Should I buy another WWII

[Jack Norfleet]

It looks like my WWII finally needs to be sharpened. I just built a Medal of Honor display case out of white oak and experienced more burning, and more chipout than I have ever experienced before. The blade was cleaned before starting the project but it is about a year and a half old and has cut quite a bit of plywood.

How many of you have a second blade as a backup for when your primary blade is being sharpened? In your experience, how long does it usually take Forrest to sharpen and return a blade?

I am ready to start a large built in entertainment center for LOML and I wanted to start with all of my tools sharpened and tuned to try and minimize the inevitable problems.

[Tom Pritchard]

Jack, the last time I sent my WWII in, it was back within a week. They are very good at getting them back in a timely manner! If I were going to invest in a second blade from Forrest, I would make it a different blade such as their 30t ripping blade so I could have a wider variety.

[Harry Goodwin]

Jack: I only own one WWII and it's an old one in age and new in use. It is like a jointed edge but in cherry if always burned and the only improvement came when they told me to raise the blade. That didn't cure the problem completely but it helped and Forrest tried to help. I still would be careful myself to get another since they are pricy by my standards. Harry

[Dave Falkenstein]

I have a backup blade for my Forrest WW II. It is a Freud F40, the predecessor to the F410, that I bought for about $50 several years ago, when the Freud blade was touted in Wood. Today, The F410 is priced much closer to the WW II. I'm a die-hard Forrest fan with three of them in my shop, but I'd be hard pressed to justify a second WW II as a backup. I get my blades sharpened locally at Scott's Sharpening Service in the Phoenix area, and waiting a long time for sharpening is not an issue for me - thanks to Scott. From what I have heard, Forrest turns blades around in a week or two.

[Jack Norfleet]

Thanks guys. If I can get the blade back in a week or so it I can't justify another as a backup. This leads to another question.

I don't own a dedicated ripping blade. How does the Freud LM72R heavy duty rip blade compare to the 30 tooth WWII? I would only use the ripping blade about 5% of the time so double the price for the Forrest is a little hard to take. Is there that much difference in quality of cut?

What about Infinity blades? I have had good luck with Infinity router bits and their saw blades are about the same price as the Freud, but I haven't heard any testimonials from actual users.

[Ray Dockrey]

I have the new Dewalt 50 tooth combo blade and it cuts really nice. The edges look like they have been jointed. I got it for $55.00 at Woodcraft.

[craig carlson]

My WWII took a month from the time I gave it to Woodcraft for sharpening 'til the time I got it back. I'm sorry if I offend any WWII fans out there, but there are other blades out there (CMT and Freud) that give just as good of a cut for a lot less hassle. (sharpening locally).
Craig

[Chris Fite]

I have a second WWII for the time that the other is off for sharpening. The blade is usually back in a week. I send it to Forrest for sharpening. I haven't found a need for another blade. The WWII does ripping and crosscutting ideally. I have had mine for about 15 years. I had the teeth replaced on one of them due to wear. Much cheaper than a new blade.

Chris

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

My WWII took a month from the time I gave it to Woodcraft for sharpening 'til the time I got it back. I'm sorry if I offend any WWII fans out there, but there are other blades out there (CMT and Freud) that give just as good of a cut for a lot less hassle. (sharpening locally).
Craig

There's no rule that says you have to have it sharpened by Forrest...when I was at the mesquite outfit, we used to have a local guy sharpen them. He did an 'acceptable' job, but it wasn't as good as Forrest.

You can shave a couple weeks off the time, and I suspect some of the cost, by eliminating Woodcraft as the 'handler' and just sending the blades back to Forrest youself.

KC

[Dave Falkenstein]

My WWII took a month from the time I gave it to Woodcraft for sharpening 'til the time I got it back. I'm sorry if I offend any WWII fans out there, but there are other blades out there (CMT and Freud) that give just as good of a cut for a lot less hassle. (sharpening locally).
Craig

Craig - there are alternatives other than Forrest for having a Forrest blade sharpened. After your experience with Woodcraft, that sounds like one of the poorer choices.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I don't own a dedicated ripping blade. How does the Freud LM72R heavy duty rip blade compare to the 30 tooth WWII? I would only use the ripping blade about 5% of the time so double the price for the Forrest is a little hard to take. Is there that much difference in quality of cut?

Jack - Freud's rip blades are excellent. I have had one for several years, and get great results when riping hardwoods over an inch thick.

[craig carlson]

Hi, I just happen to think that the WWII is over rated for the price. It would burn wood when ripping (40T blade, oak and cherry) even when new. When I use the Frued blade for ripping or the CMT blade for crosscuting the burning goes away. What can I say?
Craig

[Charlie Plesums]

There is a "Number 6 grind" available on a WW II blade. When I heard about it, I got it and my original WW II is the backup. Every 5th tooth is a raker, like on rip blades. The nominal purpose is to give a flatter bottom on the kerf, but I think it also enhances rip performance slightly (it was already good). Therefore if you do get a second WW II, I suggest you order the "number 6 grind" rather than ordering a special rip blade.

Forrest does an especially good job sharpening their blades, and other brands of blades as well. I have heard of people sending their NEW blades from other vendors to Forrest for sharpening before use. So it just doesn't make sense to send a Forrest blade to someone else.

[Steve Cox]

I have two WWII blades. One is a thin kerf and the other regular. I like the thin kerf when I'm ripping strips from a board to help maximize yield. They back up each other when one is being sharpened.

[Scott Parks]

I just sent off my WWII back to Forest yesterday. I have had it since December, and have not been that impressed. I was never able to get a perfect clean cut with it. My $40 Freud blade cuts identically as well. My WWII started burning really bad, and smokes through 4/4 oak. The blade was cleaned, and smoked again. Now it won't even cut through 8/4 (with a 3HP cabinet saw.) Looking at the tips of the teeth, you can see where they burned and pitted. Kinda dissapointed, It cost $15.95 to send it back, and another $20 to get it sharpened! Heck, I got the thing for $90 to my door new, and now I spend another $36??? My thin kerf Freud was only $40 at the Depot!

So, to sum up the original question.. I'd buy a Frued back up blade instead.

[Dev Emch]

Several of us have been using forrest blades exclusively and swear by them. Both of my tablesaws require me to place custom orders to forrest. On my Martin T-17, I have a 12 inch duraline for sheet goods, a 14 inch, 30 tooth with ATB grind, a 12 inch, 40 tooth flat grind and 14 inch flat grind of which I dont remember the tooth count other than its higher than the 30 toother. I also have a 12 inch dado king. All of these have been bored to 1.25 inches due to my large arbor size.

I have cut countless feet of quarter sawn white oak, baltic birch plywood which I consume like a drunken sailer, maple, cheery and walnut. I also cut pine untility lumber for jigs, boxes, and misc. shop built stuff as well as test cuts. Much of the plywood has vertical grade formica laminated to it with resourcinol glue.

I have been pleased with the outcome. From the sounds of it, I think some of you may have to tune up your saws and get the saw arbors dialed in. I am using the same type of blades and have not once experienced these issues with the exception of running some maple. But those burn marks were due to me not maintaining proper feeds and speeds for the blade, RPM and material being cut. My table saw is a 1970s martin T-17 which I keep dialed in very tight.

The concern I have is that forrest is undergoing some changes at the top and its unclear if forrest can maintain its position into the future. That is someting I cannot afford to play with. So for the future, I may be looking to Leitz to supply my blade requirements.

[JayStPeter]

I had a pretty nice blade that came with my Unisaw that I used as a backup. But, I dropped it on a cement floor and broke off a bunch of teeth. When it came time to get another backup, I went back and forth over what to get. I finally decided that I'd get another WWII. Haven't regretted that decision one bit. So far, I've had them sharpened twice. One came back in about 9 days, the other took longer. I didn't exactly FedEx them from my end though, so it could have taken less time. One's dull now, looking forward to peeling the wax off the other when I start my next project.
I haven't been impressed by the performance of the Freud combo blade. It became my MDF, aluminum and plastic cutting blade as the Delta that came with my Unisaw was much better. Maybe their rip blades are better .. dunno.

Jay

[Jim Young]

I have two WWII blades. While one is being sharpened the other gets put in to production. Then the returned blade waits it's turn till the one in the saw needs sharpening.

[Jeff A. Smith]

I just sent off my WWII back to Forest yesterday. I have had it since December, and have not been that impressed. I was never able to get a perfect clean cut with it. My $40 Freud blade cuts identically as well. My WWII started burning really bad, and smokes through 4/4 oak. The blade was cleaned, and smoked again. Now it won't even cut through 8/4 (with a 3HP cabinet saw.) Looking at the tips of the teeth, you can see where they burned and pitted. Kinda dissapointed, It cost $15.95 to send it back, and another $20 to get it sharpened! Heck, I got the thing for $90 to my door new, and now I spend another $36??? My thin kerf Freud was only $40 at the Depot!

So, to sum up the original question.. I'd buy a Frued back up blade instead.

Scott...

If both blades perform equally poorly, maybe something is out of alignment on your saw. Have you ever used one of the highly accurate alignment tools?

Jeff Smith
Athens, AL

[Scott Parks]

Scott...

If both blades perform equally poorly, maybe something is out of alignment on your saw. Have you ever used one of the highly accurate alignment tools?

Jeff Smith
Athens, AL

Just a bit misleading. Neither blade performed poorly... Just not perfect! At the trade show I went to recently, the Forrest booth was ripping off 8/4 cherry that came out smooth as butter. Neither of my blades will do that, but they are acceptable.

Yup... Everything is aligned to within a few thousandth's with a dial. What I originally meant was that the WWII didn't cut any better than the Freud. They both cut well, but not perfect. They both leave some scoring. For the price, the Freud was a better buy. I spent over a month "tweaking" the saw and fence to get the smoothest cuts possible. As far as why the Forrest is now smoking??? I can not figure out why. But once it overheated, it burned and pitted the tips of the teeth, thus needing sharpening or replacement.

I'm hoping that Forrest calls me to say that it was defective. Then they said they would send me a new blade free of charge. Otherwise, $20 to sharpen.

[lou sansone]

IRT the burning when cutting, I assume that you have tried cleaing the blade of all of the built up pitch. Just in case you have not ( one of those dumb questions ) you might try that first.


lou

[CPeter James]

Try a Ridge (Not Ridgid) Carbide blade. They use a slightly different set to the teeth and do not burn as easily as the Forrest. I have both and use both and do find that the Ridge cuts as smooth as the Forrest with less of the burning problem. They are priced about the same.

CPeter

[Dave Falkenstein]

I was never able to get a perfect clean cut with it. My $40 Freud blade cuts identically as well.

Scott - If you cannot get a clean cut with a Forrest WW II, and you get the same (less than perfect) cut quality with your Freud blade, perhaps there is a setup issue with your saw??? Could it be that the WW II dulled prematurely because of that same setup issue???

Oops - just saw essentially the same thought in another post. Sorry for the duplication.