Another Just Curious . . . .

[lowell holmes]

Do any of you have your table saw blades sharpened? I have a Forrest blade and it has never had any issues.
It is a Woodworker II.

[David Utterback]

Yes! Many times for my blades. They do get dull with use, especially with more abrasive woods. When the tear out becomes unacceptable, it is time to take them back to the sharpener. I also have the WW II. As a general purpose blade, it is still performing well enough but may need a touch up soon.

[David Eisenhauer]

I use all full thickness, carbide toothed blades and all have been sharpened over the years, some several times. I also have the WW II and it is the only one I send back to Forrest for sharpening. The rest all go to Ballew Saw and Tool in Missouri somewhere. Ballew has also replaced a couple of broken and/or chipped carbide teeth over the years as required. I use Freud and Systematic blades and have no interest in starting up a "what is the best blade" thread but do say they have all performed just the same as new after sharpening.

[Andrew Seemann]

I send mine out for sharpening, probably not as often as I should. There are some good local places, so I don't need to worry about shipping.

I have a pair of Forrest WWII 40 tooth blades so I always have one available if I need to send one out. I normally use the Forrest for everything except for rough ripping, then I have a thin kerf Irwin rip blade I break out. I do have a couple finer tooth Freuds for certain operations and various other blades in case the wood may have foreign objects in it.

[Cary Falk]

I have a stack of Delta/Dewalt7657 blades. I wait until the stack gets dull then I send them out to get sharpened. They are like $25 on ebay so they are almost throw away. I have a WWII laying around somewhere.

[James Cheever]

I use Forrest Woodworker blades (rip, crosscut and combo) on my table saw. I send them back to Forrest for resharpening as needed.

[Andrew Hughes]

I only get the ones I use sharped. :p

[Doug Garson]

For those that have their blades sharpened, what do you consider the best way to tell that it's time to sharpen?

[Jim Becker]

My WW-II blades have been sharpened multiple times and because Forrest is quite generous with the carbide, there are a few more sharpening sessions possible, too. Even a part time woodworker should consider sharpening at some reasonable interval because it truly brings the blade back to new or better cutting performance. We sometimes don't notice the very slow decrease in cut quality like someone who's cutting full time day-in-day-out might if our use is occasional, but the degradation is real. I'm actually about to send out my 12" WW-II for sharpening as soon as I acquire a second one. (planning on selling the two 10" blades so someone can keep on using them)

[Dave Cav]

For those that have their blades sharpened, what do you consider the best way to tell that it's time to sharpen?

It seems like my blades get chipped teeth before they get dull. Whenever I know I hit something or the cut quality seems to be falling off I'll clean the blade (usually with either Simple Green or oven cleaner, but this isn't a blade cleaning thread) and then closely examine the teeth. If they are chipped, it goes on the stack and when I have two or three blades, I take them to a tool place in town that sends them to Salt Lake to a specialty carbide shop. Two weeks later they're back, usually for under $20 each. I just had two 12" 60-80 tooth crosscut blades sharpened. One was $18, the other was $20 because they had to replace two teeth.

A lot of times when a blade seems dull it's just dirty. Clean it up and take a close look at the teeth. If they are sharp, with good points and no chips, you should be good to go.

[Cary Falk]

For those that have their blades sharpened, what do you consider the best way to tell that it's time to sharpen?
I was using my friends 5hp cabinet saw cutting 4/4 hard maple and I was bogging it down. There was burning on the cut edges. I was trying to make some 1-1/2"strips of 3/4" Baltic birch plywood into 1/2" thick. It was smoking so bad I had to leave the garage to get fresh air. Either his blade is dull or it needs to be cleaned. I will clean it next I am out there. If it does it again then it needs sharpening.

[David Helm]

I use all full thickness, carbide toothed blades and all have been sharpened over the years, some several times. I also have the WW II and it is the only one I send back to Forrest for sharpening. The rest all go to Ballew Saw and Tool in Missouri somewhere. Ballew has also replaced a couple of broken and/or chipped carbide teeth over the years as required. I use Freud and Systematic blades and have no interest in starting up a "what is the best blade" thread but do say they have all performed just the same as new after sharpening.

My favorite rip blade is a Systematic I've had for more than twenty years. It stays sharp longer than any other blades I have had and still has a number of sharpenings left in it. I fortunately have a local saw shop that I have been using for forty years, both for buying blades and sharpening. Wouldn't want to send blades out for sharpening.

[David Eisenhauer]

It will come to me somehow that "this blade has been on this saw for a while now", I feel the teeth with my fingers. I then feel the teeth on a blade that is sharp and compare my purely subjective feeling about sharpness between the two blades. Usually the one in question gets sent out. I do have two blades available for leaving on the TS for general use, so I am not in a bind when I send one out. They get rotated that way and will last me forever as long as I don't hit something serious. I do keep a stain grade plywood blade for that use only, plus a 24t rip blade for dedicated ripping sessions. I only have one of those each, so I plan when they get sent out. My mail-in sharpening service usually does a quick turn around.

[Mike Ontko]

I have a Forrest WWII that's due for its first sharpening. I just need to clean it up a bit and then package it for mailing.

I'm going with the factory sharpening while its still available and will see how that works out--quality versus cost and time.

[Doug Garson]

I was using my friends 5hp cabinet saw cutting 4/4 hard maple and I was bogging it down. There was burning on the cut edges. I was trying to make some 1-1/2"strips of 3/4" Baltic birch plywood into 1/2" thick. It was smoking so bad I had to leave the garage to get fresh air. Either his blade is dull or it needs to be cleaned. I will clean it next I am out there. If it does it again then it needs sharpening.
If only it was always that obvious.:cool: My suspicion is that the blade becomes dull very gradually and it could be overdue for sharpening well before I notice it's time. That's why I was hoping for some tips on how to determine when.

[Martin Wasner]

I have a Forrest WWII that's due for its first sharpening. I just need to clean it up a bit and then package it for mailing.

I'm going with the factory sharpening while its still available and will see how that works out--quality versus cost and time.

Don't bother cleaning. The sharpening service should be taking care of that.

[David Eisenhauer]

It should have either come with a box for mailing it in or Forrest will send it back in a box that can be reused for that purpose from now on.

[Ole Anderson]

I'll probably take some static for this, but I recently bought a HF blade sharpener for under $50 after having a lot of success with their chain saw sharpener. Came with a diamond blade for the front tooth face and an emery stone for the top. I had some old inexpensive blades (4.5" skill floor saw and 12" slider as well as 7.25" circ saw blade) that were in pretty bad shape from cutting new aluminum oxide coated flooring and hardiboard so I thought I would give it a shot after watching a couple of YouTube HF sharpener videos. I didn't want to try the emery wheel, so I limited my sharpening to the front of the tooth. Certainly not the sharpness you get from a CNC shop, but I wasn't disappointed, blades were much sharper when I got done than when I started and nothing was ruined. I even cleaned and sharpened my 60 tooth Freud crosscut blade and it still kept a smooth cut. I will still continue to send my good blades out.

[Cary Falk]

If only it was always that obvious.:cool: My suspicion is that the blade becomes dull very gradually and it could be overdue for sharpening well before I notice it's time. That's why I was hoping for some tips on how to determine when.

I get another blade when the tearout/blowout gets bad enough.

[Jim Becker]

Ole, the one thing that you can't attend to with "home sharpening" is blade balance. That's an advantage that goes to the pro shops or manufacturer sharpening services in that their equipment, often automated, is designed to be consistent with the grinding of all the teeth and deal with balance. They also do close inspection and will replace teeth that are damaged and/or unsafe. Note this is not a criticism of sharpening your own...I'm just pointing out that there are things very difficult to do "at home" with these blades.

[Rollie Kelly]

Mr. Holmes, you might go to a local cabinet shop and ask who they use as I did. The owner told me the service he uses does pick up and delivery for pro shops. He gave me their schedule and told me to drop off my blades and he would see they were picked up and call me when they were delivered. All I had to due was call the service and set up an account.
I don't know why they wouldn't come over and mount them for me.;)
Rollie

[Mike Ontko]

Don't bother cleaning. The sharpening service should be taking care of that.

Martin, thanks for this tip! But cleaning the blade beforehand is a little like brushing and flossing your teeth before a dentist visit :) I was caught red-faced once already here on the Creek when I'd posted a picture of that same blade, wondering about its performance, and had several responses (earnest and polite, of course) point out that I wasn't taking proper care of it--removing the pitch buildup following a recent project. The shame!

[Martin Wasner]

It's more like vacuuming out your car before you have it detailed.

[Jim Becker]

Mike, cleaning the blade regularly to remove pitch, etc., is a good idea to help it cut better, but I've never done it specifically when I'm going to send it in for sharpening. They are going to clean it anyway, but I do understand your point that if it's really gunky and you clean it first, you might avoid a major hairy-eyeball when they open the package. :) :D

[Rod Sheridan]

I drop mine off at FS Tools, pick them up a few days later............Rod.

[Martin Wasner]

Mike, cleaning the blade regularly to remove pitch, etc., is a good idea to help it cut better, but I've never done it specifically when I'm going to send it in for sharpening. They are going to clean it anyway, but I do understand your point that if it's really gunky and you clean it first, you might avoid a major hairy-eyeball when they open the package. :) :D

I've never cleaned a blade.

If a blade is gummed up, it just gets sent out for sharpening. I can't afford to clean it myself for what it costs to clean it and have it ground.

[Todd Bender]

If only it was always that obvious.:cool: My suspicion is that the blade becomes dull very gradually and it could be overdue for sharpening well before I notice it's time. That's why I was hoping for some tips on how to determine when.

I have dedicated hardwood and plywood blades as well as misc junk and mdf blades, and am religious about switching out TS blades. The hardwood will seem harder to push through as the blade dulls, and the plywood will chip out more on the bottom side. Some of it comes down to feel and sound. It's easier to tell blades need sharpening when you spend 6 days a week turning big boards into little boards :)

[Jim Becker]

I've never cleaned a blade.

If a blade is gummed up, it just gets sent out for sharpening. I can't afford to clean it myself for what it costs to clean it and have it ground.
As a commercial operation, that makes absolute sense.

[Dan Baginski]

I sharpened mine about 1.5 or 2 years ago. Local place does it for $10. It had bogged down on some 8/4 cherry and tripped the breaker. I recently just cleaned the pitch and resin off it with some water and laundry detergent. Looks brand new and is cutting much better again.

[Doug Garson]

Martin and Jim, what are you cutting that your blade needs sharpening before it needs cleaning? Takes about 5 min (not counting soaking time when you could be doing something else) to clean a blade. Wouldn't it take that long to pack it up ready for shipping to have it sharpened?

[Jim Becker]

Not me, Doug...I don't sharpen often because I don't cut all that much. Mine need cleaned a lot more often than sharpened. Martin, however, runs a commercial shop.

[Martin Wasner]

Martin and Jim, what are you cutting that your blade needs sharpening before it needs cleaning?

The usual. Wood. Glue. Nails. The occasional finger.




Takes about 5 min (not counting soaking time when you could be doing something else) to clean a blade. Wouldn't it take that long to pack it up ready for shipping to have it sharpened?

Packing up involves throwing it on the shelf with the other blades and bits waiting for Tuesday when carbide guy walks through the door to grab them. 5 minutes cleaning is about $16 worth of cabinets I could get built. Sharpening costs $8 depending on the tooth count and grind

[Doug Garson]

The usual. Wood. Glue. Nails. The occasional finger.

Well there's your problem, stop cutting nails and your blades will stay sharp long enough to get dirty especially if your cutting "occasional fingers". :D

[Bruce Wrenn]

I too own a stack of Delta / DeWalt 7657's along with a couple of WWII's. One of the WWII's is new, even though it's been in shop for over ten years. Other WWII went back to Forest for replacement of a couple teeth. I hit one of those staples that holds a SKU tag on, and it shed some teeth. After paying Forest for TWO sharpenings, and replacement of teeth, a new WWI was only a couple bucks more.Sent a friend's similarly damaged melamine blade to Dynamic, and charges were less than 1/4 of what I had paid Forest. I find Forest blades and sharpening service to be OVER, as in over rated,and over price. In my area, I've never been into any commercial cabinet shop and seen a Forest Blade

[Michael Costa]

I have an EZE Lap 3 piece thin sharpening kit. I'll typical run those over my blades. I know I'm not keeping consistent bevels at all but I does make a noticeable different and I'm only doing on my chop saw.