Laguna banjo

[Graham Dolby]

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.

 

[Aaron Sluis]

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.

 

[Dan Stromberg]

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.

 

[Graham Dolby]

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.

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.

 

[Graham Dolby]

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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The club president and I will look into this but we are looking for a suitable OEM banjo.

 

[William Rogers]

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.

 

[Graham Dolby]

I'll discuss this with the rest of the committee, one of whom is a Laguna owner.