Comparison of Two Forrest Sharpened Blades and an Original Forrest WWII Blade
A very old Vermont American blade (that I got with a used radial arm saw) along with a 3 year old Oldham blade were sent into the Forrest sharpening service in Clifton, NJ. The VA blade was to be sharpened only. I didn't think such a cheap blade deserved much more. The Oldham was to be sharpened, test cut and adjusted as needed. The two blades were shipped off, along with some $5 off coupons, in a Forrest box. The sharpened blades were back at my house in two weeks. Both blades were cleaned up. The VA had lost all its identification markings. Looking closely at the VA blade, it seemed to me that more metal was removed than the Oldham. To be honest, I couldn't really see much difference in test cut quality in the two sharpened blades and a slightly used Forrest blade. When I first used the sharpened VA blade, I noticed a pronounced vibration, however, I remounted the blade at the end of all the tests and it seemed the vibrations had almost disappeared. It might be the arbor hole in the VA blade is a little larger than it should be. When I ran the cut tests with the WWII blade there was absolutely no vibration. The Oldham blade had only a slight vibration. You'll have to judge for yourself whether sharpening the VA blade was a good value. I'll use the VA for my 'utility' blade and the Oldham and WWII for the good stuff.
(click on picture for larger view)
| This is the stuff Forrest coated on the sharpened blades. It's the same kind of material you sometimes get on new router blades. The two blades were returned in a Forrest saw blade box. |  |
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Three kerfs were cut in a 3/4" birch ply. From left to right Oldham, Vermont A, and Woodworker II |
| Through rip cuts with Oldham on top, WWII in middle and VA on the bottom. |  |
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Kerf cuts in oak. Oldham on top, WWII in middle and VA on the bottom |