Replies

1. 
   mane3215 | Feb 08, 2004 04:14am | #1

   Hows it going, I just recently purchased a mm20 and I love it.  very smooth and quiet and cuts like a dream.  Go to the MM website and click on the link to their yahoo forum, you will get a lot of great info and help there!

   -Chris

2. 
   Indigo1557 | Feb 08, 2004 04:29am | #2

   JWF:For what it's worth here is my Minimax 20 story.  It's just more grist for the mill, but it may help.

   3 weeks before Xmas I ordered the Minimax 20.  After some discussion with the sales guy - Dain - I was able to get a delivery date of mid - late Jan.  Otherwise the next shipment would have March (I think).  I'm not used to buying big pieces of machinery like this and I was a little astonished at the possible wait time, but grateful for the sales guy's help in moving up the date.

   The sales guy was pretty on top of things and kept in good contact about shipping, arrival times etc.

   Mid Jan it arrived...talk about excited!  I had worked backed up waiting on this beast. 

   It was covered...in grease and took bout 1 1/2 hr to clean up, but it was a good way to get to know all of the parts and pieces.  This is a very solid machine.  Very solid.  Everything is heavy duty.  It came with a couple of blades  - 1/2" and 1".  I put the 1/2" first, adjusted the tracking on everything and pressed the start button....and nothing happened! :( I called an electrician ($50) who said it was wired correctly...I called MM and sales guy suggested spraying contacts..I ran to auto store, got some, sprayed, pressed the start button and YEAH!!!

   Ahhhh the sweet music of a new machine.  It sounded wonderful.

   I've never had a bandsaw before and was nervous about making sure all the tracking etc was correct.  I can't swear it was, but I did lots of homework, and kept in pretty close contact with the mm guys...who where always available, supportive and had good ideas of next steps.

   So I'm up and running right? 

   Well, I thought I was...later on that day, I'm working on it, but there is this big spark, low grade smoke and a horrible horrible noise.  Turns out that the blade teeth are just barely off the front of the bottom fly wheel and when the door closes it pressed against the it.  The blade had cut a 1 1/2" slice out of my new door!!! Ruined the blade..ruined the door.

   MM guys thought that

   a)the lower wheel was too far forward and they walked me through adjusting it - no luck

   b)there was a wrong size bearing behind the fly - took wheel off, the bearing was the right size.

   So they are going to replace it in March when they come to town and make sure that the new one is all set up ok, but here are some questions to ask yourself.

   Are you confident and capable of acting as your own technician and mechanic?

   Can you wait for parts/replacement stuff to arrive mail?

   Can you wait 1 - 3 months for initital equip delivery?

   If you answer to all of these is yes, then I recommend the MM whole heartedly.  It is a great machine.  I love it.  Very solid.  I would buy it again in spite of the problems I've experienced.  I just wish that they had local distributors and local repair sevices etc.

   Regards

   Alison

3. 
   wrudiger | Feb 08, 2004 06:52am | #3

   Here is what I've found researching the same question (including reviewing the many posts here about bandsaw choice).  The MM, Laguna and Bridgewood all come out of the same factory in Italy.  MM gets a German motor, Bridgewood a US motor, Laguna keeps the Itilian motor.  So it really comes down to who is closest to you (to minimize shipping) and who will give the best service.

   The other Itilian saw you should consider is the Agazanni.  Again, need to consider the shipping (from Los Angeles), but I've only seen raves about service.  For example check this post: 16211.9 - pretty nice benefit unless you really are looking to do the cleanup and tuning yourself! Price may appear to be higher but they will work with you.

1. 
   Todd_from_San_Jose | Feb 14, 2004 07:19pm | #4

   The Mini Max does NOT come from the same factory as the Laguna.  The Mini Max comes from Centurian (if I recall), and the designs are quite different between the saws- different frame, different resaw capacity, different brake design, different everything.

   You may be thinking of someone else's saw- I seem to recall hearing that the Felder bandsaws come out of the same factory as the Lagunas.

   Anyhow, I have an MM16, and have really enjoyed it- this is one high-quality machine.  The reason I went with Mini Max is that, in addition to the performance advantages, the company has terrific after-the-sale support.  I own 3 Mini Max machines, and have not had any major problems with them.  They had left a blade out of my shipment, but promptly sent a new one without question.   I also mistakenly called them, upset because they had left out an important clamp.  They immediately sent that too, and to my embarassment, found that they had sent me the clamp in the original shipment (so now I have 2, oops!).

   There are numerous reviews between the saws out there, and one that I read which was particularly compelling was this one...

   http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=reviews&file=articles_206.shtml

   I also took a woodworking course at Woodworker Academy, which has 9 bandsaws, including some 14" Deltas, Jets, an Agazzini 20 and a Laguna 18.  I asked him what he thought about the Laguna, and he said he was very disappointed in the frame saw.  He wasn't able to tension the blade adequately for large resaw work.

   I think the aspect that convinced me in the end to not go with Laguna are the large number of negative posts about their customer service.

   One way to decide for yourself is to join the Mini Max and Laguna user's group, see if you can find some people in your area that'll show you their saws, and take them for test drives.

   -Todd

1. 
   wrudiger | Feb 14, 2004 07:54pm | #5

   Todd,

   Thanks for the clarification.  After I posted it occurred to me I had gotten that wrong.  It's the Laguna and Bridgewood (and I think Felder) that are made at the same place.

   I'm curious if you used the Agazanni in that shop, and what you thought of it.  For me they closer than MM, and I hear the same quality and service comments about Eagle Tools & Agazanni as I do about MM.  From what I've read so far it is really between those two, none of the others really come close.

   Wayne

1. 
   Todd_from_San_Jose | Feb 14, 2004 08:54pm | #6

   Wayne,

   Yes, I used the Agazanni for a few cuts, and it is a fine saw.  I didn't get a whole lot of time to look under the hood, as we were all rushing to get our projects done.  It was the instructor's favorite- the one he used to do all of his resawing on.

   If I were going to buy a bandsaw today, I would take a close look at the Agazanni, and compare it to the Mini Max.  One of the Mini Max combo owners has an Agazanni, and he raves about it.

   I agree that they're the top 2 contenders.  My guess is that you couldn't go wrong either way.  If I recall, the Mini Max had the edge on table size, resaw height, and horsepower over the similar-sized Aggazini, so that's why I went with the MM.  I've been very impressed, this is one of the finest products Mini Max makes.

   Todd