel City 16/32. there are some differences in the picture, maybe the dust port is now 4" vs 2.5, and table extensions and wheels added

Remember when Ryobi had a drum sander? Wonder if it's a remake of that?

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki...t.aspx?id=5967

[Jason Stein]

I was interested in that sander a while back. I liked the bracket on the outside that eliminates deflection on stock less than 16" wide. But when I called them, they quoted the shipping charge at around $225, which brings the price right back up to where the other brands are. I walked away.

[Stan Urbas]

OK is this a dumb question, but about the outside bracket: does this mean that deflection is a problem without it? And why bother to have an open-ended sander if you're going to put that bracket on it? You now have a closed-ended sander with a deflection problem. Swell!

[Cary Swoveland]

The fact that the motor is only 1 hp is going to be a problem. I have Grizzly's 12" baby drum, which has a 1.5 hp motor. If I'm sanding an 8" wide board I have to be very careful with the reduction in thickness per cut and the feed speed. It's very easy to stall the motor and trip the breaker. Sanding a 16" wide board with a 1 hp motor will necessitate razor-thin cuts, fed at a snail's pace.

BTW, the baby drum meets my needs very well. It cost me $495, but I see the price is now $525.

Cary

[Robin Cruz]

The steel city version is 1.5 HP. Interesting the Laguna shows 1 hp. I can pick up so the shipping cost is not an adder.

[Ben Rafael]

I understand the strategy, but the branding seems a little strange. Why call your entry level stuff "Platinum" what's the other, "silver" or "gold", or maybe uranium

Kryptonite

[Robin Cruz]

I understand the strategy, but the branding seems a little strange. Why call your entry level stuff "Platinum" what's the other, "silver" or "gold", or maybe uranium

I understand the strategy. Its to make their lowest end product appear high end......taking advantage of brand reputation for their bandsaws........I think what your politely trying to say is that its a bit of an insult to those of reasonable intelligence especially for a product they didnt design or mfr. Its probably a result of dime a dozen MBAs taking over the company.........the dollar is king. MBAs are going to ruin the U.S.

My guess is the manufacture of the drum sander made a deal with Laguna after getting dropped by distributors. They gave Laguna a good deal and made some minor changes to the design per Lagunas direction (e.g. bigger dust port and table extensions).

Still Id guess its a fine drum sander for the price (the Ryobi review was good) and will work well for the hobbiest like myself.

[Doug Shepard]

Remember when Ryobi had a drum sander? Wonder if it's a remake of that?

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki...t.aspx?id=5967

The Ryobi (like the Delta) had a table that moved instead of the drum head. This looks more like the Performax.

[Robin Cruz]

The Ryobi (like the Delta) had a table that moved instead of the drum head. This looks more like the Performax.

from the picture it appears the drum moves at least at the url provided. The entire design looks identical to Steel City and Laguna where the drum moves.