Evolution Rage 2 carbide blade sharpened by WD Quinn Saw Co.

[Oscar]

So I had this blade and finally got around to sending it to WD Quinn for sharpening. I wish I had take a "before" shot, but none the less...It is a 14" Rage 2 36-tooth multi-purpose blade.




Nicely laser-engraved with the customer name, with freshly "ground" surfaces on both sounds




Only one damaged tooth, which was repaired with a new tooth, the one that has extra brazing around it





You can see the grinding marks on the follower-tooth that they ground for proper clearance




Only complaint? They use UPS for shipping, and the shipping cost more than the sharpening+tooth repair!





I shipped via USPS so it only cost me ~$10 to ship to them, so overall ~$46 vs buying a new blade for $72+tax on Amazon, yea I'll keep sending it to them. I just have to convince them to send it back with my own pre-paid USPS shipping label!

[CAVEMANN]

That's not bad for a blade like that.

[metalman21]

Very reasonable prices. Have you tried the blade since they sharpened it?
I have about 8 dull 10" X 52T steel blades and some non ferrous triple chip blades that need to be fixed and sharpened.
I have wanted to send them someplace.

[Oscar]

Very reasonable prices. Have you tried the blade since they sharpened it?
I have about 8 dull 10" X 52T steel blades and some non ferrous triple chip blades that need to be fixed and sharpened.
I have wanted to send them someplace.

Not yet but I'll try it out today.

[shortfuse]

Oscar, thanks for posting the info on Quinn. One of the main reasons I have held back on buying an Evolution saw is the high price of replacement blades. The relatively low price for the work Quinn does has me now looking toward getting a saw.

[Oscar]

Yea, they do have different "tiers" that is mainly based on the tooth-count, but for most blades that are not torn to shreds, the cost of repair should be worth it.

W.D. Quinn Price Sheet

[milomilo]

I have a HF blade sharpener that sharpens very well. Used it at least a dozen times. Beats buying new blades or sending them out to be sharpened.

[Oscar]

I have a HF blade sharpener that sharpens very well. Used it at least a dozen times. Beats buying new blades or sending them out to be sharpened.

I have that same sharpener. The consistency provided by the professional sharpening beats what I can do with that manual sharpener. I think it's fine for the occasional touch-up's, but I don't think it beats the quality of the work I received.

[metalman21]

Oscar, thanks for posting the info on Quinn. One of the main reasons I have held back on buying an Evolution saw is the high price of replacement blades. The relatively low price for the work Quinn does has me now looking toward getting a saw.

I understand your reservations. I spent over 3 times what the POS saw cost for blades. The Oshlun blades were OK I guess, IIR cost less than the Evolution blades. I have Diablo that I use for aluminum on another miter saw (Bosch).
If I can get them all sharpened/fixed for about 20-25% of new its a winner.

[TraditionalToolworks]

I understand your reservations. I spent over 3 times what the POS saw cost for blades. The Oshlun blades were OK I guess, IIR cost less than the Evolution blades. I have Diablo that I use for aluminum on another miter saw (Bosch).
If I can get them all sharpened/fixed for about 20-25% of new its a winner.

I've been looking at the EVO and Fein saws. The CT blades are problematic for most people to sharpen and most just don't have carbide sharpening capabilities. I don't think the aluminum blades have carbide teeth on them, you certainly don't need them for it. They do have different blades for steel and stainless, but you can probably use the same mild steel blade for all that material.

The guy over at Jimbo's Garage has a Fein Slugger and used 1 blade (the original) for about a year, it had chipped teeth on it and worn but it was still cutting steel fine.

If I end up getting one of these saws I'm just gonna keep cutting until the blade is all beat up like that guy's at Jimbo's Garage.

[M J D]

I've been looking at the EVO and Fein saws. The CT blades are problematic for most people to sharpen and most just don't have carbide sharpening capabilities. I don't think the aluminum blades have carbide teeth on them, you certainly don't need them for it. They do have different blades for steel and stainless, but you can probably use the same mild steel blade for all that material.

The guy over at Jimbo's Garage has a Fein Slugger and used 1 blade (the original) for about a year, it had chipped teeth on it and worn but it was still cutting steel fine.

If I end up getting one of these saws I'm just gonna keep cutting until the blade is all beat up like that guy's at Jimbo's Garage.

I have the Makita lc1230 and blade life has been excellent with the original Makita blade. I also have the 8" Milwaukee electric circular saw, went thru a few blades on that one. One thing I noticed even as the blades get dull, they don't tend to wander leaving an innaccurate cut. They spark a lot more and get a lot louder when dull.

[Oscar]

Blade works just like new





I noticed that they do a procedure to the cutting teeth themselves, or rather to the geometry on the back of the tooth. I'm sure it's better than how the blade came brand new as it didn't have it before. I won't pretend to know about blade sharpening, but I know I can't do that on my harbor freight blade sharpener, and I'm sure WD Quinn have their procedures figured out after so many years of doing this.




Overall, money well spent.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Oscar,

I have a couple questions. In looking on Amazon I see that this 36 tooth blade does say it cuts through steel, aluminum, wood and plastic, but the blade that ships on the EVO S355CP and S355CPS is a 14" 66 tooth carbide tipped blade, made in Japan.

Is this 36 tooth blade a carbide tipped blade?

Here's the 66 tooth blade, with carbide teeth.

https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Pow...VRG/ref=sr_1_1

Here's the 36 tooth blade, no mention of carbide, but made in Japan.

https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Pow...3E/ref=sr_1_11

Also, out of curiosity, what speed is the saw your using this blade on?

[Oscar]

Well, it has "tips" on it, that don't file, so if they're not carbide I don't know what they are.

I think the Rage 2 saw runs about 1300 RPMs.

Apparently, there's two styles for this blade. Why, I have no idea.

https://www.amazon.com/HTC-Evolution...22&s=hi&sr=1-1

[shortfuse]

Blade works just like new

That's 'cause they engraved your name on it, LOL!

[TraditionalToolworks]

https://www.amazon.com/HTC-Evolution...22&s=hi&sr=1-1

Interesting, that link says it has carbide teeth. Much cheaper than the link I posted above, but with shipping it's almost a wash.

You get almost twice as many teeth on the 14BLADEST I posted a link to. That will most likely provide a smoother cut and possibly last longer.

[Oscar]

That's 'cause they engraved your name on it, LOL!

IF only! lol

Interesting, that link says it has carbide teeth. Much cheaper than the link I posted above, but with shipping it's almost a wash.

You get almost twice as many teeth on the 14BLADEST I posted a link to. That will most likely provide a smoother cut and possibly last longer.

Yea, with this blade I take it very very easy so as to not chip teeth. If I do buy another blade, I want to try the Diablo Cermet blade with 90 teeth; it's rated for both mild and stainless steel, and should cut very smoothly with that many teeth.

[G-ManBart]

Yea, with this blade I take it very very easy so as to not chip teeth. If I do buy another blade, I want to try the Diablo Cermet blade with 90 teeth; it's rated for both mild and stainless steel, and should cut very smoothly with that many teeth.

Not being a wise guy, but they list that blade as being for stuff thinner than 3/32" which seems pretty limiting. Would you even notice how smooth the cut is on something that thin?

I've got the Evolution S380CPS and have been really impressed, but I'd like to get a second blade so when I send one out for sharpening I'm not stuck with just the bandsaw. I think the 15" Evo blade is what I'm going to get, but still researching options.

[Oscar]

Not being a wise guy, but they list that blade as being for stuff thinner than 3/32" which seems pretty limiting.

I thought so too.....*Pst*Hint: take a look at the actual blade*

[TraditionalToolworks]

I've got the Evolution S380CPS and have been really impressed, but I'd like to get a second blade so when I send one out for sharpening I'm not stuck with just the bandsaw. I think the 15" Evo blade is what I'm going to get, but still researching options.

The one thing good about those EVO blades is they are made in Japan. I wasn't clear where the Fein Slugger blade was made.

The other thing is the 14" blade is quite a bit cheaper than the 15" blade, which is most likely why they supply the 14" with the saw to begin with.

You have the saw with the cast base on it, right? Seems those are out of stock now and the S380CPSL (presumably the light version) which has the stamped base in in stock.

[In Utopia]

I have a HF blade sharpener that sharpens very well. Used it at least a dozen times. Beats buying new blades or sending them out to be sharpened.

Got that same one, does a great job on carbide blades I use on wood, don't have any blades that are for steel.

[flushcut]

Well, it has "tips" on it, that don't file, so if they're not carbide I don't know what they are.

I think the Rage 2 saw runs about 1300 RPMs.

Apparently, there's two styles for this blade. Why, I have no idea.

https://www.amazon.com/HTC-Evolution...22&s=hi&sr=1-1

The blade you have linked is a raker type blade, like a chainsaw, to keep you from taking too deep of a bite while cutting softer material i.e. wood, plastic.

[G-ManBart]

I thought so too.....*Pst*Hint: take a look at the actual blade*

Interesting....that doesn't seem to be the smartest way to market them!

[G-ManBart]

The one thing good about those EVO blades is they are made in Japan. I wasn't clear where the Fein Slugger blade was made.

The other thing is the 14" blade is quite a bit cheaper than the 15" blade, which is most likely why they supply the 14" with the saw to begin with.

You have the saw with the cast base on it, right? Seems those are out of stock now and the S380CPSL (presumably the light version) which has the stamped base in in stock.

Yeah, I think I'm going to order the 15" blade from Evolution, and it's nice they're marked as made in Japan.

Yes, mine has the cast base on it. So far I'm impressed. I've cut round solid up to 1.25", square solid up to 1" and 6" wide 1/2" thick flat stock with no issues. I wish I had started a chart to see how many cuts I get before it needs to be sharpened. I might try to do that with the next blade. I will say that after a while the new blade seemed to give slightly slower cuts that put a bit more heat into the work, but gave a smoother finish. Regardless, it's saved me a lot of time compared with the bandsaw.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Regardless, it's saved me a lot of time compared with the bandsaw.

The whole reason I've been considering getting one of these saws is to have reliable miters that come off the saw that I can take to the welding table.

Do you get repeatable, clean miters like that?

I was looking at the S380CPS, but Evolution has it marked out of stock with no projected ETA, and I sent them a question from their site on Amazon and haven't got a reply back from them in close to 2 weeks now.

The Fein Slugger is also a cast base, albeit only a 14" saw. About the same price as the S380CPS, made in Taiwan rather than China.