? for Forrest Blade Users

[Makinsawdust]

I'm re-evaluating my current saw blade usage, brand, and sharpening service. I'm curious what the total cost of sending Forrest blades back in for sharpening runs? If you WWII users would share what the cost is including shipping I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
Rob

[DaveO]

I have not had any blades sharpened by Forrest, I will probably use Raleigh Saw when the need arises.
From the Forrest web site http://www.forrestblades.com/aboutsharpening.htm
it looks like a 24-60 tooth 10" blade will run $21-26 to sharpen. More if repairs need to be made. Return shipping is $9 + $1 for an additional blade. Shipping to the Forrest facility couldn't run any more than that. Worst case scenario (without repair) you're looking at $54 for a single blade.
Dave

[JimmyC]

I too use Raleigh Saw, the manager is a nice guy , and they do a good job for what seems like a whole lot less money than sending them out to Forrest. If you don't have anybody local there are other places to send them that are reasonable. I'm sure some members ( such as Bruce(junquecol)) will weigh in on them.

Jimmy

[NC Scroller]

Another vote for Raleigh Saw. I have had Forrest and other good blades sharpened by them. I don't know if they ship but there is always the North Carolina Woodworker Pony Express.

[jlwest]

I use Raleigh saw for my Forrest, and other, blades. I have found that periodic cleaning of the blades greatly extends the period between sharpenings.

Jeff

[Keye]

See you are located in Matthews so I thought I would add my 2 cents.

I used Charlotte Saw and Knife several times years ago. The service was good. Several months ago I sent several items to them. The results were terrible. They sharpened a hollow mortise chisel on the outside. The chisels had very apparent different levels on them. I could go on but you probable get the picture.

I must say, to be fair, they asked me the value of the tools they damaged and sent me a check immediately.

[Makinsawdust]

Keye,
You hit on my delema. I have one of the local sharpening services picking up and delivering my sharpening weekly. The blades come back only marginally sharp. They cut less dense domestic woods okay but the exotic's that I cut on a daily basis are almost impossible to cut. New blades cut the exotics without a problem. I think the local folks do not sharpen them at the proper angle because of equipment limitations or know how. Anyway, I was wondering if I had a manufacturer do the sharpening would I come out better. Based on the info. on Forrest site, I could buy a new mid-grade blade for the price of a sharpening. I may just go back to using cheap Freud blades and pitching them when they get dull. What to do, what to do! Nothing is ever easy in this biz
Thanks to all.
Rob

[mshel]

I used to buy Sears blades, Lowes blades and anything else that was cheap, including Frued blades. I still have those blades and they never go on my machines anymore. I use Forrest blades, and have some blades that were made in Germany for Irwin. Sure they cost a lot more but the proof is in the cutting and the lack of force one has to apply to do that cutting. Save your money for the shipping and use a reliable service other than the one you have been using. I just had some blades done by Raleigh saw and for two 40 T Forrest wwii and two 40 T Irwin, it ran around $50. I was lucky as the company makes a run to Wilson weekly. Just had to pay a small service fee. I haven't used any of those blades yet so I can't comment on the quality of their work but based on what others have said, I don't anticipate any problems.

I think the company you are using is either lacking the equipment to do the job right or lacks the trained personnel to do a good job. Either way, you shouldn't have to get blades sharpened weekly unless you are cutting a heck of a lot of wood.


Just my .02 and YMMV

Mike

[j.norden]

I know I am new, but I will throw in my two cents since I have some experience here. When I lived in Georgia we had a local sharpening service. A few guys I knew used them with mediocre results. When my blade needed sharpening (a Home Depot 40 dollar Freud combo) I sent it to a national sharpener. It was about 70 dollars including shipping, but the blade (more than a year later) is just starting to get dull. My current strategy is to watch Lowe's, Home Depot and Amazon for sales. I recently got a nice Freud 50 tooth combo from amazon for ~40 bucks. Hope that helps some.

[Makinsawdust]

Hey Guys,
I guess I need to explain my situation more. Yes, I am cutting a heck of a lot of wood. (example: 400 16" rippings in ~ an hour) I saw more in a day than a lot of hobiest do in a year. I'm a full-time ww'er and do 95% solid wood laminations in production batches. More exotics and hard maple than anything else. I don't sharpen every blade every week but lately I am just getting a few days of good cutting out of a sharpening. My main consideration is lost time messing with blades. My question was just a simple "what's the cost" so I could compare.
If one of you that use Raleigh Saw and Knife, cuts a lot of purpleheart, jatoba, bubinga, bloodwood, etc., I'd love to hear from you on how well your sharpened blades do.
Rob

[junquecol]

First, no matter where you live, an $8.95 priority mail box will hold a lot of blades. You could get between 10 and 20 blades in one, depending on what you use between the blades. I used Forrest once, but not any more. They replaced five teeth that were DESTROYED by one of those staples that hold a SKU tag on (I can cut one in two with my pocket knife.) Total costs on Forrest's end was $62. We sent some blades to Dynamic Saw in Buffalo NY. Included was a Freud 12" 100 tooth high ATB that had met up with one of those corrigated fasteners that are used to join panels. They had to replace five teeth also. Cost me less than $25 including sharpening, but not freight back. Because of the number of items we sent, freight worked out to about $1 per piece. Forrest charged $9 for one blade, but that is pretty much standard. What I got back from Dynamic was much sharper than blade from Forrest. You can almost see yourself on face and top of teeth. A DeWalt 7657 cut better than when it was new, and it is a great blade to begin with. I have no complaints with Raleigh saw. They have sharpened some planer and jointer knives for me. Ashcrofts Saw service (also in north Raleigh) does good work. Both Raleigh and Ashcrofts are on Freud's approved lists of sharpeners. You may want to call Freud in High Point and see who is on their list of approved sharpeners in your area. I like the fact that Dynamic uses Walters five axis wet grinders, but an experienced person can do just as good work on an manual machine. I suggest that you send one or two blades to each, and see which one suits your needs the best. As a final note, when Dynamic answers the phone, you might think you are talking to the "Beverly Hillbillies." I don't think they have a "front office", but guys who do the sharpening answer the phone.

[Makinsawdust]

Bruce,
That's good info. Re: Dynamic, I am a "hillbilly" so we probably speak the same language. LOL
Rob

[WoodWrangler]

Hey Robert

I have sent my blades to Ridge Carbide for sharpening several times (probably overkill for my blade use, but I like a sharp blade!). The first one I sent there was a Dewalt blade and it came back about 5x better than when I bought it. I would figure out a way to ship multiple at a time though to save on shipping ...

http://www.ridgecarbidetool.com/
http://www.ridgecarbidetool.com/shar...bc7cc422a0d03e

Good luck ...

Jeremy

[Bas]

Getting a little off-topic here, but how do you know it's time to sharpen your blade? (besides the obvious answer of "when it gets dull" of course...). Any signs to look for?

[TV]

Bas, you might get some burning. Also, doesn't push through as well. Remember to try cleaning the pitch from the teeth and see if that helps before having them sharpened. I haven't had my blades sharpened but have cleaned them a couple of times. It has helped dramatically each time.

tv