Infinity blades for Dewalt 735 - disappointed

[john lawson]

It is becoming somewhat difficult to take Sawmill Creek seriously as an objective woodworking site that is geared to woodworkers sharing their experience. The OP stated that he had a problem and asked if others had had that problem. A few people answered his question and shared their experience.

I'm surprised at the amount of criticism directed at him because he wasn't sensitive enough towards the manufacturer. Since the post has been modified I don't know what was so bad in the title, but there was nothing wrong with the body of the post, including the fact that he had not contacted the manufacturer. Is the implication that no one should post a problem before contacting a manufacturer? If so, I find that unreasonable.

Let's say he had contacted them and they said "sure, return them" and gave him a prepaid RMA and a UPS pickup label, are we as a woodworking forum saying we don't want to know about this? Really?

[Frederick Skelly]

John,
Speaking only for my 2 posts above......

I hear you and I agree with most of what you're saying. We need to know. Speaking personally, I'd rather hear about this after the manufacturer had a chance to address the matter. It's a more complete story and therefore a little more credible/objective.

As you noted, both the original title and the text have been edited. To me, the original title seemed inflamatory. It felt way out of proportion with how the problem was described in the original text. (The text was clearly irritated but not inflamatory.) Hence my suggestion of an edit to the title.

Just my views. I understand that there are other ways to look at this.

Best regards,
Fred

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It is becoming somewhat difficult to take Sawmill Creek seriously as an objective woodworking site that is geared to woodworkers sharing their experience. The OP stated that he had a problem and asked if others had had that problem. A few people answered his question and shared their experience.

I'm surprised at the amount of criticism directed at him because he wasn't sensitive enough towards the manufacturer. Since the post has been modified I don't know what was so bad in the title, but there was nothing wrong with the body of the post, including the fact that he had not contacted the manufacturer. Is the implication that no one should post a problem before contacting a manufacturer? If so, I find that unreasonable.

Let's say he had contacted them and they said "sure, return them" and gave him a prepaid RMA and a UPS pickup label, are we as a woodworking forum saying we don't want to know about this? Really?

John,

No company has put out a product that hasn't had a problem here or there. There has been one instance reported here where a Sawstop table saw delivered with a problem. There have been reports of someone receiving a product from Lee Valley that was less than satisfactory. In those cases the companies quickly addressed the problems to the OPs satisfaction and they problems were reported here.

That being said, it's a only fair to give a company a chance to resolve an issue before coming to a website and making an inflammatory statement. The OPs original title was inflammatory and that is why one of the Moderators edited. It's called common courtesy.

It's more difficult to find value in reports of poor product quality or poor customer service issues when people are allow to make emotion, inflammatory statements IMO.

[john lawson]

John,

No company has put out a product that hasn't had a problem here or there. There has been one instance reported here where a Sawstop table saw delivered with a problem. There have been reports of someone receiving a product from Lee Valley that was less than satisfactory. In those cases the companies quickly addressed the problems to the OPs satisfaction and they problems were reported here.

That being said, it's a only fair to give a company a chance to resolve an issue before coming to a website and making an inflammatory statement. The OPs original title was inflammatory and that is why one of the Moderators edited. It's called common courtesy.

It's more difficult to find value in reports of poor product quality or poor customer service issues when people are allow to make emotion, inflammatory statements IMO.

Ken, We are talking about two different things. Sure, any company or anyone can make a mistake and deliver something defective. But a planer blade with a registration hole that is too large, or oblong, or however it is defective is unlikely, highly unlikely to be a "one off". Those blades are made with high speed equipment that will churn out hundreds if not thousands per hour, as I am sure you are aware. So, I believe there is a good chance the OP did not get the only set of blades and did us a service in reporting this. In fact, he may have done Infinity a service if this gets their attention faster than waiting for the returns to start piling up. The point is I don't know, and neither do any of the other posters know if this is a widespread problem. And the OP simply reported his experience, said he was going to return them and asked two questions of his fellow woodworkers.

I felt like this post very quickly devolved into criticism of the OP rather than a discussion on the merits of the post, and I still feel that way. Companies like Infinity or Sawstop do not need a "safe space". And I say this as someone who spent 30 years in manufacturing engineering and manufacturing management. Any company operating today knows or should know that poor quality products will show out very quickly and will be communicated quickly through media.

I would like to thank him for posting his experience.

Edit: But you did not answer my hypothetical question, would you rather he not posted at all?

[Myk Rian]

Since the post has been modified I don't know what was so bad in the title,................

That's right. You don't know. I think this thread has run its course.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

In my first reply I indicated I have had good experience with the quality of blades I've received from Infinity.

Nobody was chastising the guy about posting his experience or suggesting he shouldn't post about his experience. They were merely pointing out that his TITLE was, in fact, inflammatory. If he had titled his post "Infinity blades for DW735" with a reasonable description within the body of the post along with the photos asking if anybody else had experienced this, one Moderator wouldn't have felt it necessary to edit his title and another Moderator wouldn't have found it necessary to edit the body of his original post.

It's not the message but rather the manner in which it is expressed. It was also being pointed out that it is just common courtesy to allow companies to address problems of this nature first before going online to rant on the company.

If someone has a bad experience with a company, that experience should be reported but after the company first has an opportunity to address the specific situation.

SMC has always encouraged people to express their opinions and report their experiences in a reasonable method and fashion.

[Paul Wolf]

I also built a jig to them hone razor sharp. If any one interested let me know and I'll post it.

Andrew, I for one would be interested in learning more about the jig you built. Thanks.

[Andrew Hughes]

Andrew, I for one would be interested in learning more about the jig you built. Thanks.

Sure thing Paul,I set my blade to 45 on my table saw and cut the three kerfs.The blades are less then 1/8 so the strips are there to make up the difference.Since my blades were carbide I used the cheapo smith plate from Lowes.If your sharpening HSs then you might just try a regular stone.
I cut my finger the first time so be careful.Unless you need to trim your nails back to your knuckles.

[David Sloan]

I have been happy with the Infinity blades for my 8" jointer.

[Pete Staehling]

would you rather he not posted at all?

The body of the post was OK. The original title was not. Personally I'd have been OK with the post if it had the current title, but waiting to contact the vendor and then posting including the resolution if any would have been better yet.

[scott spencer]

I'm curious what Infinity had to say when you contacted them? I'd be really surprised if they didn't take extremely good care of you.

[glenn bradley]

I would contact Infinity. Something's not right.

[Peter Kuhlman]

The OP posted two days ago. He must have called them by now?
My experiences with Infinity have been awesome. Had a minor mix-up and they went far out of their way to fix it. My questions I have asked them have always had quick responses via email and phone calls were handles professionally.

[Mark Gibney]

Scott, Peter - yes, Infinity sent me a postage-paid label for me to return the blades to them, and wrote they will replace the blades.

Any uncertainty I had about Infinity accepting the blades back was because I bought them quite a long time ago, but I'm happy to say that's not an issue.

[Peter Kuhlman]

Good to hear.
Infinity needed to be made aware of the issue to be able to investigate the root of the problem. It is possible they farm out some of the fabrication like for the mounting hole machining.
Thanks for the follow up info.