LU85R010 + Pocket Screw = I'm a moron

[mnphats]

I picked up a Freud LU85R010 80 tooth saw blade a couple weeks ago. Wow, does it produce beautiful cuts! Well it did until I hit a pocket hole screw.

Can I regain this lost beauty with a professional sharpening, or is this just a expensive lesson? I suppose even if a good sharpening works, will it will still be an expensive lesson?

[LCHIEN]

I picked up a Freud LU85R010 80 tooth saw blade a couple weeks ago. Wow, does it produce beautiful cuts! Well it did until I hit a pocket hole screw.

Can I regain this lost beauty with a professional sharpening, or is this just a expensive lesson? I suppose even if a good sharpening works, will it will still be an expensive lesson?

Are the cuts screwed up now? Did you cut through the whole screw or stopped right after you hit it?

Carbide is a LOT harder than steel, but it is brittle and impact loads can break or chip teeth. the problem with cutting into ONE screw is the possibility you chipped one or more teeth. If no teeth are damaged then and the blade seems to cut alright then most likely you are OK and haven't really dulled the blade badly. It won't hurt to have it sharpened in this case if it makes you feel better. Sharpeneing costs $.25 to .33 a tooth so you're looking at $20-27.

IF you have chipped teeth then the question is it economically worth fixing? First remove and inspect the blade. Good carbide tips are nice and squared, clean edges, chips should be pretty obvious. The tips are the little gray blocks at the very tip of each tooth. A magnifying glass may help but i would not think be necessary.

The tips are brazed (a form of welding) on, a good blade sharpeneing shop can repair/replace a few teeth, probably about $4 a tooth if i recall seeing the local shop's price list.

Remember, one or two bad/chipped tooth may not affect the cut visibly, and it may be OK to do nothing. Twenty chipped teeth and I think its time for a new blade. In between??? Like I said, evaluate the cut. That blade probably cost you around $60?

You might check if Freud has an 800 number and talk to your blade sharpening service. Offhand I'd say if the repairs and sharpeneing cost more than 40-50% of a new blade, get the new blade, because too many repairs (e.g. replaced carbide tips) it'll never be the same even with expert repair.

Good luck and be more careful next time.