About 5 years ago, I gave in and bought my first real quality saw blade. A woodworker ll made by Forrest. Best move I ever made and have been more than pleased with it ever since. I moved here and installed it on my new contractor's saw. I bought it due to space limitations and it is portable for me to move to storage easily. It isn't nearly the quality of my old cast iron table saw, but does ok. As soon as I installed it, there was a noticable vibration. I could find nothing wrong with the new saw, so I used it that way. Last week I removed the blade to return it for sharpening.( I will not allow a local unknown to sharpen it.) After I removed it, I inspected it closely and found two carbide tips missing. That was most likely the source of vibration. The blade still cut smoothly, even if it was a bit dull.

 

Now the questions,  What caused the teeth to come loose and where do they go?

                                    Could a tooth fly off and hit the operator?

The other blades I have used in the past were not as expensive, but I never had a tooth come off, could it be a faulty weld?

 

Ron

Are the two teeth that are missing gone completely or just chipped off?

Did you notice the missing teeth when you installed it on the contractor saw?  I am guessing you didn't.  That could be a clue though.  Forrest is a high quality blade and it would be highly unusual for one tooth to come off much less two.  The carbide is brittle and if it suffered some sort of trauma it could happen.  The fact that it was moved gave it the opportunity to suffer shock to break the teeth.  

 

Where did they go?  If they came off at speed they could certainly injure the saw operator.  If the blade guard was on it would reduce that hazard significantly.

 

If there is any good new it is that Forrest can replace the teeth, sharpen the blade and it will be good as new.

 When I moved, I packed the saw blade in its original shipping package and placed in a towell. That is not saying that it could not have gotten damaged in our move. It vibrated the very first time I turned the saw on, but I had no reason to suspect teeth missing, so I didn't inspect it and suspected the saw instead. It was new, the blade was old and proven. Something I didn't say was that the teeth are completely gone and they are side by side. Another reason for possible trauma.

 When I talked to the guy at Forrest, he told me that they will completely inspect it and give me a call about the cost. He also said that if the cost is too high, they will reccomend a new blade. I estimate it will cost me about $35-$45 to sharpen, repair and ship. That is Ok with me, it is the best blade I have ever used.