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What has not been mentioned in this thread yet is the quality of the body of the blade. It has to be flat and warp free to run true so all teeth are cutting and not just one side or other of certain teeth. Not only does it have to start flat and true but it must remain true as it warms up from the heat introduced by the cutting. A lot of design, quality control, and sometimes hand work from an actual person goes into a true running blade.
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As others have pointed out, the quality of the plate (flatness, stiffness, balance), the thickness of the carbide to allow more sharpenings, as well as the type of carbide and the way it's brazed on all matter.
Not all sharpening is alike: replacement of damaged teeth, how fine a grit is used to grind the carbide, precision setup to give you the grind you want, and how much is taken off all matter. The less is ground off, the more sharpenings a blade can get.
You are correct that the sharpening service makes a lot of difference to the ultimate outcome. But a substandard blade can't be made into a top quality one by sharpening. I have heard of people who sent cheaper blades to Forrest, and got back blades whose teeth looked like the WWII, but did not cut as well. But watch out for the converse: a poorly sharpened quality blade will cut poorly.
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(03-05-2018, 04:55 PM)KyleD Wrote: What has not been mentioned in this thread yet is the quality of the body of the blade. It has to be flat and warp free to run true so all teeth are cutting and not just one side or other of certain teeth. Not only does it have to start flat and true but it must remain true as it warms up from the heat introduced by the cutting. A lot of design, quality control, and sometimes hand work from an actual person goes into a true running blade.
New question then:
What is more important? The quality of the blade to begin with, or the quality of the sharpening?
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(03-05-2018, 05:26 PM)Strokes77 Wrote: New question then:
What is more important? The quality of the blade to begin with, or the quality of the sharpening?
The quality of the blade to begin with. The expression that comes to mind is "you can't polish a turd."
I have to admit, my saw blades are 10-20 year old Freud and it's been a decade since any of them have visited a sharpener. I have not woodworked full time and some have sat in storage. I think if you have a sub $40 saw blade is it worth paying $15 or more to sharpen?
I don't think the price of sharpening varies greatly compared to the price of good vs cheap blades. My plan is when I have a break in projects, send off half my blades to Dynamic Sharpening for repair and sharpening. During sharpening they will evaluate, flatten the body, replace missing carbides and sharpen the blades. When I get my first batch back i will send out the rest. I estimate I will spend over $200 to sharpen about a half dozen blades plus a router bit or two and dado stack. In the end I will know the condition and lifespan of the blades and will know they are as sharp as they can be. When I notice the blades are no longer as sharp as they were I will probably order a good general purpose blade to put on the saw so I can send the blades back to be sharpened again.
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(03-05-2018, 05:26 PM)Strokes77 Wrote: New question then:
What is more important? The quality of the blade to begin with, or the quality of the sharpening?
The quality of the saw is also in the picture. If you have a blade sharpened perfectly but is dull after one cut is it any better ? All go hand in hand. Putting a $125 blade on a old beat up misaligned $50 saw is not going to give good results either. Roly
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(03-05-2018, 05:46 PM)photobug Wrote: The expression that comes to mind is "you can't polish a turd."
Ah, but that's exactly what the Mythbusters did on one show.
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(03-05-2018, 06:07 PM)joespehar Wrote: Ah, but that's exactly what the Mythbusters did on one show.
I had never heard that expression till my 30s and I moved to the South. I missed that episode, have to look it up.
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The quality of the carbide teeth also is a factor. Freud, Forrest, and Ridge Carbide all use very high quality carbide in their teeth. It can be sharpened to a keener edge that a generic saw blade. It should be noted that Freud Fusion blades generally can't be sharpened by most sharpening services, since the geometry is something their machinery can't accommodate.
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I have a Delta blade I only use for rough cutting. It runs true until something causes it to do a sudden and quick harmonic vibration, so slight the edges of the cut have a 1/32" to 1/16" gap in places. You can actually see it waver for a split second if you watch close enough. The Freud never does that.
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I once sent a blade to a low end sharpening shop that needed a few new carbides replaced. When I got the blade back it looked like they glued them on with bubble gum. I do not remember how that blade preformed or even if I ever used it again. So in my mind sharpening services do make a difference in there quality of work.
