Forrest Sharpening

[ear3]

I've been using Forrest blades for years now in my table saw, and two years ago got the 90T chopmaster blade for the Kapex. Was very happy with it and the glass smooth cut it left. Well, just got it back from Forrest after sending it in for its first sharpening, along with a table saw blade. Table saw blade is back to new, but the Kapex blade is now basically unusable -- visible saw marks and even a slight ledge that is perceptible to the touch. I could still cut 2x4s with it, but certainly nothing intended for joinery.  Tested other Kapex blades just to be sure and they are just fine, so it's not the machine. 

In addition to sharpening they executed an axial face sheer, not by my request but as per usual according to whatever diagnostics they performed.

I have a call into them to try to get some clarification (they have been a bit hard to contact recently). But I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with them.  I've never had a problem like this with them either with their blades or their sharpening service.

The blade was fine when I sent it, just a bit dull. Never had a kickback incident or anything close that would have led to this sort of performance.

 

[RJNeal]

I had Forrest sharpen my Kapex blade about 11 years ago.
It came back out of round ,like they didn’t have the correct arbor.
Oh well, I send all my blades to LA Grinding now.

 

[Cheese]

This may or may not be another data point...about 6-7 years ago I contacted Forrest (because of using their blades exclusively on my table saw and radial arm saw) and they refused to sharpen the blade for my Kapex. I assumed they were unable to replicate some of the geometries needed with the Leitz blades. They never answered my "why not" question but just simply said no.

Over the years, my take on sharpening NEWER designed saw blades has been that the newer saw blades feature more sophisticated cutting geometries than the "old school" saw blade sharpeners are able to employ.

Sharpening some older Freud blade profiles seems to be a no-brainer while sharpening the newer profiles can be problematic.

 

[Bill Zickel]

My name is Bill Zickel. I am President of the W.D. Quinn Saw Co. A few years ago Festool Germany contacted us regarding setting up a saw blade sharpening program for USA customers. We are not here to take away from Festool users that have a local or favorite saw company that sharpens their saw blades now. We are here for the Festool customer that needs a good sharpening shop that is not convenient for them.

I don't want to bash Forrest, they are a good company and they make a great saw blade. Quinn Saw Co has all the modern CNC equipment to handle the Festool line of saw blades. Our turn around time is 48 hours on all Festool orders that come to our shop.

We are easy to deal with and you can call the shop any time and discus anything that has to do with your Festool saw blades.

We maintain a large inventory of new Festool saw blades as well.

Please give us a try, you will be very happy with our service.

Bill

www.festoolsharpen.com

 

[tjbnwi]

I have been using Quinn for years. I decided to try a local about 18 months ago. Every blade had to go back to Quinn to be corrected. I found Quinn after trying Leitz, their process is to rigid for me, locals have all sucked servicing Festool blades.

Over the years, Quinn has done thousands of blade services for me.

Tom

 

[ear3]

I figured since they made a Kapex blade, they would presumably not have any issues sharpening it, but perhaps not.  Thanks for the introduction [member=79880]Bill Zickel[/member] and the testimonial [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] I will give you guys a try.

 

[tjbnwi]

I figured since they made a Kapex blade, they would presumably not have any issues sharpening it, but perhaps not.  Thanks for the introduction [member=79880]Bill Zickel[/member] and the testimonial [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] I will give you guys a try.

If I’m reading your initial post correctly it is a Forest Kapex blade that came back in poor condition? If so I’m very suprised Forest could not service their own blade correctly.  I have read here and elsewhere very few companies cans service the Leitz blades properly and Forest is not one that gets them right.

6 of my table saw blades are Leitz, Quinn does a greater job on them.

I send my blades directly to Quinn, I do not use Festtools sharpening service.

Tom

 

[Cheese]

If I’m reading your initial post correctly it is a Forest Kapex blade that came back in poor condition? If so I’m very suprised Forest could not service their own blade correctly.  I have read here and elsewhere very few companies cans service the Leitz blades properly and Forest is not one that gets them right.

Ya, that's exactly my read on the situation. I asked Forrest, as a commercial sharpening service, to sharpen a Leitz/Kapex blade before Forrest even offered their own saw blade alternative, and they declined. That seemed to imply to me that there were some limitations involved with their sharpening equipment. That was fine at the time...I'd rather have someone tell me upfront that their capabilities were limited in certain areas.

However, if they are unable to properly resharpen the same saw blade they originally produced...that points to larger issues.

 

[ear3]

[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] Yeah, it's their Chopmaster blade specifically designed for the Kapex (260mm and 30mm bore), which they only started producing only a few years ago I believe.  I bought mine before the inflation spike, so seeing the price now makes me cry even harder.

When you say that you go to Quinn directly, what does that mean (as opposed to the festoolsharpen portal linked above)?

I figured since they made a Kapex blade, they would presumably not have any issues sharpening it, but perhaps not.  Thanks for the introduction [member=79880]Bill Zickel[/member] and the testimonial [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] I will give you guys a try.

If I’m reading your initial post correctly it is a Forest Kapex blade that came back in poor condition? If so I’m very suprised Forest could not service their own blade correctly.  I have read here and elsewhere very few companies cans service the Leitz blades properly and Forest is not one that gets them right.

6 of my table saw blades are Leitz, Quinn does a greater job on them.

I send my blades directly to Quinn, I do not use Festtools sharpening service.

Tom

 

[tjbnwi]

[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] Yeah, it's their Chopmaster blade specifically designed for the Kapex (260mm and 30mm bore), which they only started producing only a few years ago I believe.  I bought mine before the inflation spike, so seeing the price now makes me cry even harder.

When you say that you go to Quinn directly, what does that mean (as opposed to the festoolsharpen portal linked above)?

I figured since they made a Kapex blade, they would presumably not have any issues sharpening it, but perhaps not.  Thanks for the introduction [member=79880]Bill Zickel[/member] and the testimonial [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] I will give you guys a try.

If I’m reading your initial post correctly it is a Forest Kapex blade that came back in poor condition? If so I’m very suprised Forest could not service their own blade correctly.  I have read here and elsewhere very few companies cans service the Leitz blades properly and Forest is not one that gets them right.

6 of my table saw blades are Leitz, Quinn does a greater job on them.

I send my blades directly to Quinn, I do not use Festtools sharpening service.

Tom

As I mentioned previously I've been sending blades to Quinn for years. I use their on-line form and ship the blades directly to Quinn.
https://quinnsaw.com

If you have less than 6 blades to send, use the Festool Sharpening service, it works out to be a little less expensive by the time you figure shipping. 6 blades or more send them directly.

Tom

 

[xedos]

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Re: Forrest Sharpening
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2024, 08:04 AM »

    Quote

[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] Yeah, it's their Chopmaster blade specifically designed for the Kapex (260mm and 30mm bore), which they only started producing only a few years ago I believe.  I bought mine before the inflation spike, so seeing the price now makes me cry even harder.

When you say that you go to Quinn directly, what does that mean (as opposed to the festoolsharpen portal linked above)?

inquiring minds want to know what Forrest has done for you since they ruined your $300+ blade ? ? ?