Saw blade sharpening services

[Acharya Kumarswami]

Can anyone recommend a good sharpening service for carbide tablesaw and miter saw blades?
I'm in Hawaii and something in the state would be terrific, but I have not had much luck with that.
So on the Mainland. I have had good success with Forrest's sharpening service, but their prices are a bit high, though they do excellent work and know how to sharpen blades without taking off too much carbide or ruining blades.
Thanks.

[Ray Chalenski]

Ridge Carbide in Lyndhurst,N.J. I've used them a lot and they do an excellent job and reasonably priced.

[glenn bradley]

Could this be a cottage-industry opportunity knocking? We have other members on the islands and I hope one of them can help you out. You might add Hawaii to your thread title to catch their eyes. Shipping costs to/from the mainland might almost make buying blades in quantity or through a co-op and then just scrapping them logical(?).

[Acharya Kumarswami]

I discovered yesterday that I can by the Diablo 12" 44 tooth blade from Amazon for $31 per blade. This is for my miter saw. The sharpening services use regular priority mail (the 12" blades are a tight squeeze for flat-rate boxes). So, you are right, it is cheaper to go with the "disposable" blades that to buy a $100 Forrest blade and pay nearly $40 to sharpen it, not to mention all the hassle of shipping and all. I am switching over to Diablos.

For the table saw, 10" blades work in flatrate boxes, so there it is economical to send blades for sharpening, especially since I don't see a tablesaw equivalent to the Diablo, certainly nothing matching the Forrest performance. However, my tablesaw also takes 12" blades, of which I have a few. I guess with those I just have to pay the premium price. Just thinking outloud here.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I ship 12" blades in the bigger Flat Rate Box with no problem. I slit a piece of vinyl tubing and slip it over the teeth. Using blue masking tape, I secure the ends. I use Dynamic saw in Buffalo, and they dip the teeth in plastic resin, and send me my tubing back for next time. Main thing sending blades out in Flat Rate Box is for sharpener to send them back the same way. In your case, USPS flat rate is a LOT QUICKER than either FedEx, of UPS ground shipping.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I'm also curious if anyone knows of a good sharpening service that is cheaper than Forrest. Has anyone else used Dynamic Saw?

[Acharya Kumarswami]

I used Dynamic Saw and was not pleased.
One responder to this thread has a service which I am going to try out, a family business.
Their prices are cheaper than Forrest. Here's the URL: http://woodworkerstoolworks.com/

[John M Wilson]

I used dynamic saw & was quite pleased. Quick turnaround, blades were as sharp & flat as new.

[Acharya Kumarswami]

That's good to know. My experience must have been a fluke.

[Bruce Wrenn]

That's good to know. My experience must have been a fluke.Did you contact Dynamic and try to get problem resolved? If not, then you only have a beef with yourself. I picked up on Dynamic from either here, or woodnet. Tried them and was well pleased with both their price and work.

[Kent A Bathurst]

..... a good sharpening service that is cheaper than Forrest....

IMO - way too many $$$ in Forrest blades in my blade rack to want to try someone else. I figger it this way - [a] they made 'em, so [b] who could possibly be better?; [c] a few extra bucks for sharpening is - to me - simply a gold-plated guarantee of a quality job.

They even called me the day before Thanksgiving one year, while I was surf fishing on Hatteras Point, to say "Hey, we got your dado set, and before we start we wanted to talk to you about......" Spent some time explaining the situation and the logic/theory behind their thinking.

There really aren't any more blades for me to buy - they make money on the servicing, and I'm happy for 'em.

Just one of my "things" probably - found a supplier/service that - to me - is bulletproof. I have no incentive or interest in playing the field. Same thing for hand planes. Same thing for "show surface" best-in-class curly maple. Same thing for shellac flakes. Same thing for manual-transmission German screamers. I still buy stuff from Ace + BORG where appropriate, and I stay at Hol Inn Express on the road - it's a situation-specific approach is all I'm saying. YMMV.

Oh - wait - my mistake - I just got a big bunch of 9/4 QSWO - looks like I "need" a 20t rip. I've got a 30t, but, hey - "plausible excuse" is all I need, right? Fortunately, there is one single open slot left in the blade rack :D.

[John Coloccia]

There's a Woodcraft in Honolulu. My local Woodcraft has a sharpening service. Maybe yours does too.

[Paul Saffold]

+1 for dynamic saw. No problems, fast & reasonable price. They replaced 2 badly chipped carbide teeth and I couldn't tell which ones were new when I got the blade back.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Did you contact Dynamic and try to get problem resolved? If not, then you only have a beef with yourself. I picked up on Dynamic from either here, or woodnet. Tried them and was well pleased with both their price and work.

Bruce, I spent about an hour searching SMC for non-Forrest blade sharpeners, and gave up counting after I saw you personally mention Dynamic Saw over 30 times. I'm glad you're happy with them, but it is also nice to get feedback on a company from more than one person.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Bruce, I spent about an hour searching SMC for non-Forrest blade sharpeners, and gave up counting after I saw you personally mention Dynamic Saw over 30 times. I'm glad you're happy with them, but it is also nice to get feedback on a company from more than one person.I had a bad experience with Forrest. I had a new WWII that hit one of those staples that hold a SKU tag on. I had removed the visible one, but this one was below the surface. The WWII lost five teeth! I have over the years hit many of these with other brands of blades and never once suffered any teeth loss. Sent blade back to Forrest, and they replaced the missing teeth, and then charged me for TWO sharpenings, as they has to do sides along with face and top. When the blade came back, including freight, Forrest had charged me within two dollars of what I paid for it originally. Later in a shipment of blades to Dynamic, I sent a friends 12" 100 tooth HATB that had lost five teeth also. (It hit a piece of steel that was hidden within a piece of high density melamine.) Cost to replace five teeth and sharpen was about $25, instead of $60+. This is why I like Dynamic. I've had nothing but great service at great prices. But the next batch of blades could be a different story.

[Dave Cav]

A lot of people, myself and my school included, have had very good luck with Eastside Saw in Bellevue, Wa. And they are on the right coast.