Is this Forrest Blade new?

[Floyd Cox]

I purchased this Forrest blade off the auction site, advertised as NEW . Just wanting to check if all of the scratches and tooth back grind could be normal.
It was just unpacked from a sealed Forrest box and wiped down after I removed the tooth coating (I have not used it)

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[Patrick McCarthy]

Floyd, the approx. 6 new blades I have gotten from Forrest over the years looked new, such that a question never arose in my mind. The fact that it came in a sealed box (vs a resealed box) from Forrest would lead me to GUESS -and it is only a guess - that it may have been newly re-tipped or newly sharpened. Mine have serial numbers scratched into the back side, but I have no idea if Forrest tracks sale dates or sharpening dates by serial number.
I will have to look when I get home tonight, but I don't recall mine having the dark shadow or tracings behind the teeth like shown in your photos . . . . . but I don't have any thin kerf blades, so I have no idea if that is a characteristic of thin kerfed blades . . . . . either before or after use.
I will state that my re-sharpened blades from Forrest cut the same as new . . . for whatever that might be worth.

[glenn bradley]

If it spins true its a non issue. Could be that someone has arranged to get seconds that would not pass the cosmetic QA for "first quality" at Forrest? Here's another maker's blade I have used for a couple of years that has even been shipped interstate for sharpening and back.

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Even so, with the marks your picture shows I would not be concerned as long as the plate ran true.

[Phil Thien]

My disposition would depend on what was paid for the blade.

[Martin Wasner]

My disposition would depend on what was paid for the blade.

Me too, but I wouldn't be too worried. There's a mile of carbide left on it, so even if it has been sharpened a couple of times, it's get a ton of life left in it.

[Wade Lippman]

I wouldn't care about the scratches, but the dark marks behind the teeth are strange. I would send the 2nd picture to Forrest and ask them if they have any insight into it.
Whether it works or not, you thought you were buying a new blade, and deserve a new blade.

[eugene thomas]

Kind of wondering why some carbide edges are black and some not
.. maybe it needs some wood to buzz through????..

[Kent A Bathurst]

Ain't new. Got no idea what the black marks are all about. None of my Forest blades have never needed new tip[s], but that don't look right either.

If it was a killer deal, you may have your answer right there.

[Tom M King]

Looks like residue from the plastic dip put on after sharpening.

[Mike Heidrick]

Did you buy a 20 tooth rip blade on purpose I hope?

[Matt Day]

Doesn't look new to me. Resharpened maybe.

[Jim Becker]

Every Forrest blade has a serial number on it. Forrest can look it up and should be able to tell you when it was originally produced, etc.

Scratches wouldn't bother me. If the teeth are sharp...easy to determine by making your finger bleed... ;) ...and it runs true, have at it. You can also get these blades resharpened many times. One of mine has been in service since about 2000.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Did you buy a 20 tooth rip blade on purpose I hope?

I've got a Forrest 20t rip [and a 30t rip]. Not thin kerf, though.

You wanna go through 8/4 QSWO like butter...........that right there is the real deal. My all-purpose 40t WW II could not hope to get through that with the same ease...........

[Peter Quinn]

The blade was sold as new...in plain english, ain't no way that Forrest blade is new from the manufacturer. I've bought or opened half a dozen forrest blades at work, every one was shiny and perfect out of the package. Its not to say its not a serviceable blade, or that it doesn't have plenty of life left in it, but if you paid for a "new: an item that has never been used" blade, and you got somebody's beat old reworked rusty skupper, that doesn't seem fair. IME Flea Bay is full of honest people making decent trade, and full of ignorant people making assumptions like the blade they found in grandpa's shop after he passed is in a manufacturers package...looked it up on line...wow these things sell for over $100, this one must be new, its still in the box! And then there are just plain old crooks. Not sure which you've made contact with, just saying, that is not new, and if you paid close to the new price, it might be time to file a complaint.

Just for giggle's call Forrest and ask them if they send out new blades loaded with scratches that look like road rash and with blackened teeth and gullets that look like they've been dipped in tar. Bet they say no.

[Tom M King]

I bought a bandsaw at auction once (not online) that had been used to cut rolls of tar paper in small sections. The whole inside of it looked like that. I got it for next to nothing, and carburetor cleaner made it look like a new one.

[Brian Tymchak]

the shading behind the teeth appears to be standard on new blades. Look at the expanded view of this forrest blade advertised on Amazon. (http://www.amazon.com/Forrest-WW10206100-Woodworker-Blade-Thin/dp/B007ENX1NO)

[ian maybury]

My best guess is that the blade is probably not used (there's little or nothing by way of the usual circular marking on the disc, or where the arbour tightened up on it), but that judging by the scratching and slightly dull look that it could be old stock - or have been stored by somebody for a while in a less than static environment. It should be pretty evident from a close look at the cutting surfaces on the teeth whether it's been used or not.

This here is the same blade new on Amazon, it's relatively bright and unmarked in comparison: http://www.amazon.com/Forrest-WW10206100-Woodworker-Blade-Thin/dp/B007ENX1NO

[Floyd Cox]

Thanks for all the input, talked to Forrest yesterday and providing them with blade serial number, it has not been re-sharpened by them. The Back grind is normal he said on this thin kerf for ripping. Here is a 48 tooth Forrest blade I found at Woodcraft... Look at the photo it has scratches too.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/150268/Forrest-Woodworker-II-Saw-Blade-10-x-48-Tooth.aspx (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/150268/Forrest-Woodworker-II-Saw-Blade-10-x-48-Tooth.aspx)

I have some 3" red oak I didn't want to use my 40T Woodworker II on.

[Larry Copas]

That's a new old stock blade. If it had been used/resharpened the lettering on the side of the blade would be blurred or becoming faint in some areas. I'm guessing it acquired the scratches from being in somebody's draw with stuff piled on top. I've had the good fortune of acquiring a couple at estate sales in the same condition.

As a side note, seeing that you are in Harrison I take my blades to American Sharpening in Rogers when dull. My 40 tooth WW-II's come back cutting better than new.

[Keith Hankins]

Looks like its not used that I can tell. If it had those scratches would be running around the blade in concentric circles. Looks like it was just sitting around. I also did not notice any marks at the arbor where an arbor nut would be. In the end if she cuts good is good. If you got a great price then you win! I sold two thin kerf forrests when I got my Sawstop because they can't use them. sold two for a hundred bucks I got enought to get a new reg blade and some guy got two blades and a blade stiffener for a good deal it was a win/win.

They do cut like butter through 12/4, just not that fine finish with the higher tooth count,, but that don't matter.

[Floyd Cox]

thanks Larry, I have been looking for a sharping service.

[Tom M King]

Forrest is hard to beat for sharpening if you have to send them off rather than have a good local service.

[Jim Becker]

thanks Larry, I have been looking for a sharping service.

I use Forrest for sharpening. They are not the least expensive, but they do a great job; and not just on their own blades.

[Brian Tymchak]

I use Forrest for sharpening. They are not the least expensive, but they do a great job; and not just on their own blades.

That answered one question I had in mind. Thanks Jim!

[Bill Orbine]

I'm having trouble to where you bought this blade "off the auction site". That means someone else is claiming it to be new????? Maybe new never used, but got tossed around in someone's shop for a few years?

I buy my Forrest blades from Silver Mills.

[Peter Quinn]

Ok, I'm staring at the OP's picture, and the relief behind the teeth and some of the actual teeth are black. Not shadowed and dull grey like the pics of a new forest blade on line, where the light plays tricks in the photo...these teeth are black. I have seen plenty of black saw teeth and gullets, but not on new blades ever...unless the blades were all black. So what is the explanation for the relief on the back of every tooth and some of the teeth themselves being black like tar? Did you send that photo to Forrest? Do the teeth appear to be razor sharp, like scary sharp?

[roger wiegand]

No opinion on the newness of this blade, but I recently got one to rip about a quarter mile of small cherry moldings for a built up baseboard. Nice blade! Clean cut, no burn spots, almost no resistance pushing wood through it, and frequently allowed me to get an extra piece of molding out of a board because of the thin kerf. Enjoy!