Slightly bent blade--worth fixing?

[Matt Meiser]

A friend of mine wants to know--he accidentally tested the tilt on his new Unisaw but forgot to remove the ZCI first. There's not a visible wobble, but now the blade scores badly. Luckily it is the blade because another blade doesn't exhibit the same symtoms. The blade is a Ridge Carbide TS2000 40T blade and a new one could be had for about $81 delivered. Ridge charges $20 for sharpening, whatever they charge for straightening, plus whatever the shipping charges end up being--seems like the total could easily come to 1/2 the new price. Is it worth doing? Will they get it straight or is it going to always be less than perfect?

[Todd Burch]

I have a bent blade or two laying around - they don't get much use. They are certainly still good for rough cuts. I would say, if the blade was a higher tooth count (ie, designed for super smooth cuts), then getting it fixed would be the route to go. But, this is in the combo-cut blade category, so I would be inclined to hang it with the other "slightly less than perfect" blades and get another.

[david brum]

I have a neighbor who's like that; he makes lots of mistakes that I personally wouldn't.;) I'd contact the manufacturer to see if it's possible to straighten the plate. If it is, and if you can repair an otherwise useless blade for 1/2 the replacement cost, it seems like the way to go.

[Bill White]

I wouldn't fool with a bad plate. Go on line and look at the Onsrud blades. I bought a glue line ripper and a 50 tooth combo for $65.00 (for both) with free shipping. Mounted the combo the other day and made a test cut on a piece on pine. Results? Glass smooth cross cut with no tear out at all. SWEET!
Bill

[Tom Walz]

Send it to Ridge. They are a high integrity outfit. See what they say.

It depends on the what and why of the warp.

Tom Walz

P.S. Ridge is a competitor of mine, more than anything else, but I still have to say they are very good and very ethical.

[Larry Fox]

If it were me that thing would be mangled somehow and thrown in the trash or turned into a clock face without a second thought. I would be concerned about it introducing vibration and possibly coming lose or some other undesired result. I would mangle it so no one who might come across it in the trash would consider salvaging it.

$80 is not even close to being worth the risk in my opinion but YMMV. I hit a nail with a Forrest WWII once and it riped some of the teeth off. Otherwise it appeared fine - it is now a clock face in another Creeker's shop (I forget who I mailed it to).

[Jerrimy Snook]

This is an easy repair that may be included in the sharpening price of the blade.

Jerrimy

[Kevin W Johnson]

A friend of mine wants to know--he accidentally tested the tilt on his new Unisaw but forgot to remove the ZCI first.

A friend? ;) We all have friends like that. Did the bright red of that saw hypnotize you for a moment?

[Van Huskey]

Do you, urr I mean your friend happen to have a straight edge and feeler gauges to get a feel "no pun intended" for how out of shape it is? Given the fact it apparently isn't too out of whack I would certainly entertain getting it fixed, but another salient issue is how much carbide is left. If it hasn't been sharpened I would try to save it, if it is on sharpening #10 I wouldn't bother, in between it becomes more of a crap shoot whether it is worth it or not. Depending on where you live if you are near Ann Arbor you might just drop it off at Specialty Saw I have an uncle that lives near them and swears by them, the savings on shipping may make it more worth while. You might also call them since they may have a drop off service near you.

[Matt Meiser]

It was probably about time to sharpen this blade anyway (its first sharpening) I'm not familiar with Specialty Saw in Ann Arbor (Google didn't turn anything up?) but I do have a couple places that have drop-off service locally for well-regarded sharpening shops.

[Van Huskey]

Called my uncle, it is Saw and Specialty Corp in Romulus.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Go to Dynamic Saw's web site (dynamicsaw.com) and check out their prices for sharpening and straightening of blades. Even if charges were half of new, you are basically getting a new blade for half price. Want to spend TOO MUCH on blade servicing, then send it to Forest. Or you could box up blade and send it to me (post paid of course.)

[ed vitanovec]

You might give Total Saw Solutions a call to see what they will charge to flatten the blade, this is their specialty. I've spoken top them on the phone before and was impressed by them, 1-800-773-3133.

Regards!
Ed

[Larry Fox]

You might give Total Saw Solutions a call to see what they will charge to flatten the blade, this is their specialty.

Just curious - how does flattening a saw blade become someone's specialty? Does it happen that frequently? :)

I still vote for the trash though - we are talking about $80 replacement cost here.

[Matt Meiser]

Dynamic Saw is $8.50 for sharpening plus $8 for "excessive" flattening if they consider it excessive. Sounds like its probably worth a try.

[Van Huskey]

Just curious - how does flattening a saw blade become someone's specialty? Does it happen that frequently? :)

I still vote for the trash though - we are talking about $80 replacement cost here.


I does indeed happen all the time, heck a lot of NEW blades can use truing. It happens often enough most sharpening services have plate and tooth straightening listed as a "standard" service. In Mike's case we are talking about a "wobble" he can't even see. In this case it is VERY likely that Mike will get back a blade that is completely satisfactory. Any good sharpener is capable of truing it so that it cuts like new or better than new if the person doing it is "good".