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Laguna REVO 1836

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Feb 24, 2021
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Kuna, ID
I am seriously looking at purchasing the Laguna 1836 (220v version) and found a company that will ship it free, not charge tax and will deliver it into my garage no charge. Just a lot of good things there.

I have a few odd questions for anyone else that owns this lathe since I cannot get answers from my other research.

1. What plug is on the end of this from the factory? It seems it is a NEMA-15 but in another place, I saw it was a NEMA-20. I have to run the 220v line so I wanted to get the outlet ahead of time. I am not an electrician but some say that you can use #14 wire but I was thinking #12 is the right gauge to use. A big difference in price. I am only going about 10 feet from the breaker box to where the lathe will sit.
2. Since I made a lot of accessories for my old Jet lathe (sander, etc.), I have a lot of bed clamps. Can someone offer what is the width of the bedway? My Jet was 1.75 inches.
3. I would be moving from a 1" x 8 spindle to a 1.25" x 8 spindle. I have 2 Nova chucks that I can get new inserts for but I have a lot of other headstock accessories. I know they sell adapters but wanted to hear if anyone has had experience with using them. I am likely overthinking this but I am wondering if adapters can add wobble if they are of poor quality and you can't always tell until you buy it and then mount it. More is not always better.

Thanks, folks for the time.

-John
 
Joined
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Cant help you with #1 or 2, but I have experience with #3. I have one PSI 1x8 to 1-1/4x8 adapter and runout etc is surprisingly good. I use it for a small 2-1/2” chuck. The extra length from the spindle is the real issue. Not a problem with spindle work but it can be with faceplate work. I only use the setup for smaller bowls, boxes, etc when the tenon needs to be less than 1-1/4”. I would not use an adapter for a faceplate or anything trying to hold much weight at all. Just depends on the type of accessory and just how tight of runout you need - the one I have has ~.003” with the chuck mounted.
 
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Thanks, Doug. Good information. I have several sizes of faceplates and perhaps I should add in the cost of upgrading them to the larger size.
 
Joined
May 25, 2010
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Prince Frederick, MD
Hi John,

I think I can add a bit for #1 and #2:

I believe the Laguna bed gap is in metric.... I just measured and am getting 50mm (~1.96 inches).

See attached for a picture of the stock plug that came with my 220V 1836. I tried to get in close, but you have the two horizontal blades plus the ground. I believe that is a 20-amp, but don't quote me on that. And it's just my personal preference, but I'd go for the #12 gauge wire anyway, even if you don't really need it. That way if you ever need to upgrade that outlet, you don't have to pull fresh cable as well. Yes, it is more expensive than the 14-gauge, but for a 10 foot run it shouldn't be that bad.

And I will echo Doug's experience with the PSI adapters. I have two of them, and for my needs at least, they seem to have remarkably little runout. I have seen Mike Peace's video where he demonstrates all kinds of problems that he had with those adapters, but that hasn't been my experience.

Dan
 

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Joined
Feb 24, 2021
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Kuna, ID
Dan, thanks for that great information. Your overall opinion of the 1836? Likes / dislikes? Appreciate the feedback.
 
Joined
May 25, 2010
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Prince Frederick, MD
Hi John,

First, my disclaimer... I am by no means an expert, and far less experienced than most of the others on this site. My Laguna was also an upgrade from a Delta Mini lathe, so from that perspective it was (and still is) a huge upgrade. Overall I'm very happy with it. It does what I need it to do, and I love using it. It was also significantly cheaper than many others in a similar class, which definitely helped.

After using it for a while, though, there are a couple of things I'm not wild about (probably would be true for almost any lathe). However, even with 20/20 hindsight, I'd probably still make the same choice.

The banjo: I don't like the way the tool rest post locks in. The banjo compresses around the tool rest post in an odd way, and it's hard to get it really tight. The banjo itself locks into place just fine, but the tool post can move unless I crank down on the lever.

Lack of moveable start/stop switches. This is a feature that I've never had, but a lot of other lathes do have. I didn't think I'd miss it, but when using a mini lathe, it's not as much of an issue. Moving up to larger blocks of spinning wood, I find myself wishing I didn't have to reach around to access the controls.

As I said though, even with its quirks, I think this was still a good choice for me, and I'd do it again.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out,

Dan
 

Timothy Allen

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The size wire to use is constrained by the size of the breaker in the panel -- if a 20-amp breaker is called for, you must use 12-gauge wire (or heavier), 14-gauge would not be allowed.
 
Joined
May 21, 2020
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Arlington, VA
I have this lathe and I'm pleased with my decision which balanced price and features. Mine was a move up from a Jet 1236, so like Dan, it was a move to a different class of machine. It's powerful, I like the controls, it's heavy, and it has helped me turn bigger bowls.

Two things that I don't like are:
1. The lock button for the spindle is frustrating. I know there are lots of gadgets that guys have made up and I just need to make the time to fashion my own.
2. The handle to turn the spindle is awkwardly small and my hand can't easily wrap around it without rapping on the motor.

I'd probably make the same buying decision today.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2021
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Kuna, ID
Thanks to all for the valuable insight. Much appreciated. I am heading into retirement and wanting to purchase a quality machine that I look as an investment. I want to turn and and not worry about equipment.
 
Joined
Mar 19, 2016
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Haubstadt, Indiana
I am a former owner of a Laguna 18-36. I had that lathe for two years. It is not a bad lathe for the price. Why did I sell it, because in those two years I replaced the start/stop switch, E-stop switch, relay, the entire headstock assembly, and the circuit board. Laguna CS was always good about sending parts. However they seemed to “try to guess” the problem and their fix was to sent parts to see if it fixed the problem. After they replaced the headstock I had problems and the finally got the thing fixed. The new headstock had an old style circuit board and I replaced that and it then worked as it should. None of the switches were really bad, just the CS way to do things. I just got tired of it and even thought the lathe was finally fixed decided to sell it. I never had any problem with the banjo, seemed to work fine for me. The steel ways seemed scratchy, but they were ok. I posted a solution for the spindle lock in the tips forum. I liked the leg splay and I added 280# sand between the legs that really helped make the lathe stable. I did buy their vacuum adapter and it is very good. The lathe without risers is 41 1/2” floor to spindle. I’m 5’ 9” and this was too low for me. Like I said not a bad lathe for the price. I ended up buying a Robust AB and no comparison can be made.
 
Joined
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Windermere, British Columbia
Thanks to all for the valuable insight. Much appreciated. I am heading into retirement and wanting to purchase a quality machine that I look as an investment. I want to turn and and not worry about equipment.
I’d buy Oneway, but I’m in Canada. I’m sure Robust is the same quality and holds value the same. I believe in buying tools once and trying to help our fellow workers. I try and never buy foriegn goods that we don’t have a free trade agreement with. Even if it means saving up.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2009
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Rockingham, Virginia
Nema 6-15 plug, should have a dedicated 20 amp circuit, with 12/2 with ground Romex wire. My lathe uses the same plug, and I use a Nema 6-20 receptacle which will accept either a nema 6-15 plug, or a 6-20 plug, which has an "L" shape on one leg of the plug, instead of straight across on both. 220v can be done with black and white hot and ground to ground, as long as your electrical panel is grounded properly. The 20 amp dedicated circuit is recommended by most lathe manufacturers like Powermatic, Jet, Robust, Grizzly, Oneway and others.
 
Joined
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Eugene, OR
Well, I do not like the 'pinch' type of tool rest lock/set. Had it on one lathe, and figure it worked about as well as the standard screw in type of pin. I think the Laguna has that pinch type where there is a slot cut into the banjo seating piece, and by tightening your screw, it pinches the tool rest in place rather than just the set screw. Best thus far that I have seen is the sliding wedges like the Robust lathes have and not the 3520C.

I have not had any issues with my Robust with the on/off buttons or the variable speed knobs. Had to replace both on my 3520A. This does seem to be a common problem on some lathes.

No clue about the electronics.

Customer service is lacking with a lot of lathes. It started when PM sold out to what ever tool group it was. When you call about a problem, you talk to a tech who is reading from a manual to figure out what is wrong, not some one who has actual hands on experience with the tool. This is not true with Robust. I would expect the same with Oneway, and Vicmark. Not sure about the others. Maybe a point to consider when buying a new lathe.

robo hippy
 
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Robo, you are correct in describing the Laguna banjo clamping. I can see how it might be a problem, but was not for me when I had my Laguna. Not ideal, but better than the side screw IMO. The pinch style banjo was first used on the 1970’s (or before) PM 90. Brent got the design from that and PM brought it back on the 3520C.
 

hockenbery

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Brent got the design from that and PM brought it back on the 3520C.
the first 3520 powermatics had the pinch nuts too.

then for some reason they went to the short handled bolt that works ok if you tap it with a tool handle to get a good lock.
have this same lock on the new big jets.

Excellent holding. Only problem is if you aren’t use to it - easy to take a tool rest out and drop the handle which closes the nuts enough to block the hole. I try to remember to open an extra turn then drop the handle before taking the tool rest out.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
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Austin, TX
Hi, just a me too. I have the 24x36. The bed, tool rest and tail stock are the same I think. I love it. I find it gets covered in wood shavings too easily.
A thought for whoever was having trouble tightening the tool rest mech. For reasons I won't divulge I ended up tightening it down on a post a bit shy if 1". After that it was hell moving the post up and down and tight was never a problem. It's loosened up now but still very easy to tighten.
 
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A thought for whoever was having trouble tightening the tool rest mech. For reasons I won't divulge I ended up tightening it down on a post a bit shy if 1". After that it was hell moving the post up and down and tight was never a problem. It's loosened up now but still very easy to tighten.

Ha, that was me, I think. Good to know. It's not really that bad but every now and then it "reminds" me to tighten things down. I guess I can always give it a gentle tighten without a post in the hole, if it ever got too annoying. It just seemed like a design flaw overall on a lathe that, for the price, seems fairly well thought out.
 
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I had one of the very early 3520A models that had a fan under the back side of the headstock to keep it cool. It did not have a pinch style tool rest lock. I ended up having 2 T handles made for it because with just one, it would continually slip.

robo hippy
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2021
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Location
Kingsville, ON
I am seriously looking at purchasing the Laguna 1836 (220v version) and found a company that will ship it free, not charge tax and will deliver it into my garage no charge. Just a lot of good things there.

I have a few odd questions for anyone else that owns this lathe since I cannot get answers from my other research.

1. What plug is on the end of this from the factory? It seems it is a NEMA-15 but in another place, I saw it was a NEMA-20. I have to run the 220v line so I wanted to get the outlet ahead of time. I am not an electrician but some say that you can use #14 wire but I was thinking #12 is the right gauge to use. A big difference in price. I am only going about 10 feet from the breaker box to where the lathe will sit.
2. Since I made a lot of accessories for my old Jet lathe (sander, etc.), I have a lot of bed clamps. Can someone offer what is the width of the bedway? My Jet was 1.75 inches.
3. I would be moving from a 1" x 8 spindle to a 1.25" x 8 spindle. I have 2 Nova chucks that I can get new inserts for but I have a lot of other headstock accessories. I know they sell adapters but wanted to hear if anyone has had experience with using them. I am likely overthinking this but I am wondering if adapters can add wobble if they are of poor quality and you can't always tell until you buy it and then mount it. More is not always better.

Thanks, folks for the time.

-John
Hi John, I am new to the forum and also just bought a laguna 1836 220 volt here in Ontario, Canada. Just spoke with my electrician and said to install 15 amp breaker with 2-12 gauge NMD wire. He is installing next week.
 

John Jordan

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The Laguna is a good buy for the money and will allow one to do pretty much anything they could want. 30 years ago I would have traded my mother for a lathe that good. Apparently relays, circuit boards etc are sometimes a problem, I replaced the relay board for a friend. It's made of tiny components, not what I expected to see. toolrest and tailstock levers aren't the most positive around-they don't have a great feel, but they do work. I've turned on probably a dozen of them and never had a problem, in fact, I thought it was a more expensive lathe.

John
 

john lucas

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Laguna is trying. They are designing some pretty nice gear but unfortunately their customer is still lacking. I personally know of two owners of the 12-16 that had nightmares trying to get a problem fixed on brand new machines. I read all.the emails one guy got from them and they told.him younjust cant please some people. He was actually being nicer than I would have been at that point and it turned out to be bad bearings. He finally posted the problem with them on this forum and that got their attention and they fixed the problem. I found out since then that they have had bearing problems in that machine. Second customer had the same problem as with their customer service. It's a shame because they could be gaining a wonderful.following for well.designed machines if they just used quality parts and followed up any customer.probkems with good support.
 
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I have had nothing but a great time with my 18-36 and the customer service has been first class with the small problem I had.
 
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Astoria, Oregon
I love my Stubby 750. Absolute quality, and the CS tech is involved with the manufacturing process. Expensive yes, but you get one of the best lathes on the market. It also disassembles into manageable pieces for moving.
 
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
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Littleton, CO
I have had an 1836 for several years now. I turned on a Powermatic at Craft Supply when I took a course there and didn't think it was twice the money. I bought mine from the Woodcraft store in Loveland CO because they had one in stock and took it home in my van. Had to be a little ingenious in getting it out, unboxed and assembled. I bought some casters for it rather than the mobile base saving about $500.00. I have not had any trouble with mine. It on occasion stops or won't start but a little compressed air into the switches to blow the dust out gets it going.
I also have a Laguna Table saw and a Super Max Dust collector. Never had any trouble with either and have had them for a couple of years. Only time I ever talked to customer service was when I upgraded the table saw to 220v and had to order an new switch that came with the proper cord and plug.
I don't think you can go wrong and it seems to me that some people always have problems with CS no matter how good they are most of the time.

Good luck with your Lathe.
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2020
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Saint Albans, WV
Hi John, I know the original post was a few months ago but, just thought I’d throw in my half-nickel…

I’ve had my 1836 for a little over a year now and I truly love it. Is it a Robust or a OneWay? No. But for the money, it is absolutely a work horse. I’ve done quite a bit of production turning and it’s been a great machine.

The issue mentioned with the banjo can be solved by adding a bolt to the secondary bolt hole that’s on the back of the banjo. There’s a YouTube video by BB Turning where he shows how to fix this. I used a little bit different method than he did by simply using the correct thread bolt and a lock washer.

The issue with the switches and relay thats in the control panel, I actually had sent to me by Laguna. I was having an issue with the switches (I assume) where I would hit the start button, spindle would start to spool up, then stop. I’d have to hit the stop button, and then hit the start button again, afterwards, it would run fine. This situation would present itself maybe once or twice a week, and no real rhyme or reason. It wasn’t that big of a deal but, since it was still under warranty, I decided to call Laguna. They were very helpful and friendly and admitted that it was something they’d seen before so, they sent me new switches and the relay inside the control panel.
Me being the frugal (cheap) person that I am, since I already had the parts, I thought I’d wait until I actually NEEDED to replace those parts before doing so. Oddly enough, that symptom has not occurred ever since I got the parts in. Maybe it knew I got the replacement parts in and it straightened it’s act up!!?

In reality the issues I’ve had are really minimalonly REAL complaint I have is that the lathe was a tad short on height. I’m not particularly tall (5’11”) but, the production work I do is small diameter pieces and after standing in front of the lathe for a few hours, it really takes its toll on my back. After a year of “dealing with it” I broke down and bought the riser kit. I really wish I’d done it so long ago.

Perhaps someday, if my production work continues, I’ll be able to justify a Robust AB. (Let’s be honest here, I’ll justify it to myself eventually. ) However, I’m VERY happy with both the 1836, and with Laguna’s customer service. I really don’t think you can go wrong.

You may have already made your purchase by now but, if not, I hope you do. I don’t think you’ll regret it at all.

- SB
 
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The mobility set up that comes with the Laguna lathes is, to me, the worst ever. Who ever thought it was a good idea, obviously does not use the sliding headstock, which for me was the reason I bought my first real lathe, a 3520A. It is totally in the way if you turn off the end of the lathe, and I don't mean some what inconvenient, it is a big problem.

Other than that, it appears to be a good lathe. I am not a fan of the big cone on the headstock 'for access' to the back side of a bowl. It puts your mounting spot too far off of the headstock.

robo hippy
 
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