Forrest Woodworker II sharpening?

[Matt Meiser]

Its time to send my trusty WWII in for sharpening. Is there really anything special about this blade that requires a factory sharpening, or can a good sharpening service (I'd use Scott Whiting) able to sharpen them just as well?

[James Biddle]

Matt,
I've sent blades to both Forrest and Scott Whiting. All have come back sharp, but Scott's have come back faster and didn't cost quite as much. I did have Forrest flatten my WWII and I don't know if Scott provides that service or not.

[Ken Salisbury]

I suggest you use Forrest. They do excellent work and can do any repairs necessary on your blade. I have used them for years and have been more than pleased with their work.

[Gary Ratajczak]

I have always used Forrest - they quickly repair chipped teeth, and flatten as well. Comes back like new.

[Dave Falkenstein]

Its time to send my trusty WWII in for sharpening. Is there really anything special about this blade that requires a factory sharpening, or can a good sharpening service (I'd use Scott Whiting) able to sharpen them just as well?

I have several Forrest blades - two for the table saw, one for the SCMS and one for the circular saw. Scott sharpens them all for me.

When you add in the cost for shipping both ways, the Forrest service is a bit pricey.

[Jesse Cloud]

I've always heard good things about Forrest's sharpening service, but I take mine to the local guy and he does a great job. Any good sharpening service can replace damaged teeth. Turnaround is way shorter than the time it would take to mail stuff out.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Matt,
I've sent blades to both Forrest and Scott Whiting. All have come back sharp, but Scott's have come back faster and didn't cost quite as much. I did have Forrest flatten my WWII and I don't know if Scott provides that service or not.

Flatten? Please do tell~!! What is with flattening a blade?
Why would you do it? Is it to repair damage?

I know that when making a blade ready to go on a large sawmill the tradesman will lay it on a large dished stump and pound a dish into the blade which the centripital force of spinning uses by slinging the blade straight and true when cutting.

But flattening is new to me.

[Gary Keedwell]

Flatten? Please do tell~!! What is with flattening a blade?
Why would you do it? Is it to repair damage?

I know that when making a blade ready to go on a large sawmill the tradesman will lay it on a large dished stump and pound a dish into the blade which the centripital force of spinning uses by slinging the blade straight and true when cutting.

But flattening is new to me.

Hammering (flattening) and retensioning is a specialized skill.
Gary

[Jim Becker]

Scott or Forrest would be my only choices. I use the latter due to "location", but if I were in the west, I'd use Scott's service, no question.

[Heather Thompson]

I went to Mid-West Sharping in West Chicago Illinois yesterday to ask about repairing a WWII that collided with a Betterley ZCI on the initial cut through the plate (long story), they said that they would not touch any blade that is not flat, the man that I talked to said to recycle it or make a shop clock. I will elect to recycle the blade, already have a nice shop clock.

Heather

[John Cooper2]

Any contact info for "scott" I have a blade or two that could use some help.

[Dave Falkenstein]

Any contact info for "scott" I have a blade or two that could use some help.

Scott's Sharpening Service
Scott Whiting

(623) 931-0633 or (800) 594-7262

5214 W Luke Ave. Ste D7
Glendale, AZ 85301

scottsharpaz (at) qwest.net

[Scott Whiting]

I went to Mid-West Sharping in West Chicago Illinois yesterday to ask about repairing a WWII that collided with a Betterley ZCI on the initial cut through the plate (long story), they said that they would not touch any blade that is not flat, the man that I talked to said to recycle it or make a shop clock. I will elect to recycle the blade, already have a nice shop clock.

Heather

I am assuming the person actually checked the blade for flatness. I have seen many blades come in contact with ZCIs, miter fences, Saw Stop brakes, etc. and all they needed was to be sharpened and maybe a few teeth replaced.

A couple of points I would like to emphasis that have already been made:

1) Hammering (flattening, retensioning) is a bit of an art form. At one point it was actually a normal service item. Thanks to modern technology the vast majority of blades used in secondary wood processing stay flat throughout their life. And because of the cost to have those few people who know how to do it retension a plate most blades are just tossed unless your local guy knows how to do it. For some reason plates that have been retensioned seem to need it on a regular service cycle. I myself am not going to go apprentice for a couple of years to learn it.

2) In most major metropolitan areas there is usually at least one good sharpener. The trick is to find him/her before it costs you a tool. Check with the small cabinet shops around and even more picky are solid surface fabricators.

[Matt Meiser]

Scott, looks like I've got a package coming your way.

[Tom Walz]

Professional saw blade sharpening

If you want to know what goes into professional saw sharpening, we have two really good manuals we will email for free. president@carbideprocessors.com

1. One is by Lowell Freeborn called the Carbide Saw Manual. Lowell started Systi Matic with Bob Budke then started Freeborn Tool. Mr. Freeborn let me reproduce ti electronically. He doesn’t charge for it so I don’t. The manual is free by email. We sell a bound copy on cafepress for enough to cover their fees and costs. We will have it on our web site eventually.

2. Carbide Saw Specification Manual which I think is by Don Anderson when he was head of cutting tool R&D for Weyerhaeuser. No proof of that but it looks like his work.
The manual is free by email. We sell a bound copy on cafepress. We will have it on our web site eventually.

We have maybe 800 pages of cutting tool related material we are trying to get on the web site so it will take a while.

Merry Christmas,
Tom

P.s. We are not looking for email addresses so we can spam you. Not the way my mamma brought me up and it is not good business. Scott is a customer of ours (We knew him before he was famous, back when he was just really good.) and our real market is the very top end of the tool business. The more the end user knows the better our part of the market does.

PPS – if you are really worried then just get the free manuals and then go to ‘Tools’ then ‘Rules wizard’ and block us.