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Laguna banjo

Graham Dolby

Graham Dolby

Joined
Jun 17, 2021
Messages
108
Likes
66
Location
Calgary, CA
What a stupid design! Instead of the simple screw method to hold the tool rest, which is used by other manufacturers, Laguna has a cast iron clamp.
I've just spent the lunch hour demonstrating the Hope threading system and despite really leaning hard on the lever, I still experienced movent on the jig that I never get on my Nova.
The lathe belongs to the turning guild and at tonight's meeting I'm going to propose that we replace it with an OEM banjo.
 
The split clamp can actually work very well, but is highly intolerant of toolpost size variation. A common issue is 25.4mm vs. 25mm posts. The smaller posts essentially don't work at all.
 
I have this banjo and agree that it is a pretty lousy design. However, the banjo does have another tapped screw hole just below the hole used for the tightening handle. For the price of a bolt and a lock nut you can close the gap enough so that the handle itself actually does its job.
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Aaron Sluis said:
The split clamp can actually work very well, but is highly intolerant of toolpost size variation. A common issue is 25.4mm vs. 25mm posts. The smaller posts essentially don't work at all.
Click to expand...
Actually we also found difficulties in getting a tight grip on the Laguna tool rests. Talking to a couple of members who have Lagunas revealed that they also experienced problems. The general opinion was that it is a stupid system.
For my demo at the club meeting, we used a Oneway but had to use shims as the Laguna bed gap was too large. At least there was no movement and I cut some perfect threads.
 
Dan Stromberg said:
I have this banjo and agree that it is a pretty lousy design. However, the banjo does have another tapped screw hole just below the hole used for the tightening handle. For the price of a bolt and a lock nut you can close the gap enough so that the handle itself actually does its job.
View attachment 82247
Click to expand...
The club president and I will look into this but we are looking for a suitable OEM banjo.
 
Another option is to drill and tap a hole in the area of the post to have a screw clamp the tool post like a PM 3520A. You would need a bolt tightened enough to keep it from spreading.
 
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