I think that the Forrest Woodworker II is the best saw blade I have ever used. When it dulled, I sent it back to Forrest for sharpening, I didn't want a local service to ruin it. 

1.  It came back and I was charged for sharpening, top grinding and repairing 4 teeth. The cost was $60. 

2. When I tried sawing with it, the cuts were extremely rough. When they repaired the teeth, they left blobs of solder on the blade.

3. I sent 3 emails over a period of 10 days and did not get a response.

    One of those emails was addressed to one of the managers.

4. I called and got a guy who sounded very much like he wanted to       blame me for his problems. He said that they were short handed, it was the economy, etc. I told him I wanted my blade replaced. He insisted that I sent it back, prepaid, so that they could fix the problem.So I sent it back.

5. I got the blade back and another bill for $30 for sharpening.  I tried the blade out and it did cut better, but not like it should. The cuts were still rougher than I expected. I could see where they had ground off the solder.

6. I called again, same guy, Sorry again and listed several possible problems again. He said it was my fault because I didn't put a note on the saw blade telling them the problem, even after all the calls and emails He said to send it back again and they will see if it has a balance problem. He would have my $30 refunded immediately.

7. I waited a week and still no refund. I called again, this time he said he was soooo sorry. That he would take care of it. I waited another couple of days and it was refunded.

8. I did NOT send the blade back. A proper inspection of the blade would have shown a balance problem and certainly would have shown the solder blobs when I sent it in to begin with.

9. The blade is cutting better with use, but still not up to the performance of a WWII.

 

Never again.

Thanks for posting. I invite anyone with simular problems to respond. I personally don't use Forrest Blades but it is very nice to have actuall customer service reports. Thanks for posting your review. Nobody can expect 100% customer service everytime but one would think the second time around things would be corrected.

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Wayne [bR] God Bless our Troops and Protect them.

The founder, Jim Forrest is dead. 

Had he still been alive, I can assure you this would have never happened.

I had one of my three Woodworker II blades sharpened when Jim was still there and it came back quickly and cut very well.  And at a chrage much less than you state.

 

Try and find the phone number and email address of the BBB in the Forrest area and write them an objective email stating your concerns and copy Forrest.  They obviously have management that doesn't care like Jim did.

Larry

I always found that a re-sharpened blade is never as good as a new one. I never found a person or company that was able to re-sharpen a blade properly and especially replacing carbide tips on the blade. The "set angle" of a replacement tip has to be so perfect that the blade will rarely ever be balanced properly again. Not to mention replacing tips on a blade is dangerous since they can separate from the blade causing a very serious situation. My best advice would be to "touch up" the blade tips using a fine "oiled" file yourself to prolong the life and then buy a replacement blade when it no longer gives the cut you want. Keep the old blade for rough cuts.

Roger 

That is also what the guy at Forrest told me. I got so much BS from him that I didn't believe him. I think you have some good advise there. My only other sharpening was done on my Freud blades by a local guy, before I came here. He seemed to be able to get them to cut as good as new, but I wasn't looking that close then. I guess when you pay more than $100 for a blade, you expect more when it is sharpened.

 Thanks for the advise.

Did you really need 4 new new teeth or did they stick you with that also?  I have a WWII that is about due for sharpening.  I clean it regular and have never noticed a problem with the teeth.  It seems to me that you would notice a problem with A tooth much less 4.

  Yes, I did have a problem, the blade was causing a vibratrion. After examining the whole blade I saw 2 teeth that were damaged. I saw no other problems with any of the other teeth. Keep in mind that the blade was still sawing great. They said that a total of 4 teeth had to be replaced/repaired. I took their word for it, They are the experts???. The guy said that I had most likely hit a nail to cause the damage.

  I had never seen any complaints on them on the web or on any forum. My total cost was $60, which included the 4 teeth.