Forrest II Thin Kerf 40 tooth ATB
sschefer | Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
After reading the FWW Saw Blade test results I decided to give Forrest another shot. I bought the Forrest II thin kerf 40 tooth ATB from my local Woodcraft store for 109.00. After cleaning the blade up I put it on the saw and ripped a piece of 1/2″ pine. The edge was smooth as silk. Then I cross cut and had similar results. Finally I ripped a Doug Fir 2×6 with excellent feed rate and cut. The blade cuts very smooth and very quiet, (no ringing or burning). The manufacture date on the blade was recent so I have to assume that Forrest has corrected whatever production problems that they might have had in the past.
Just for info, I would normally never rip a dimensional 2×6 with this blade. This was just a test.
Steve
Replies
What type of saw are you running? Is this a 1.5hp contractors saw? I've been looking for a good rip blade for my underpowered Jet contractor saw.
I've got the Jet Contractor with the 1.5hp motor. The key to these and any saw for that matter is a good sharp blade, a link belt and exact alignment. I have yet to find my saw underpowered with respect to its intended use. I've used the rip blade that came with it to rip up to 3" thick Fir on one pass but I wouldn't try to do that with rock hard Maple. The 28 tooth RIP blade that came with the saw is not very good. I replaced it with a CMT 28 tooth RIP and like I said above, as long as I recognize what I'm trying to do, I have no problems.
Steve
Another Testament -- Albeit a stupid one.
I had a friend give me some wood he had laying around and it was in pretty rough shape. I decided to salvage what I could by ripping it down so that the cupping would be only half as bad. On one piece of 6/4 white ash I was squaring up the edge and ran right through a screw that had been broken off. I should have checked it before but I didn't. Anyhow, I didn't even know I had gone through it until after when I was checking the edge quality. I immediately expected to at least see some blade damage so I got out the magnifying glass and checked the blade. There was not so much as even a nic on any of the carbide teeth. I hope I don't do it again as I may not be so lucky but it does say a lot about the quality of the carbide used.Steve Schefer
I own the Craftsman 10" contractors saw and have several blades I use. I too have the forester II and it works quite well. The biggest difference I have made in my saw was less expensive. Most contractor saw have a peak output of 1 1/2 HP. I bought a 2 HP motor and increase the quality of cut and performance 100%. rather then get a woodworking motor which would have run about $300 I looked for a compressor motor that had capacitor start, CW direction and bought it. I wouldn't recommend this if production shop with extended run time, but for the average home owner that cuts a couple boards and shuts down for awhile and cuts again it works breat. I have been ripping 16" wide by 9' long cherry and no slow down and cuts like butter.
I have a Freud thin-kerf rip blade I used just a few times on my old Crapsman - just the thing for an underpowered saw. $25 plus postage & COD fees and it's yours.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Sounds good. I know you have a saw like mine, A JET contractor's. I have a full kerf DeWalt finish ripping blade (40t TCG) that I use kinda all-purpose.
I have been looking at getting a combination/all purpose blade. I demo'd the 50t DeWalt at a show. It was pretty good too.
I have a 50 tooth Timberline that is suppossed to be made by Amana as a middle of the road product. It does very nicely but has lost it's edge now. A good resharpening will probably bring it back to life. Even when it was new it didn't cut as well as the Forrest.Steve - in Northern California
If the doctor says you have Attention Deficit Disorder, do you pay attention to him?
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