Review—Robland X31

One and one-half weeks ago I picked up a new Robland X31 combination machine from Laguna Tools. Wow! This is a huge upgrade to my shop, and I haven't been able to spend a free minute outside my garage since!

The History

My shop is a moderate sized two-car garage. The X31 replaces a Ridgid contractor's saw, a 12" Jet lunchbox planer, and a Powermatic jointer (and gives me a shaper and horizontal mortiser, which I did not previously have). These tools were all fine for what they are, but they have their obvious limitations. About a month ago, I got the itch to make some upgrades and to buy a multi-router. I looked at getting a multi-router, Unisaw, and a Grizzly jointer and planer. Long story short, I ended up with an X31 for a lot less then those separates would have cost, even without buying a separate shaper.

The Review

Very good overall.

First, I love the European-style combination machine for a small shop. It's a huge space saver over separate tools. Also, with separates, I used to have to roll each tool out to use it then put it away; it's much quicker to change functions on the combo machine than it was to roll separates around.

Second, the quality is far higher than what I had before. Far more powerful, far more precise, and far more capacity—I love having a 12" jointer! Also, the whole thing weighs close to 1500 lbs—no vibration or movement whatsoever.

Third, there are a lot of great features that my previous arrangement did not have. The sliding table is a dream come true. The horizontal mortiser does everything I would be doing with a multi-router, and it's sturdier than the multi-router. The 3 HP shaper is a complete bonus.

Fourth, it all takes just one 240V outlet, rather than five cords and outlets for separate machines.

Fifth, the X31 is a bargain at the price. It's not cheap, but I don't think it would be possible to get a similar quality set of separate tools and functions for anything close to the price of an X-31.

Of course, there are some negatives.

1. Setting up a combination machine out-of-the-box takes some time and patience, because every tool has to be aligned with every other tool.
2. There are a bazillion accessories and attachments that can't stay on the machine all the time, because they interfere with other functions. I'm planning to build a rolling cart to hold all the parts, but for now, they are making a mess of my shop!
3. If you want, you can buy higher quality combination machines for more money. I'm not sure why this is a negative, because I don't want to spend $20-25k for a Felder or a Knapp, or even $10k on a Mini-Max. But there are a lot of reviews floating around that knock the X31 because, in various ways, it is not as good as other combination machines that cost more. Not an issue for me, as the X31 gives a lot of bang for the buck.
4. It's hard to move around because it is very heavy. I'm learning to accept that the mobility kit simply gives the option of occasionally moving it around, and does not turn it into a roll-away tool.
5. Combo machines add a new danger if you forget to switch the function selector switch!!! The X-31 has a single 240V power supply, and you have to switch a selector switch to determine where the power goes. The other day I went to turn on the table saw, but forgot that the switch was on the jointer. Fortunately, nothing (and no one) was touching the cutterhead, but it's never a good idea to have power tools turning on when you don't mean to turn them on. So you have to pay attention and take precautions against your own stupidity.
6. The table saw blade raising mechanism has pros and cons. It's basically a lever that you push/pull until the blade is where you want it, then you lock it in place. It's fairly easy because you can raise and lower the blade very quickly, but it makes fine adjustment difficult.
7. Dust collection is just OK.

There are other minor nits, but nothing difficult to live with. Overall, though, I'm extremely pleased with the tool.

Customer Service

There are a lot of criticisms of Laguna Tools' customer service floating around, and I think it's only fair to describe the very positive experience I've had with them so far.

First, as I mentioned, I bought a demo machine, and the jointer blades were a bit nicked up. I e-mailed Laguna, and that morning they mailed out a new set of blades which arrived one or two days later.

Second, my cam clamp had a freak accident. The casting just broke. Very odd. Laguna had a new cam clamp for me to pick up the same day I told them about it (I happen to live close to their headquarters).

Third, when I went down to pick up the cam clamp, the customer service rep took me back to show me how to adjust something or other. He spent about an hour (maybe more) with me showing me all sorts of little tricks and adjustments.

This isn't my first experience with Laguna—I also have their LT18 bandsaw. My customer service experience with the bandsaw was equally good. With me, Laguna has always stood behind its products and scored points with me for it.

Conclusions

If I had unlimited space and unlimited budget, I would probably not buy an X31. But for a hobbyist woodworker in a two-car garage, any tool is a set of compromises. The X31 is a very good quality tool that, in my opinion, offers more bang for the buck than any other options I have considered.