Let me get this out on the table from the start - I'm a little jaded about the "latest and greatest" woodworking gear.
I think people try to overcomplicate things - like trying to invent the "next best" doweling jig, or the coming up with a "new" finish that is basically the same as other finishes on the market. OK, maybe they added a teaspoon more of beeswax or something, and called it something different...
So when my buddy Andrew Moore of Reclaimed Secrets told me about a new saw blade that he'd discovered, I didn't think that much of it.
I'm a pretty loyal user of the Forrest Woodworker II blade. I probably have a half dozen of them at my shop. Three are in the tablesaws at any given time, and three are sharpened and ready to be installed. It's a good, albeit expensive setup.
The part that was interesting about Andrew's discovery is that this blade company is local - located right in Henderson, just a short hop across town from my shop. The Oshlun crew were generous with Andrew, giving him some blades to test, and he shared one with me.
So I tested their blade on our Festool Track saw.
We cut so many slabs with that saw, the poor thing was starting to complain, and that blade took a beating. But... the cut quality was impressive, to say the least, and it held its edge for miles of cutting. Well, maybe not miles, but it was impressive.
Next stop? Our Safety Speed Cut panel saw, which gets a workout almost every day.
Any given afternoon might find someone in need of a door trimmed, or some sheets of paneling broken down. I've even been cutting FRPs for a local surveyor, who places giant "X" markers out in rural Nevada. It's messy to cut FRP, and I have a Oshlun blade dedicated just for his work.
But the real eye-opening experience was loading one of their blades in my tablesaw and cutting with it. See, classes were starting soon, and I needed to cut miles of wood for their first project - the cutting board stock.
When I say I'm cutting miles of wood... well, I mean it.
. \
And you know what?
That new Oshlun blade performed better than some the high quality blades I've always used.
Read more about the blade here.
It's just my opinion, but I think it performed better than the Forrest blades I've used. Better than the Freud blades, and better than even one of my favorites - blades made by HO Schumacher & Sohn.Now... if I can only get the guys from Oshlun out to my shop to give a little presentation on their blades for one of my Sin City Woodworkers meetings... that would be great!
So I tested their blade on our Festool Track saw.
We cut so many slabs with that saw, the poor thing was starting to complain, and that blade took a beating. But... the cut quality was impressive, to say the least, and it held its edge for miles of cutting. Well, maybe not miles, but it was impressive.
Next stop? Our Safety Speed Cut panel saw, which gets a workout almost every day.
Any given afternoon might find someone in need of a door trimmed, or some sheets of paneling broken down. I've even been cutting FRPs for a local surveyor, who places giant "X" markers out in rural Nevada. It's messy to cut FRP, and I have a Oshlun blade dedicated just for his work.
But the real eye-opening experience was loading one of their blades in my tablesaw and cutting with it. See, classes were starting soon, and I needed to cut miles of wood for their first project - the cutting board stock.
When I say I'm cutting miles of wood... well, I mean it.
. \And you know what?
That new Oshlun blade performed better than some the high quality blades I've always used.
Read more about the blade here.
It's just my opinion, but I think it performed better than the Forrest blades I've used. Better than the Freud blades, and better than even one of my favorites - blades made by HO Schumacher & Sohn.Now... if I can only get the guys from Oshlun out to my shop to give a little presentation on their blades for one of my Sin City Woodworkers meetings... that would be great!
Thank you for that great review. I'm still using the cheap Freud diablo blades, with intent to upgrade to the woodworker 2 with my next blade purchase. I had seen the Oshlin brand. But never gave it a second thought. And had no idea it was a local product. I will definitely give it a look now. It would be great to see a Sin City Woodworkers demo.
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