Resharpen Forrest WW II Blade

[Jay Knoll]

HI everyone

I've got a Forrest WW blade on my little Dewalt benchtop saw, I was having some burning problems before I put the shop to bed for the summer. Now that I'm digging everything out I thought that I should have it resharpened (can't remember when I bought the blade but it has been awhile),

So my question is, should I take it to the local commercial tool supply house which promises a one week turnaround, or should I send it back to Forrest?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts/experience

Jay

[Guy Germaine]

Send it back to Forrest, definitely. The WWII is ground differently than a "normal" saw blade. I sent mine back not too long ago and it took roughly 2 weeks, including shipping both ways. When I got it back, it was as sharp as the day I bought it.

[CPeter James]

Guy is dead on right!! In fact it has been said that Forrest will take someone else's blade and sharpen it and it will be as good as theirs. that may be urban legend but who knows. I send my Forrest to Forrest and my Ridge to Ridge. Always as good as or better than new.

CPeter

[Jesse Cloud]

If you have a good sharpener in your area, they can certainly sharpen a WWII. Its a great blade, but its not magic. I take mine to the local guy and it comes back wicked sharp. If you don't already have a good sharpener, you might ask a local cabinet shop who they use and how reliable he is. My guy does everything with a $200K CNC setup and he really knows saws.
My two cents...

[Joe Spear]

Send it to Forrest.

[Jim Becker]

Forrest!!!

[Steve Rowe]

I sent mine to Forrest and they do an excellent job at sharpening and I had an excellent local sharpener. The cost is about the same as local (other than shipping) and I had it back in less than 2 weeks. I also had it re-bored for another saw which was the primary reason for sending it in.

Now that my sharpener has been forced into retirement due to medical reasons (sharpeners need dust collection too), future sharpening choices for this blade is pretty much a no-brainer.

Steve

[Rennie Heuer]

I send mine to Forrest and pay the extra few bucks to have them check flatness, balance, and to make sure every tooth is perfect. They will replace any that do not meet standards. They do a fine job and guaranty their work.

[scott spencer]

I took mine to a local sharpener and regretted it. It was sharp enough and cut well, but they took off alot more than I thought they needed to. :( I'll pay Forrest next time, or possibly Ridge Carbide down the road from Forrest.

[Don Wurscher]

I have a WW II and an older Craftsmans (15yrs+) and when I got the WW II I sent the the Craftsman to them for sharping, and would not believe it was the same blade when I got it back. It does not cut as good as the WW II but it's close. I keep it as a backup when I send my WW II in for sharping. Forrest is great don't hesitate to use them.

[Loren Hedahl]

HI everyone

I've got a Forrest WW blade on my little Dewalt benchtop saw, I was having some burning problems before I put the shop to bed for the summer. Now that I'm digging everything out I thought that I should have it resharpened (can't remember when I bought the blade but it has been awhile),

So my question is, should I take it to the local commercial tool supply house which promises a one week turnaround, or should I send it back to Forrest?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts/experience

Jay

I find it interesting that you are using such a premium blade on a benchtop saw. However a couple of years ago a small local upscale restaurant was being remodeled, and the work was also obviously upscale. The carpenter doing the work used a small Makita bench top and a Makita CMS. Both of these had Forrest blades.

I commented on his small benchtop saw and his response was that the quality of the cut is mostly in the blade. I think about that reply whenever I see the heavy metal in my shop. The beautiful work he was putting out with such a small amount of equipment was refreshing.

[Jay Knoll]

Loren

Several years ago I attended my first woodworking show (now wasn't that a bad thing to do! LOL seems I've been to one every year since :D )

Attended one of the free presentations by Lon Scherling (sp?) who spent a lot of time talking about how to improve results. He was most adamant about getting a great blade on your saw, regardless of the type of saw you owned. So, being a newbie I took his advice.

I have to admit I'm thinking about "upgrading" to the Sawstop contractor saw but I have to wait to see what it really looks like.

Jay

[Eddie Darby]

I tried my local sharpening service and I was not happy with the results, so I purchased a second WW II blade so I could send the blades back to Forrest for sharpening, and not have any problems with down time.