Missing Carbide Tooth on Blade

[Don Abele]

I needed to cut some 3/8" BB ply today, so I moved my Freud 80 tooth ultimate cutoff blade from the miter saw to the table saw. When I took it back off I noticed that a carbide tooth is completly missing. This blade has never been dropped or hit any metal. It's about 3 years old and while it has never been sharpened, it still cuts very smoothly (no chipout on the BB ply).

Can a carbide tooth be replaced and at what cost? And to that I assume I can also add the price of resharpening while they are at it. Is it economical to fix/sharpen it? I can buy a new blade for about $70.

And while I'm asking...a lot has been said about the Forrest Chopmaster - is it really worth $125, almost twice the Freud?

I also own the Freud 50 tooth combo and 24 tooth rip blade and have had nothing but excellent results from them. I did check them today and all their teeth are still there.

Thanks for your assistance.

Be well,

Doc

[Joe Scarfo]

Your local sharpener should be able to deal w/ the missing tooth. Not sure of the price though, I've never had a tooth replaced. I only know it can easily be done by a reputable shop.

Good Luck

Joe in Tampa

[Joseph N. Myers]

Don,

I seem to remember that my "professional" blade guys charged me $2.50 some years ago but could be wrong. I have a feeling that your typical "retiree" that sharpen blades on the side probably can't do it.

I checked the Forrest web site and their prices are 1 = $7, 2 = $5 ea, 3 = $3.75 ea and 4 & up= $3 ea.

As far as the Forrest being worth the price, I have one but don't find it any better that the 2 different Freuds blades I have. A couple of months ago, I bought a 7-1/2" and 10" Razor blades from Porter Cable and am quite impressed with them. They have variable spaced teeth (i.e., 6 at 1/2" followed by 5 at 3/4", etc) and I guess the closer spaced one cut smooth, the not so close one cut faster and remove the saw dust.

Regards, Joe

[Gary Max]

I sent a blade in last year to be sharpened and they had to replace two teeth it wasn't much more---maybe $10.00. Well worth it considering to cost of a new balde. You could of hit something so small that you never saw it.

[Brian Hale]

If you don't know how the tooth came off you also don't know if another one will.

If it was me, i'd trash the blade or send back to Freud.

Brian

[Jim Becker]

Don, I just "replaced" a Freud 80t 12" blade on my CMS with the ChopMaster. The difference is remarkable. The blade body is also considerably "heavier" and the ATB grind really slices fibers cleanly. I ordered it from 3D sales a couple weeks ago and had it in-hand in like one day. Good price, too. I can only imagine what Forrest's new MiterMaster cuts like for a buck eighty!!! (But I ain't buying one to find out...)

[Ian Barley]

Don

My saw doctor routinely replaces missing or chipped teeth on my freud blades. Cost is small - $5 - $10. Any professional sharpening service should do it.

I wouldn't get bent outta shape about the tooth coming off. It happens and is certainly not necessarily a sign of a defect in a three year old blade.

[Mark Duksta]

Don,

I just had a blade sharpend. I was charged .30 a tooth for the sharpening and $2.50 to replace a missing tooth.

Mark

[Don Abele]

Thank you to everyone. I contacted a local company that does sharpening. The prices seem resonable: 80T = $20, 50T = $16, 24T = $11 (interesting that as the number of teeth goes down, the price per tooth goes up). Tooth replacement is $1.75 each. Turn-around time is 7-10 days. And the place is only 10 minutes away from my house.

Jim, I'll keep the Chopmaster in mind. My mitersaw is an off-brand (Excel) I've had for over 10 years. It's dead on accurate but I know it's going to "go" soon. I plan on replacing it with a 12" model (probably DeWalt) - so don't want to invest that kind of money on a 10" blade only to have to buy a 12" one when I replace the mitersaw. BTW, the Freud 80T is also an ATB grind.

Again, thanks for your input.

Be well,

Doc