Laguna is the Lexus pricing of lathes and in this size range of lathes it honeslty isn't any better than say a Jet or Rikon. For the midi sized lathes the name brands are all pretty much equivelant and it comes down to brand preference. I would get another model/brand that is cheaper for small proects. Even the WEN and Grizzly models in this range will do everything you need and more for a lower price point.
Yes, Laguna is an amazing tool brand with great products but they like their tools a lot also.
When I was looking at a midsized lathe, I checked out Jet, Laguna, and some others. For the most part they are pretty close in terms of what you can get, both in the lathe itself, as well as extensions and the like.
The one thing that got me with the Laguna Revo 1524 that I bought, was the way you could do outboard turning with the lower-hung bed extension, and also had the tailstock riser option. With BIG items, say big platters, I have always been worried about turning outboard, and mostly wrote the idea off...but being able to bring in the tailstock to support a huge platter totally changed things for me. I'm not up to that size yet, but I like the idea that I could turn an 18" platter.
This is something I've been finding with Laguna. They seem to have those niche little nice to have features, that you usually cannot find on other similarly-priced lathes (you can usually find something similar on higher end lathes, but then you are spending 2-3x the cost of a Laguna, or more.) Their table saws have this small but intriguing feature, a sealed base cabinet so that the dust collection won't suck in from anywhere but the saw itself... Seems trivial, but it helps focus the power of the dust collection system. Haven't found that on any other tablesaws yet. Laguna has these little things that seem trivial, that often end up being rather important or just particularly useful.
I am happy overall with the lathe, excited about the features, and the PWM definitely helps the lathe power through tougher wood...
They do have some QC issues, though. I read about some before I bought, and then sadly I've had an issue with my headstock motor, and after replacing it another issue cropped up. So I had to trade out the headstock. Their customer support is good, and they do what they can to resolve issues and they don't seem to make a fuss about things (my experience with Nova/Teknatool customer service was RADICALLY different...and significantly worse...) I have some Jet equipment as well, and so far it seems to be a bit more reliable...at least, in the relatively short period of time I've had all my equipment (just coming up on a year at the longest).
I am hoping that with the headstock being replaced, that'll settle the issues and this will be a lifetime machine unless I really get much more serious about turning a huge volume of wood, in which case I'd probably trade up to a high end brand. For what I do now and what I can see myself doing in the future, though, the Laguna and its features are really great, I love the black and red style, and for its size and price, its a powerful lathe.
