Hi all,

I just got my new table saw and band saw and thought I would write a little post about them for all who are looking.

I purchased a Laguna Platinum Dovetail saw and a Mini Max E16.

First the MM E16. The machine is much smaller than I imagined. They make it look huge on the website. This is good for my shop though. It’s a good fit for me in my space. The guts of the machine a phenomenal. The spine, wheels and assemblies, and the blade guide are all top notch. This is really why I chose this saw over the Laguna. The brake is also very nice. The miter gauge thingy they sent with the saw was a throw away. I don’t even know why they sent it. The

part though is that the miter slot in the table is not a standard size. Really? Really!

The table is cast iron and really just okay. Mine came with rust stains. No pits or real damage, just discoloration. The trunion mount for the table is pretty beefy but not a traditional trunion. This is fine and functions well except it was welded into the body very crooked and the table had to be shimmed level with washers.

The fence is an absolute joke (so is the manual). I am used to a Biesmeyer type fence and this thing is something that you’d find on a $79 HD special. To be honest, it’s not even passable if you are used to good fence. Plus, I had to dress with a sander and a pneumatic grinder all of the parts that were not attached to the saw (rough from manufacturing). So I’ll be taking it off and making my own.

I am waiting for blades right now so I haven’t gotten to cut yet. I’m sure this saw will cut like nobodies business. Like I said, the foundation of the machine is awesome so I’m happy with the band saw except for the few short comings. Oh yea, customer experience was fantastic. Great sales and support.

On the table saw, I was absolutely overwhelmed by as much or more than I was underwhelmed by the band saw. This table saw is a monster! Everything about this saw has been done well.

I really wanted a riving knife in my new saw so I looked at all of the models available now from Grizzly to Saw Stop. The Saw Stop machine is really the best machine on the market. It has just been manufactured better than all of the others in every way. But there was no way I could pay $4000 for a saw that I use on the weekends. The Powermatic is also a nice saw but very complicated under the hood. I didn’t appreciate that complication and I thought their price was a little high. So then it came down to Steel City and Grizzly. Both of these are nice saws but when I was studying the trunion assemblies under the table the Laguna dovetail assembly just looked better made. And in that regard, the lift slides and gears are so smooth that I can spin the handle up and let go and the blade keeps moving. Way cool. As a point of note, I think the Steel City and Laguna saws are made in the same place (look at the manual).

Everything else about the saw is also just as nice. It is heavy, well made, dressed well, the table right is not just pressed wood but some composite plastic, etc… Really, all very nice. The fence and the blade guard are great. Miter gauge also very nice.

There are only a few things that would bother some of you but I think are small fries. The legs on the table right have not angle supports. So I need to put some there cause they easily bend and flex the table sub structure. The cast iron table is not perfect. The top is indeed perfect but clearly they had some trouble with my particular table top in casting and there were voids in the miter slots. So the voids were welded and hand ground. The slots function perfectly they just don’t look perfect. Lastly, the blade angle stops are mushy. I tracked down the reason and it all has to do with where they mount that gear assembly. Basically, the trunion hits a hard, well-qualified stop but the gear is mounted to the front of the cabinet and the cabinet flexes a little bit. This makes the handle not stop hard. Not a big deal to me.

The manual is pretty nice. Sales and support before and after were great. Simply all good with this saw. Highly recommended. And I have done some cutting. Perfect cuts.

Hope this was helpful for any who are looking.

Rob Kress