saw blades

Hi Grizzman;

I got to tell you, I use Forrest blades. Every few years, I’ll try out a different blade, but always come back to Forrest. They are worth the money.

That being said, the router and shaper cutters from Freud have held up very well. I have a door set that’s seen considerable use, and they’re still sharp.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Forrest blades. We used these blades in prison industries and they lasted twice as long as any other blade between sharpenings. The higher price was made up by less sharpening cost.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

I beleive you need a new Saw Sharpener. To say that European carbide is softer is not true at all. Most of the most innovative products for woodworking are from Europe and the blafes from Gudho, Leitz, etc are as good as it gets. There’s plenty of good sharpening services that can match the quality of Forrest any day of the week. Freud makes OK stuff. Not high end but far from junk.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

Uhh, what Freud Model you have???
They have quite a selection of blades and depending on that the carbide hardness will be specified.
The Heavy duty models have harder carbide than the general duty ones.
Example the LU72M 40Teeth General Purpose Blade is rated as H01S Carbide while the
LU82M 60Teeth Heavy Duty MultyPurpose Blade is rated as H00K Carbide Grade, this Carbide is Harder than the previous one.
When speaking of Carbides one must understand the basic characteristics of the metal.
The harder the Carbide the easier it is to chip on impact so less resistent to them.
One of the most important aspects of this metal is the size of the grains that make up the Carbide.
You see Carbide cannot be melted like steel or most other metals, what they have to do is to grind the metals that will be used to make it to a very fine powder then put them in a mold and compress the powder while extreme heat is applied to it.
Freud claims they add Titanium to the mix to enhance resistance to corrosion by chemicals.
This binds the Carbide in the mold and then it is cut with diamond blades.
Chinese and Hindu Carbide manufacturers have a coarser grain when compared to US and Europe.
And therefore are much easier to chip even at lower hardness as a result.
By the way some tools (Gear’s Shaper Cutters for example) made in the US of very advanced Carbides are categorized as Munitions and cannot be exported to certain countries and need a permit from the DOD to exit the US believe it or not.

Point Blank: Your sharpening guy does not have a clue!

-- http://www.federalsaw.com

It’s not accurate for your sharpening guy to make a generalized comment like that. European blade manufacturers use varying hardness in their carbide depending on the need/quality of the blade/manufacturer….pretty much like any other geographic region who manufactures blasdes

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....