compare blades

[drumpriest]

Yeah, it seems to me that the more carbide, the less often you replace a blade, but does that really do much for the cutting action of the blade?? It's an interesting question. Certainly the forrest is worth having sharpened again and again, where-as the marathon blade is more of a use until dull, pitch and replace. The freud being in the middle, sharpen a couple of times, and replace.

As an investment, if it cuts better than the marathon outta the box, it's worth it.

[Knottscott]

quote:Originally posted by final_t
I did not know that. I always see tossed around that Forrest blades are good and all that, and are worth resharpening, but never once in any review, book, or website did they mention having Forrest resharpen them. The most I've seen is how to properly package the blade for shipment, but no suggestions other than "find a good shop".

Forrest will even sharpen other brands...seems like a pretty good value if you've got a decent basic blade in need of sharpening. I've read raves from people who have sent non-Forrest blades to them.

[lcm1947]

What's the maximum times a Forrest can be resharpened? Five? So you are spending $200.00. But what if you could sharpen a Freud say 2 times or 3. $50.00 plus $60.00 = $110.00. But suppose you buy two of the Freud's initially. You still are out $100.00 but no down time waiting for the Forrest to get resharpened. I don't know guys. Just thinking out loud. What am I missing?

[drumpriest]

lcm, you are expanding upon what I was thinking. The BT blade is obviously worth resharpening, and some pretty good freud blades are fairly inexpensive. I'm not saying that the forrest isn't great, just that the freud blades may provide better cost/performance.

[LCHIEN]

quote:Originally posted by lcm1947

What's the maximum times a Forrest can be resharpened? Five? So you are spending $200.00. But what if you could sharpen a Freud say 2 times or 3. $50.00 plus $60.00 = $110.00. But suppose you buy two of the Freud's initially. You still are out $100.00 but no down time waiting for the Forrest to get resharpened. I don't know guys. Just thinking out loud. What am I missing?

It's not just the number of resharpenings.
If you read the other posts around, I have stated that my Forrest
does make cleaner cuts when compared side by side with the OEM Freud for instance.

I do believe that it's at the point of diminishing returns, though, not everyone will want or need such a fine cut. Why is it better? Maybe stiffer, stronger, flatter, better sharpened, better balanced, materials, engineering, design, quality control or a combination, whatever the reason, it is better. It's up to you to determine whether its worth the extra money.

Having designed a blade that's better and more costly, they provided enough carbide for many sharpenings, so it will last a long time, too.

[Knottscott]

quote:Originally posted by LCHIEN

quote:Originally posted by lcm1947

What's the maximum times a Forrest can be resharpened? Five? So you are spending $200.00. But what if you could sharpen a Freud say 2 times or 3. $50.00 plus $60.00 = $110.00. But suppose you buy two of the Freud's initially. You still are out $100.00 but no down time waiting for the Forrest to get resharpened. I don't know guys. Just thinking out loud. What am I missing?

It's not just the number of resharpenings.
If you read the other posts around, I have stated that my Forrest
does make cleaner cuts when compared side by side with the OEM Freud for instance.

I do believe that it's at the point of diminishing returns, though, not everyone will want or need such a fine cut. Why is it better? Maybe stiffer, stronger, flatter, better sharpened, better balanced, materials, engineering, design, quality control or a combination, whatever the reason, it is better. It's up to you to determine whether its worth the extra money.

Having designed a blade that's better and more costly, they provided enough carbide for many sharpenings, so it will last a long time, too.

Loring took the words right off of my fingers. My Forrest makes a noticeably cleaner cut on just about everything, and a few of my other blades have been pretty good.

[lcm1947]

Well, I've thought about this from day one but too cheap to let go of that kind of money at least at this stage in my woodworking hobby. I did however buy a 80 tooth Freud that I am pleased with but have no knowledge of anything better so can't say so I'll take your word for it Loring as I do on a great many things and haven't been disappointed yet. Thanks for the replies to my post.

[pushrod]

Haven't seen a link; who has the best deal on a WWII?

[LarryG]

quote:Originally posted by pushrod

Haven't seen a link; who has the best deal on a WWII?

Nobody, at least that I've found.

amazon.com has the WWII for $99.99. The best deal used to be to wait until they marked it down to $89.99 and then include the blade in a $199 order so you'd get the usual $25 discount, and free shipping. Prorated, that made the blade cost about $78.70. But since the $25 discount promotion has disappeared, and the blade hasn't been on sale in a while either, that's NG.

I requested a Forrest catalog via one of those circle-the-number cards from a magazine, and when the catalog arrived it included a coupon for 20% off an order placed within a certain time. But since Forrest's direct price was higher than amazon.com, plus a shipping charge, amazon.com was still a few bucks cheaper.

[Knottscott]

quote:Originally posted by pushrod

Haven't seen a link; who has the best deal on a WWII?

Hartville Tool has the WWII 1/8" kerf for $100, and the TK for $105. The last I knew Hartville was offering 15% for Woodnet members. If you type "Woodnet 15%" in the shipping comments you'll receive 15% off, or mention it over the phone.

http://hartvilletool.com/product/10836

[wassaw998]

OK - I'll "bite" - what's wrong with the $20 Irwin ? Granted it has less carbon, and won't hold an edge as long, but, it is 5 times less expensive and out of the box cuts very nice (got one on my saw at the moment). Plus, I'll just toss it and buy another. I guess if it dulls 5 times as fast as the WW II, maybe then I could see the value in spending the $$ for the WW II.

[Knottscott]

quote:Originally posted by wassaw998

OK - I'll "bite" - what's wrong with the $20 Irwin ? Granted it has less carbon, and won't hold an edge as long, but, it is 5 times less expensive and out of the box cuts very nice (got one on my saw at the moment). Plus, I'll just toss it and buy another. I guess if it dulls 5 times as fast as the WW II, maybe then I could see the value in spending the $$ for the WW II.

Precision, burnished edge, and versatility are the key differences. The WWII will clearly outperform the Irwin. That doesn't make the Irwin a bad blade, but we each make a decision about what the quality is worth to us. An analogy might be "what's the difference between the BTS-15 and the BT-3100? Is the 3100 really worth that much extra? The BTS-15 makes the same cuts". Most of you folks know the answer is a resounding "Yes! ...it's worth the extra money".

[wassaw998]

I'd have to see them both cut on my saw to see the advantages I suppose, but, then, I'd have to actually buy the WWII to do that ! I see this is a trick !

For me, the $20 Irwin seems to cut just as nice as the stock blade which I was very happy with, so , for me, the extra $80 is not worth it. Sort of like, sure, I would love to have a Unisaw, but, to me, it is just not worth it...(to me)