Forrest Blades, are they best?

by Bill Tindall

At IWF I had the opportunity to talk blades with many of the saw blade manufacturers, as well as sharpeners. Forrest blades make smooth cuts but there is a price to pay for this attribute. They gum up and get dull quick, and they are prone to burn, and they cost 2X what a similar blade would cost. Why will be discussed below.

It seems that some woodworkers demand a combination blade that makes smooth cuts, and that this is the factor judged most important in reviews of blades. The reviews never investigate long term performance, and as a result many people believe that Forrest blades are best based on a limited test. Personally, in most cases I don't care if the blade leaves some tooth marks. I joint everything I rip, and cross cuts rarely show. I have a cut-off blade for the rare occasion where a glass smooth cross cut or miter is required. Most of the time I just want an economical blade that cuts with little resistance, requires little maintenance, and stays sharp so that splintering out the back of cross cuts is minimum. (The most apparent sign of a dull blade is splintering at the blade exit point in a cross cut.) Most every combination blade on the market in the $40-$50 range meets these requirement better than the Forrest blade. So, Forrest blades are not best for me.

A knowledgeable saw person showed me the fundamental difference between Forrest and the typical blade. The Forrest blade has almost no side clearance while a typical blade has about 0.010". This feature makes the Forrest blade cut smoother, build up gum faster, get dull quicker, and be prone to burning. Forrest recommends cutting with the saw raised high above the board so that the minimum number of teeth are in the board at any one time. This situation reduces tooth drag and the resulting pitch build up and dulling, but I find this a hazardous way to work. I saw with the teeth just sticking above the work because this is safer for the way I use a table saw. Using a typical blade with adequate side clearance I never get burning or pitch build up and blades stay sharp for many hours of use. I also get tooth marks. A major company sharpening carbide cutting tools stated that any competent saw company could adequately sharpen a Forrest blade.

Several companies such as Amana with their Prestige are now offering lower side clearance blades to compete with the smoothness of the Forrest. I don't know if they have the Forrest disadvantages, but they do have a 2X price advantage. All that Forrest advertising gets rolled into the price of their blades.

If smoothness of cut is your most important factor, you will find the Forrest or perhaps other low side clearance blades "best". Otherwise, buy any combination blade in the range of $50-60 based on convenience and what country's economy you want to support. If they didn't work the company would not be in business. I've tried many and I don't see much difference among them unless you get really cheap ones. These tend not to be sharpened well or have less robust carbide that reduces the number of re-sharpenings.

I never did get a clear answer from the blade manufacturers as to what the performance difference was between the alternate bevel and 4 cutters with raker configurations. Some said that the 4 + 1 combination was their lower quality blade (Simmons), while others said it was the preferred blade (Amana) because it ripped better. I have used both and don't detect a difference.

Try this novel approach. Use a 7 1/2 or 8" combination blade. Cost about $16-20. The narrow kerf produces little saw dust, little cutting resistance, very little noise and they are very safe because they don't catch and throw things like a big aggressive 10" combination blade. I keep one on the saw for most uses. I get funny looks until skeptics try it, but some of them have become converts. These small blades do seem to get dull quicker than a typical large combination blade, but I would highly recommend this approach to a beginning woodworker because of the safety factor. You will still need a full 10" blade for some work.