Forest Saw Blades

shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:52 pm

I have a Forest Woodworker II thin curf with 1-1/4" arbor. I bought this some time ago when Woodcraft was selling Shopsmiths. I would like to get another one, but I can only find them in 5/8" arbor. Their web site says the thin curf blade should be used with dampner/stiffners.

So, my question, Could I use the molder/dado arbor with the stiffners for the 5/8" Forest blade? I don't believe there is enough room on the standard 5/8" saw arbor.

I see SS has an email sale, and I thought about buying the molder/dado arbor for that purpose and one of the blank saw inserts.

bobgroh · Post by **bobgroh** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:09 pm

I did exactly that on my 500. Larger arbor with blade stiffners and a Freud blade. Blade was a bit farther out but no big deal. It worked for me - nicely.

shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:10 pm

Thanks, I thought that might work.

shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:18 pm

I just found a site that sells the 1-1/4 arbor Forest Woodworker II thin kerf.

http://www.forrestsawbladesonline.com/category_2_Woodworker_II.html

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:15 pm

Hi, Pat! Thanks for the link!!! I put that site in my favorites for future reference, but gotta tell you, at $106.++ per blade, it has to be quite an improvement over the Shopsmith blades made by Amana.

If someone wants to get me a gift related to woodworking, I'll refer them to this site. (You see, I have no shame!) That's about the only way, I'll ever have a chance to personally compare the cuts between the two.

I'm not very hard on saw blades - still have a serviceable 1/8" combo saw blade from Shopsmith that's been used since 1999 without sharpening. Although, I have honed the teeth with a diamond dresser stick.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:40 pm

Hey, Chuck! I am a lot like you. I am very careful with my saw blades and they seem to last a very long time...Now I will probably have some problem with them!:rolleyes:

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:37 pm

Naw! I've bragged up my SS blades quite often. There has been no hex yet!

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:40 pm

Oh good! I feel better now!:D

shydragon · Post by **shydragon** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:04 am

I'm going to have to disagree on this. I have the new SS combination blade and the new crosscut SS blade. Neither one compares to the quality of cut of the Forest Woodworker II blade. The cuts from that blade leave a very smooth finish. It's as if I've run the piece through the jointer. It is ready for edge glue up.

fixit · Post by **fixit** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:54 am

shydragon wrote:I'm going to have to disagree on this. I have the new SS combination blade and the new crosscut SS blade. Neither one compares to the quality of cut of the Forest Woodworker II blade. The cuts from that blade leave a very smooth finish. It's as if I've run the piece through the jointer. It is ready for edge glue up.

I agree with shydragon! I have a Forest WW II thin kerf blade that I've been using for about five years and it still give a glue-up ready edge. I was checking the alignment on my 520 this afternoon (getting ready to do some serious work tomorrow on a furniture project) and got NO tearout on a piece of Baltic Birch when cut using the SS sliding table. In fact, the cut was better than on the factory edge of the plywood.

I have other blades I use for rough cuts but when I need perfect results I switch to my Woodworker II. It's the best blade I've ever used. I hear the new Freud and Amana blades are great but I've been so pleased with the WW II that I won't even bother to try those.

To each his own - but I'll stick with Forest blades By the way, I just read in the latest Wood Magazine e-newsletter that Forrest Manufacturing’s Jim Forrest Sr. passed away on November 5 at the age of 80. Jim's father started the company in 1946. His sons now run the company.