I am a believer now (Forrest Woodworker II)

[Mike Leung]

This caught my eye and made me pause before reading your whole post. Now that it's tuned, how does the old blade work?

(point of reference: I'm a Forrest fan)

Good point. I'll put my old blades on and compare the results.

[Peter Hawser]

Not a hater, just being honest! Maybe I got a bad one, but my WWII combo is not that impressive. Seems to burn easy and the quality of cut was never mind blowing, yet my Freuds on the same saw work so much better. I wanted to believe, but...

[scott spencer]

...How is this Forrest WW2 thin kerf compare to other 80 tooth blades? Will I get a better cut quality using this blade?

The laws of physics will prevail every time. As good as the WWII and other premium 40T blades can be for general use, if all else is equal, a good 80T Hi-ATB or ATB blade should leave a cleaner cut in plywood than a 40T (Including's Forrest's 80T blades). However, an 80T blade won't do well in tasks outside of fine crosscuts and sheetgoods like a good 40T general purpose blades can.

[Jim Becker]

I love my WW-II blades! Which reminds me...I need to send them both in for sharpening. I usually stagger that need, but...I forgot.

[Mike Leung]

This caught my eye and made me pause before reading your whole post. Now that it's tuned, how does the old blade work?

(point of reference: I'm a Forrest fan)

After reading Joe's message, I made slices with 4 different blades Today. I was curious to see if the tuning of my saw or the blade itself gave me the good results. My fence is kicked out .002". everything else is as square as I can get it.

Forrest WWII #1 grind (new)
Sawstop blade (used with a little bit of pitch but still sharp)
Harbor Freight Lifetime (new)
Infinity Super General (new)


To make this fun try and match up the blade to the cut and add your comments. I'm interested to see what you guys think and if you can guess correctly.

I'll reveal the answers later.

[Dick Mahany]

I know there are several choices out there, and choice / competition is good for all of us. Having said that, I bought my first WWII blade way long ago, and it was a whole new (and wonderful) experience using it. Next, I decided to splurge for their dado set, and got even more hooked. Then I tried the sharpening service and got absolutely excellent results. So when I needed a new blade to give me flat bottom cuts for keyed box joints, guess where I went ? Yep right back to that trusted supplier (for their WWII No. 1 Grind) who has provided me quality and consistency for many years.

There may be equals, and possibly even better alternatives, but the Forrest product is as far as I'll ever have to go for my needs.

[Dick Mahany]

After reading Joe's message, I made slices with 4 different blades Today. I was curious to see if the tuning of my saw or the blade itself gave me the good results. My fence is kicked out .002". everything else is as square as I can get it.

Forrest WWII #1 grind (new)
Sawstop blade (used with a little bit of pitch but still sharp)
Harbor Freight Lifetime (new)
Infinity Super General (new)


To make this fun try and match up the blade to the cut and add your comments. I'm interested to see what you guys think and if you can guess correctly.

I'll reveal the answers later.

Okay, I'll bite

1 HF
2 Forrest
3 Infinity
4 SS
5 Where's the Pic?

[Mark Ashmeade]

What saw are you using? If you don't notice a difference between a Freud Diablo and a WWII I would suspect some sort of alignment or runout problem. I've used both on my Uni but ended up with a Ridge Carbide. Heck of a blade! I use the Freud when I'm cutting salvage or barn wood where I might run into grit or other stuff that is tough on carbide tips.

Ron

The saw is a Sawstop 3HP PCS. I'm sure it is aligned correctly. I'm not saying I have a problem, just that the WWII doesn't stand out too much from the run of the mill blades I have.

[Mike Leung]

The saw is a Sawstop 3HP PCS. I'm sure it is aligned correctly. I'm not saying I have a problem, just that the WWII doesn't stand out too much from the run of the mill blades I have.

Mark, I am surprised that I am getting such a drastic difference between blades and you are not. I am running a SS ICS so it should be similar to your PCS. What angle did you set your fence? What do you think about the photos I took today?

[Bruce Wrenn]

I own two WWII's. One has never been out of the box, and other was only used one time. I hit a staple used to hold SKU tag on. It was buried in the wood, with another on top holding tag on, which I removed. Lost FIVE teeth (remember this was a staple.) Forest charged with in a couple bucks of a new blade to replace five teeth and sharpen blade. Bought a couple 0f DeWalt / Delta 7657's and so WWII's haven't been back on the saw. Sheet goods are handled by an 80 tooth H O Shumacher and Sons blade from Mike Jackson.

[William C Rogers]

After reading Joe's message, I made slices with 4 different blades Today. I was curious to see if the tuning of my saw or the blade itself gave me the good results. My fence is kicked out .002". everything else is as square as I can get it.

Forrest WWII #1 grind (new)
Sawstop blade (used with a little bit of pitch but still sharp)
Harbor Freight Lifetime (new)
Infinity Super General (new)


To make this fun try and match up the blade to the cut and add your comments. I'm interested to see what you guys think and if you can guess correctly.

I'll reveal the answers later.

When I first got my 3hp cabinet saw I bought a WW II thin kerf, wrong choice for a 3 hp so maybe that is why I was not "overally impressed" for the money. Due to price I use Freud and Infinity and get good results. I doubt i will ever spend the $$ again for a WW II, even full kerf.

Just guessing having not used a SS or HF (and most likely wrong)

1. HF
2. SS
3. Infinity
4. Forest

[Paul McGaha]

I think I'll try Forrest the next time I need a blade. Just from all the good press the blades get here on the creek.

I'm a hobbyist getting close to 10 years in now and to date I've always used Freud blades. Freud Glue Line Rip for Ripping, Ultimate Cut Off for Crosscutting, 8" Freud Super Dado Set. They've all done very well. Very happy with all those products.

Still, I think I will try something from Forrest next time I need a blade.

I understand Forrest has a really good sharpening service too.

PHM

[Joe Angrisani]

1 - Infinity Super General (new)
2 - Forrest WWII #1 grind (new)
3 - Sawstop blade (used with a little bit of pitch but still sharp)
4 - Harbor Freight Lifetime (new)

[Andrew Joiner]

Looks like fir.
If it's fir and a slow consistent feed rate 1 and 4 rough cuts are the blades with 40 teeth. 2 and 3 are 60 tooth cuts.

[Chris Fournier]

Marketing is a powerful device and Forrest knows this. Yes they have a good product. Their market is the hobbiest and smalll shop I would think and amongst these folks they have a fanatical fan base.

Move over to the comercial/industrial market and Forrests marketing has less effect when more sophisticated buyers (no slight to the hobbiest) choose blades from larger nameless to the hobbiest suppliers.

For the price of a 10" Forrest blade I can buy a 12" and almost a 14" blade from my supplier Royce Ayr Carbide. I can tell you that the RAC blade is every bit as good as the Forrest, simple as that!

One thing to remember about TS blades is that the teeth do the cutting - we all know this of course - but the teeth can only cut well when they are held in the proper geometry and plane by the blade plate. Good blades are tensioned to run true at certain RPMs. In days past plates were tensioned by skilled toolmakers and by "hand". My supplier has a computer controlled machine that does this. I bought three 12" blades from another supplier, a shop that has not kept up with the current and expensive manufacturing technology of today. The blades looked good but they sucked. I sent them back and told them they needed to be re-tensioned. They did this by hand and they still worked poorly. Loyal but fed up with the situation I moved to RAC and had them re-tension the three blades. The result? Three blades that make gorgeous cuts. They did this for me for free. They make absolutely beautiful shaper cutters and router bits too. The RAC shaper cutters put a Felder cutter that I have to shame for quality of finish.

I may never be able to cut a better dovetail than I can today, there may be no improvement in my technique in the years to come but I can be sure that I will continue to find suppliers who have improved and superior products to the ones that I use today. And as a bonus, the cost of these improved tools and tooling is often less when you stray from the consumer distribution channels.