Shopsmith Forums

I recently sent off three blades to be sharpened. I sent them to Forrest. I am pleased with the results as far as the quality of sharpening is concerned. They had my blades for nearly a month before they put the sharpened blades back in shipping channels.

I sent a thin kerf Shopsmith carbide combination, a standard kerf Shopsmith carbide combination and a thin kerf Systematic carbide combination. All three give a good, clean cut that needs very little if any conditioning before glue up. Now we'll see how many board feet I can turn to sawdust before I need blades sharpened again.

I will again send blades to Forrest but I will request priority shipping and I will not take a chance on timing. I had a lot of work in the que and it was beginning to look like I might have to buy a new blade to keep working. I dodged that bullet but it was close.

Total cost including feed for the pack horses and replacement of two teeth (not the horse's) was $95.00.

I had "test cuts" made on all three blades. That cost $7.50 total. Don't know for sure what that gained me????

Hi Dusty,

Please give us more information on these test cuts: Was this your idea? Did you get info on the cuts that were made? Were these cuts made before or after they sharpened them? Any other info would be appreciated.

When you send a blade to Forrest, they ask if you want them to do a test cut. If you do, they perform the test and charge you $2.50. The test cut indicates whether the blade is bent or has bent teeth.

Before I sent the blades off for sharpening, I did my own test cuts; sort of before and afters. All I learned was that the blades really did need sharpening and that they came back really sharpened. The before were not smooth (almost rough) and two of them showed signs or overheating. The after cuts are all clean and smooth. Good enough in my opinion for glue joints.

http://www.forrestblades.com/sharpprice.htm

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