From a distance, the new European-made Laguna TS tablesaw looks like an American cabinet saw on steroids. The Laguna is big, with a 31-1/2-in. by 38-in. top and a shipping weight of 998 lbs. The power plant is a 3-1/2-hp, 220-volt motor. The saw accepts both 12-in. and 10-in. blades.

I recently put the Laguna through its paces and discovered several impressive features. The trunnions and the top are fitted to the case with roll pins, so the top can’t move in relationship to the blade. As long as the manufacturer has set the parts properly, you’ll never have to realign the top with the blade. I also like that height-adjusting screws can level the two-part top as well as align the extension table with the top. In addition, the saw includes a splitter that raises and lowers with the sawblade. And the splitter is fully adjustable in all three axes, so it can be aligned perfectly with the blade.

The saw was designed to take an Altendorf-style short-stroke sliding table and a scoring blade attachment. The Laguna’s top is split down the middle, and one half can be removed to make room for the sliding table. They may not be options most amateur woodworkers want to pay for, but it’s nice to have upgrade options.

The quality of this Bulgarian-made saw was both outstanding and lacking. The arbor assembly “beam” is a huge 30-in.-long, 1/2-in.-thick iron casting with 3/4-in.-thick ribs. Amusingly, the case on the tool I looked at was assembled while the paint was still wet, embedding many washers and nut heads. According to a Laguna representative, the company is taking steps to bring the fit and finish up to snuff.

On the other hand, all of the important tolerances were dead on. Right out of the box, the TS was tuned almost to perfection. Arbor runout was a miniscule 0.001 in., even with an extension collar (to use dado blades, you must remove the extension collar). The miter-gauge slots were perfectly parallel to one another and essentially parallel to the blade, out by only 0.003 in. over a 24-in. length. The tops and the throat plate also were flat.

The miter gauge fit perfectly into the slots. There was no side play, yet it moved easily. Whether by design or accident, it’s the first one I’ve seen that didn’t need extensive tune-up to work.

The fence is a functional Biesemeyer copy. And the dust collection worked fine. All things considered, the Laguna TS tablesaw looks to be exceptionally well made, though a little rough on the edges. And it has some neat features. If the price and quality hold steady and the saw earns a reputation for holding up under long-term use, Laguna could give major American saw makers a run for their money.

The TS currently sells for $2,295; add $1,200 for the sliding table and another $500 for the scoring blade attachment.

Previous Review From 6/1/1999:
Out of the box, the Laguna was tuned to near perfection with miniscule arbor runout and miter-gauge slots almost dead-on parallel with the blade. It has nice features such as a splitter that raises and lowers with the sawblade. Its upgrades include a sliding table and a scoring attachment.

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