Jim Forrest, president of Forrest Manufacturing Company, Inc., makers of premium saw blades for the woodworking industry, died Nov. 5 in Pompton Plains, N.J. He was 80.

Founded by his father in 1946, the company began life as a sharpening service for the newly developed carbide tools used by industries such as the Curtis Wright aircraft engine company. Joining the family company in the late 1960s, Jim Forrest was convinced that he could build better-cutting saw blades. Among his early achievements were the No-Melt blade for cutting plastics without the friction melting the material, and the Dado King dado set with its reduced splintering on cross-grain cuts. Both blades are still produced by the company.

Over the years, Fine Woodworking and other magazines have given accolades to a number of Forrest’s products for their exemplary performance; made even more remarkable by the fact their inventor was not an engineer or woodworker.  He received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Milwaukee Bible College in Wisconsin; served as an assistant chaplain in the U.S. Army occupying Italy from 1950-1952, and later was a pastor at a church in Warren, Michigan. His son Jay described him as a life-long passionate reader, memorizing many passages from the bible.

He leaves a daughter and three sons, two of whom, Jim and Jay are the third generation working for the family company.