Driftmaster — Sandal Woods

March 1, 2011 By Al Navas

The Laguna DriftMaster fence is no longer available at October 2010 prices

Reviewing old posts on the blog, I realize I must reconcile current pricing on the Laguna Tools’ DriftMaster with an old, October 2010 Special price available last year.

In October 2010 I announced that Laguna Tools was conducting a promotional special on the DriftMaster fence system. That was a limited-time, special, and strictly promotional pricing. For a short time you can buy the DriftMaster for $325 – a new promotion, and $70 off retail prices! In addition, Rockler and Woodcraft now carry the DriftMaster fence system.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

— Al Navas

The Laguna DriftMaster Fence.

Filed Under: Blog, Laguna Tools, Resaw fence, Tools Tagged With: Driftmaster, fence, Resaw

October 12, 2010 By Al Navas

Update: special pricing on Resaw King blades and the DriftMaster fence

This is a special update for readers of the Sandal Woods blog. Disclosure: Laguna Tools is a sponsor of this blog; this means I sometimes receive tools from my sponsors, for evaluation purposes.

1. The following is the updated information so my readers will get 25% discount on the Laguna Tools Resaw King band saw blades:

Options available to all readers of the blog:

Call Frank Pizzirulli on 800.234.1976, X-9617, and place the order – let Frank know you read about this on the Sandal Woods blog, OR
Send Frank an e-mail message to Frank_Pizzirulli@LagunaTools.com with your order and to get additional details (also let Frank know you read about this on the Sandal Woods blog), OR
Purchase online, and use the passcode sandalwoods. If the computer system does not accept the passcode, call Frank. He is checking with IT to ensure that the passcode will be valid for all readers of my blog until further notice.

2. Another special currently under way for the DriftMaster fence, and not yet available on their web site — I learned about this from Frank on Monday afternoon (and confirmed with Frank on the phone today): A red-hot deal, in which the DriftMaster fence price is reduced to $285 until further notice. This is almost a 28% reduction in price!

Please make sure to let Frank know you heard about this deal right here.

— Al Navas

Links to the Resaw King in my shop:

Links to the DriftMaster fence in my shop:

The DriftMaster fence in my shop.

Filed Under: Band saw, Blade, Blog, Laguna Tools Tagged With: Driftmaster, Laguna Tools, Resaw King

June 7, 2010 By Al Navas

First time using the Driftmaster fence

Recently I installed the Driftmaster fence from Laguna Tools on the band saw. I finally had a chance to try it out: yesterday I grabbed some walnut and some cherry laying around the shop, and started resawing thin pieces 90 to 100 mils thick (0.090″ to 0.100″). In the video below, I don’t talk much — I simply grabbed some wood, made some adjustments to the band saw and fence, and started slicing.

I knew from past experience that resawing on the band saw is demanding; for example, if the band saw is not set up properly to correct for drift, or if the blade tension is not set correctly, or the blade is not the right type, or… (you get the idea), the results of resawing will be less than acceptable. I have published in the past several articles on resawing on the band saw.

This has changed: A few months ago I bought a ¾-inch wide Resaw King blade from Laguna Tools; I reported results here. The second major change involves using the Driftmaster — Laguna Tools sent me a unit for evaluation; I installed it, and I am happy. Why? Because I can get terrific results in resawing, results like never before.

I always did the resawing by cutting the thin slices nearest the fence. With the Driftmaster, the thin slices now fall off on the right hand side, while the bulk of the wood rests against the fence. This is possible due to the micro-adjusting capability of the fence.

What does this mean? For one, the resawn pieces are quite even in thickness, typically within 0.005″ (five thousands of an inch!) across the width and the length of the cut pieces. The new fence allows adjustment for drift very easily; in fact, the built-in cam is designed to do this without the use of any tools. Once installed and adjusted, the Driftmaster is a great accessory on my 17-inch Grizzly band saw.

Disclosure: Laguna Tools is a sponsor of my blog. On occasion, I receive tools and other components for evaluation; I maintain total editorial freedom of the comments and reviews I present on the blog. Plain and simple, I never receive or accept cash for anything I review. You also must know that I don’t receive any income if you click on the links I provide for any of my sponsors or Affiliates; the only source of income I receive is from Google-sponsored ads, and from actual purchases through my Affiliates (a small percentage of the purchase price).

Download this episode in *.avi format
In Windows, Right-click | Save Link As…
Duration: 8:36 minutes (Size: 166 MB)

In a future episode I will cover in detail how I use the Driftmaster in the shop. Meanwhile, you can watch the four videos on this fence at the Laguna Tools video web page for the fence system; simply click on the video tab for the page.

All the music in the video is courtesy of my friend, Jason Riley.

— Al Navas