Freud LU84R011 Blades Dulling

[cpowell]

I bought two of these during a recent Amazon deal. I had two already and jumped at two more for a great price.

I have noticed that these blades didn't give me a whole lotta cut before they started dulling. No burning or anything just more resistance. I got a fair amount of use out of the older two Freuds between sharpenings. Other than a few 8/4 rips I've only worked with 4/4 red oak on the new blades, not a particularly hard wood.

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed the same thing.

I'm going to send them out for sharpening (4 Freuds and a WWII) and hope to get better results next time around. I do clean my blades periodically between sharpenings.

Chuck

 

[Charles M]

Chuck,

Sorry to hear the blades seem to be dulling prematurely. There were a LOT of those blades sold in the Amazon sale and this is the first problem I have heard but perhaps you should send them to us for warranty evaluation. Dulling is not actually covered so I can't promise anything until they are checked but if there is a defect causing this we can and will replace them.

 

[cpowell]

Chuck,

Sorry to hear the blades seem to be dulling prematurely. There were a LOT of those blades sold in the Amazon sale and this is the first problem I have heard but perhaps you should send them to us for warranty evaluation. Dulling is not actually covered so I can't promise anything until they are checked but if there is a defect causing this we can and will replace them.

Charles, the cut is okay, ie, the edges are fairly clean, etc. I just noticed that the time it took to go from "butter cut" to "push through" feed rate was pretty quick. I have been running them with "half a tooth" above the stock. I ONLY cut milled stock on the TS. Fear of kickback/binding on rough stock has led me to a practice of ripping all rough stock on the BS, followed by jointing/planing, then rip to width and crosscut to length on the TS.

I have been using this same blade model for quite some time and get a decent life between sharpening. I also have a glue line rip that I use for repetitive finish rips which is still quite sharp and has never been sharpened. Admittedly I try to reserve this blade to rip stock for panel glue-ups or ripping long leg stock. It works as advertised.

I was wondering if Freud had changed the material makeup or grinding/sharpening procedure. I realize this blade is in a different price point from the WWII and don't expect the same performance or wear schedule, but I have found that they provide good value and typically last about 2/3 as long as the WWII before I send them out for sharpening. That's why I keep buying them.

I wouldn't want to send them back unless I had a big problem. I don't expect replacement for a functional product. I will see how they perform after the first sharpening.

All told I have a fair sized investment in Freud products. :lol:

Chuck

 

[Charles M]

Chuck,

Did you try cleaning them to see if it made a difference?

 

[cpowell]

Chuck,

Did you try cleaning them to see if it made a difference?

Yep. Simple green in an old frisbee, soak, gentle toothbrush scrub, rinse, blot dry, then let them air dry completely before storage. Works very well.

Before I bought the last 2 Freuds I had 4 combo blades. I would send three off at a time for sharpening. Now I have 6. I will send 5 off at a time for sharpening.

I rotate blades if I notice burning or buildup or performance loss. When I get down to my last blade I clean ALL the blades and run them through another rotation. After the second rotation they go out for sharpening.

I always keep one of the sharpened blades set aside to cover when the others are sent out for sharpening and it becomes the first blade in the new rotation.


Chuck

 

[Charles M]

Chuck,

I checked with the head of the Tech department to be sure that he has not heard of any other issues with the LU84 and was told that nothing has changed in the carbide or the way they are manufactured and that he has received no other complaints. Again, you are welcome to send them to us for evaluation if you feel there is a problem.