Customer Reviews

Forrest WW10407100 Woodworker II 10-Inch 40-tooth ATB .100 Kerf Saw Blade with 5/8-Inch Arbor

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been woodworking for ten years, and for all ten of those years I have been hearing that Forrest blades are the best. Despite this, I found it hard to spend this much on a saw blade when I could get very good performance from a Freud blade costing one third to one half as much. Armed with an Amazon gift certificate (a birthday present) I finally convinced myself to buy one of these blades.

This Forrest blade is like no other I have ever used. It is the Cadillac of blades for sure, and the differences between Forrest and Freud are like night and day.

First of all, I was impressed with the care that Forrest took in packaging this blade for shipment. The box is very sturdy and reusable in case you want to ship the blade back to Forrest for sharpening. The teeth were protected by an easily removable coating that kept them razor sharp.

After installing it on my DeWalt 746 saw (I also use a DeWalt stabilizing disc) and after recalibrating my fence scale and adjusting the splitter to accommodate the thinner blade, it was time to start cutting.

The performance of this blade is phenomenal! It is noticably quieter before you start cutting, and a lot quieter while you are cutting. I performed test cuts in 3/4 plywood, 4/4 pine, 4/4 white oak, and 8/4 white oak. I was pleased with all of these cuts. The thin kerf design allowed the wood to glide through the blade with little effort for me or the saw. The rip cuts did give a smoother edge than any blade I have ever used, but there were some VERY minor saw marks left. They were so small that I feel nit-picky in mentioning them, but I want give the facts. Where I was most impressed with this blade was in the quality of the cross cuts. After crosscutting the 4/4 and 8/4 white oak I was very impressed with the shiny smoothness of the endgrain and the total lack of splintering. Speaking of splintering, there was none worth mentioning, even in the plywood.

Though it still makes me uneasy to think of spending this much on a saw blade - call it Midwestern frugality - I have to admit that this blade is everything that the hype says it is. I will no doubt be happy with this blade for many years. If money is not an object, then by all means buy this blade. If you have a tight budget, put this on your mental wish list like I did and get one eventually...you won't regret it!

An excellent blade. I did not believe the claims of "gluable" and "joiner" quality cuts, but it's true. I think it's a combination of the thin curf and the blade quality, but it feels like I've added another horse or two to my saw motor. I also bought the stabilizer right off. The blade is obviously more expensive, but the quality of the cut is so good it's hard to even compare the WWII with standard blades.

By the way, I use a Uniguard blade guard with the separate splitter. I was a little concerned at first about whether the kerf of the 3/32 blade would be wide enough for the splitter, but it is. I did have to adjust the position of the splitter, and place the stabilizer on the inside of the blade to get the two to line up. But it works very well.

I wish I could afford one for my miter saw!

These blades are astounding! Slap one on your saw and make cuts like you only dreamed of - smooth, straight and with very little feed pressure. They cose a little more, but they're worth every penny and more. My old blades are now relegated to keeping my stacks of sandpaper flat.

This blade rips 3" stock just as effortlessly as it crosscuts 1/2" stock. It is fairly quiet and does leave silky smooth crosscuts. Cuts in formica or delicate veneered plywood are perfectly splinter free. No tendency to kickback. Rip cuts, however, are not always smooth and do often require jointing; not that I know of a better blade, but for me this is not the miracle blade it is stated to be. I really don't think the thin kerf is worth all the hassle and would definately buy the 1/8" next time as the stabilizers are pricey and interfere with the throat insert (especially a zero clearance). I had to shift my table to allow even the standard insert to fit, then I routed out the bottom of the zero clearance insert for clearance at max depth and now I curse whenever attempting to utilize the kerf for a rabbet or such.

Spendy, but nice...
This is a very good saw blade. I've never had a saw blade that cuts rips of 3/4 plywood so thin you can see light through the pores of the end grain. This one does it without shattering the cut off.
Overall the blade runs fairly quietly and cuts cleanly. I do get some light tooth marks in hardwoods but they clean up easily.
Take the time to read the information sheet that comes with the blade. There is a good discussion about how to true up your saw to take full advantage of the blade. Well worth the time to do it right...

The WWII 40T TK was a gift and is a very clean cutting versatile blade that'll do justice to just about any cutting task you'll encounter with a table saw. On most cuts it's difficult to detect saw marks if the saw is aligned properly. I literally have to hold the board up to bright light and view it from just the right angle to even notice a trace of saw marks. It's much easier to detect marks from my Freud LU84R011, DeWalt DW7646, Leitz 40T general purpose, Leitz 50T combo, CMT 40 tooth, and Oldham 60T finishing blade.

The teeth are large, sharp and stay sharp a long time. It's available in both full or thin kerfs, and is made in the USA. Highly recommended.

I've been using the Woodworker II (3/32) blade in my tablesaw for four years now and it's absolutely the best. It's quiet, stays sharp and makes very smooth cuts. I used to use a number different blades for rips/crosscuts/plywood, etc. Now, I use the WWII for everything. If you think about it, the high initial cost is more than offset by not needing other blades.

I cut a lot of veneered plywood for cabinet carcases. Most blades become dull very quickly in plystock but the WWII stays sharp longer than any other blade I've ever used. The cuts are smooth although for the absolute minimum splintering when crosscutting oak laminates, you should still make a light surface cut. Feed rates are good with minimal effort and there is no tendency to burn.

Spend a few extra bucks and get the blade stiffeners; the already excellent cuts improve just a bit more. However, keep in mind, if you use a shooting board, you'll lose some blade exposure as the stiffener raises above the table surface and contacts the board.

This blade was very expensive, but based upon other reviews I decided to take a chance. This was the single best modification I have made to any of my tools. The cuts are perfect, quiet, and my table saw feels like I upgraded to a higher output motor.

Do not read test reports. Do not shop around. Buy this blade and be done with it. It is the best one there is......period. The thin kerf is like cutting with an x-acto knife. Be sure to get the 5" dia. stiffener that Forrest sells for these blades.

What a blade. It does smooth cross-cuts, competent rips, and shows very little tear-out. I still sometimes use a different blade for ripping -- especially with thicker boards -- but the WW2 is on my saw for 90% of my cuts.

The thing I like best about this blade is the way it worked on my old saw. I used to have an ancient Craftsman direct-drive saw (where the blade attaches to the motor directly, not to an arbor). This kind of saw seems to be subject to more vibration and run-out than cabinet and contractor's saws with an arbor. With this blade and the matching stiffener I even got good results on the old saw. It does even nicer cuts on my new Jet contractor's saw.

Recommended.