Forrest WWII: problem with blade and service

[Mitch Barker]

I noticed on my 40T WWII blade that there are weird "tongues" of metal under many of the teeth. See the attached photos. I sent an e-mail with the pics to forrest customer service (http://www.forrestblades.com/service.htm) but they have not yet responded after a week.

Do they typically ignore e-mails? I'll try calling, but its hard to explain the weirdness over the phone.

The only reason I found the tongues was because I was going to sell the blade on ebay because I didn't get good results with the blade - so I needed some good pictures to show it's been hardly used.

I really can't sell it with this defect, and I was hoping Forrest would stand behind their product (they make lot's of claims about precision). Maybe once they fixed the "tongues" it would work better and I would keep it. It seems to me that those tongues could inhibit chip clearance and lead to slow feed rates and burns on rip cuts.

Any thoughts on whether the tongues would affect performance?

Mitch

[Steve Clardy]

Looks to me like that is the strip end of the silver solder that is inserted between the blade and tooth, then heated to bond the tooth to the blade.
Granted, it should have been taken off, but should not affect the cut.

[CPeter James]

For your next blade, try Ridge Carbide. I have both Forrest and Ridge and prefer the Ridge.


CPeter

[Bruce Wrenn]

Forrest prides their selves on quality, but this isn't it. The brazing looks like something a student would do on his first day in shop. I find Forrest products to be over rated and over priced.

[Mike Heidrick]

Send it in and ask them to fix it.

[Russ Boyd]

Forrest prides their selves on quality, but this isn't it. The brazing looks like something a student would do on his first day in shop. I find Forrest products to be over rated and over priced.
I completely agree with this comment. I had an issue with them also, They Did finally fix it but not very well. HIGHLY overrated product, IMO.

[Vince Shriver]

What CPeter said - Ridge is first rate

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I've never had anything but good luck with a Forrest blade, and have found their customer service to be superb. I bet they fix it well and quick. I also think that those little barbs of solder could interfere with the chips as they enter and leave the gullets, which would certainly cause trouble.

[Bruce Wrenn]

As for not answering your emails, they may be closed for the week of the Fourth of July. Yeah, I know that was last week, but with the Fourth being on Saturday, some chose to close the week after, instead of the week of.

[Byron Trantham]

I've never had anything but good luck with a Forrest blade, and have found their customer service to be superb. I bet they fix it well and quick. I also think that those little barbs of solder could interfere with the chips as they enter and leave the gullets, which would certainly cause trouble.

+1 for me. I use all Forrest blades, circular saw, SCMS and table saw.

[Phil Thien]

I wouldn't count on E-Mail for stuff like this. Pickup the phone and call them.

I know this has been argued about before, but corporations w/ public E-Mail addresses are often overwhelmed with spam, and the spam filters sometimes cause problems, too.

But a phone call will always do the trick.

[Tom Walz]

I’ll go with Steve Clardy. Typically the braze alloy is fed in as a ribbon between the tip and the steel body. In this case it may have been overfed a bit.

Yes, it will definitely impact performance.

[Mitch Barker]

I completely agree with this comment. I had an issue with them also, They Did finally fix it but not very well. HIGHLY overrated product, IMO.

Agreed. Based on my one data point, the WWII appears to be overrated.

I'm usually quite happy when I choose a "premium" tool (think Lee Valley vs Stanley planes, or Bosch vs Sears jig saw). When the WWII bade had slow feed rates and excessive burning when ripping 1.25" walnut, I went out and bought a Freud 24T TK rip blade. The Freud blade cut like the proverbial hot knife thru butter.

Perhaps a premium combination blade can't compete with a single purpose blade? I can't deny the may good independent reviews of the WWII, but be wary of exaggerated claims.

Mitch

[Scott Whiting]

I am not sure the cutting performance would be affected. Most folks do not push a 10" blade hard enough for the decrease in chip removal rates to make any difference. However looking at the rest of the braze it looks like a cold joint and if the ribbon had flowed properly those tongues would have flowed as part of he joint. Be interesting to hear what Forrest's take on this is. I have never had a problem calling their service department.

[John Foerster]

When I've called Forrest, I've had the distinct impression that they're very old-school, which is great when it comes to service and getting custom goods, but not so great when it comes to that new-fangled e-mail thing.

[Mitch Barker]

I finally got an e-mail back from Forrest. They work a 3 day week (tues, wed thurs) and apologized for the delay.

After a brief e-mail exchange he shipped me a new blade which I received the next day. The package included a UPS return label.

I did ask him to replace my 1/8" blade (which was originally shipped to me by accident) with a 3/32" blade. No problem.

The new blade cuts beautifully. No tear-out and a cut surface that feels like it has been hand planed! I can't say definitively if the improvement is due to the thinner kerf or the missing "tongues", but the service was definitely first rate.

Mitch

[Jeff Duncan]

Glad to hear they resolved your problem. Unfortunately these things sometimes happen, and with the use of the internet sometimes companies get hammered before they even know there's a problem. I always use the phone if I have a problem, and then you'll may get a specific e-mail address if needed (usually not) to send pics.
I have about a dozen or so Forrest blades currently and have used up about a dozen more over the years, and I would not say they are overrated at all. They do exactly what's promised and work very well. They may be overhyped by people on online forums, but that's something that can happen with anything.
Lastly, yes a dedicated rip blade will outperform a combination blade at ripping every time. Combination blades are meant to do a good job at a variety of tasks. Whereas specialty blades do a great job at one task. This is why if you do a lot of work you end up with blades for ripping, crosscutting, laminate/veneer, and of course combos for misc stuff.
good luck,
JeffD

[Steve Clardy]

Good to hear they took care of your blade

[Mike Robbins]

Agreed. Based on my one data point, the WWII appears to be overrated.

I'm usually quite happy when I choose a "premium" tool (think Lee Valley vs Stanley planes, or Bosch vs Sears jig saw). When the WWII bade had slow feed rates and excessive burning when ripping 1.25" walnut, I went out and bought a Freud 24T TK rip blade. The Freud blade cut like the proverbial hot knife thru butter.

Perhaps a premium combination blade can't compete with a single purpose blade? I can't deny the may good independent reviews of the WWII, but be wary of exaggerated claims.

Mitch

Comparing a ripcut in moderate thickness hardwood using a 40T WWII vs a Freud 24T is a bit much. The Freud will definately cut easier, every time. The 40T WWII should cut cleaner, and be almost as easy for most woods under 6/4.

I've got the 30T WWII blade, and I still use a 24T Freud for anything 10/4 or thicker. For 8/4 and down, the 30T WWII blade is fine- at least in Oak, Ash, and Poplar. For Ply I use a 80T Freud.

[Joe Jensen]

I am not sure the cutting performance would be affected. Most folks do not push a 10" blade hard enough for the decrease in chip removal rates to make any difference. However looking at the rest of the braze it looks like a cold joint and if the ribbon had flowed properly those tongues would have flowed as part of he joint. Be interesting to hear what Forrest's take on this is. I have never had a problem calling their service department.

Scott, as a sharpener, which brand do you like for each blade category?

[Scott Whiting]

Scott, as a sharpener, which brand do you like for each blade category?

Most of them. I look at saws as sizing tools. By my definition the finish from a blade should have saw marks no deeper than .003". That is a finish that can be glued up with no problems. Any good industrial blade should fall within those specs and most are much better than that. Even though I own some general purpose blades, and use them when called for, I have a wide selection of different tooth count and tooth style blades and pick the appropriate one for what I am cutting. It would be easier to slam the few brands I don't care for from a long term value perspective but I am not going there, even in private. I will say that except for the occasional sale price most blades within a price range are pretty identical in performance. Very seldom will you see a saw shop carry a line of inadequate tooling although some will carry a value line. Knowing what I know I would always make my selection from the lines used in commercial shops.

[Peter Quinn]

Glad to hear it. My forrest blade has always worked great and is one of my favorites.