Converting Forrest blades and dado set to Hammer configuration

[Mike Hopkins]

Hello, I purchased a Hammer Winner 79” x 48” that will arrive in DE in the next month or so. I need to convert several blades and a dado set to the Hammer specs. Any suggestions on where to send the blades for sharpening and conversion? I contacted Forest and it will be north of $300 for 2 blades and a dado set Also any suggestions/prayers for getting it down a straight run of basement steps? Might hire someone to do it and still deliberating.

thanks,

Mike Hopkins

[Jacob Mac]

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ice&highlight=

See this thread? I'm going through the same process

[Chris Parks]

My experience in converting a 30mm CMT Dado stack was initially disappointing because the bottom of the trench was very uneven. My Brother in Law who is a toolmaker had drilled the pin holes for me and I knew he had done the right thing so I sent the stack to a sawyer and they bolted the whole thing together and ground the outside even and then resharpened the whole lot. The result was perfection and it has stayed that way. BTW 8" limits the height that it can be raised due to the construction of the saw.

[Mike Hopkins]

Thanks and this is helpful

[Ed Mitchell]

Got this diagram from Felder, perhaps it will help you
Drill template Sawblades_Newest.pdf

[Chris Parks]

I supplied the Felder made arbor clamp plates with the pins in them but the PDF wouldn't hurt.

[Steve Wurster]

Before I got my K3 a few years ago I contacted a semi-local machine shop to see if they could rebore a blade to meet the Felder style. They said they could, but when I called them back after I got my saw they told me they wouldn't do it because they don't do the pin holes. As a result, I gave up on those old blades and just bought all new blades for my saw via Felder's online shop. The better-quality blades from the old saw went with it when I gave that away to a family friend who had helped me move the saw into my basement shop (and who also helped move a Hammer A3 J/P into the same shop a couple years previous). The low-quality blades just got scrapped.

As for moving the saw into your basement, your solution might depend on the steepness of your stairs and what kind of access you have at the top of the stairs. For me, the only "good" access for large tools is through a fairly steep Bilco door setup. For both the A3 and K3 I ended up building a plywood ramp on the stairs that transitioned into a less-steep ramp down in the basement. We then wrapped straps around the tool and hooked those to the front of my dad's pickup truck. The hardest part is maneuvering the tool onto the top of the ramp; after that it's just slowly moving the truck forward and directing the tool down the ramps. An additional complication is that the stairs are 90 degrees to the driveway, so the truck is coming in from an angle. Still doable though.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I looked into it and was able to find a shop (Vexor Custom Woodworking Tools) in Denver that could EDM drill blades for $20/ea. Still, for a dado stack, that's expensive.

Ended up buying a new Forrest dado stack that was pre-drilled, but like Chris, have been disappointed with the very uneven bottoms it produces.

In retrospect, I wish I had bit the bullet and bought the Felder variable-width groover.

[Chris Parks]

I just bought a single carbide drill and the bore was already 30mm. Saw blades are not all that hard and it is a fairly simple process with the right tools. Correcting the OD after the process is also a simple job using the pins holes as a reference to ensure accuracy.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, the Hammer machine will only accept a maximum of a 180mm dado, I doubt if your present dado is that small.

Any tooling manufacturer can perform the drilling and grinding for you.

I winched my B3 down the basement stairs……Regards, Rod