It doesn't sound to me like your problem has anything to do with the
fact that the blades are carbon vs. silicon steel. They are just
poorly welded. I got some no-name carbon steel blades locally that
were welded on-site. The weld looked terrible and wasn't very well
aligned. Even those welds held up just fine.

After trying Timberwolf, I've had better luck with Lenox blades. They
are much less expensive than Timberwolf and seem to stay sharp just as
long. I think this "thin kerf, low tension silicon steel" label is
just marketing. The kerf doesn't seem any smaller than any other
blade I've used. The tension seems to be about the same as any other
blade. I have no idea why they think silicon helps. There's not some
kind of magic steel that the Swedes discovered that makes Timberwolf
blades a lot better than everybody else. What Timberwolf has done is
made ordering blades easy. They also provide a lot of information on
the web about using those blades.

Here's a price comparison for Timberwolf (from suffolkmachinery.com)
versus Lenox (from carbide.com):
Timberwolf 105" 1/2" 3tpi - $17.42
Lenox 105" 1/2" 3tpi - $10.72
It's amazing how much hype costs. A Timberwolf blade will definitely
not last 63% longer than a Lenox blade. In fact, in my experience,
the Timberwolf blades dull pretty quickly. In terms of the quality of
the cut, they seem to be the same.

You can get Lenox blades from carbide.com or Iturra Design. Be warned
that the carbide.com site is a little buggy, but I got my shipment
very quickly.

Mark

Disclaimer: I'm not associated with any of these companies, but I am
tired of everybody describing Timberwolf blades as a huge gift to
Humanity.



Greg G. wrote in message . ..
Bridger said:

go up the chain of command at highland hardware a few notches. explain
the problem and the amount of time and aggravation it has cost you.
I'd bet they will thank you for bringing it to their attention and
make it right.
Bridger

Actually, I talked to the owner while I was there the first time. For
those who are unaware, H.H is located in Atlanta in an old wooden
framed building, probably built in the 30s. Rooms lead off into other
rooms as the building was added to over the years. The upstairs area
has an open are that overlooks the lower floor - quite a quaint place.
It is in the 'artsy' part of old Highland Park - and a real PITA to
get in and out of when the strip is busy. People park illegally in
their lot, due to the scarcity of parking in that area, and sometimes
you can't find a space - but the store will have 3 customers inside.

Anyway, while I was attempting to talk to the owner, a customer butted
in repeatedly, advising me to go to KeenEdge to buy my blades and
other trivia. Personally, I would have tossed him out. g But the
end result was that I was unable to communicate the problem - this was
after the FIRST blade - I thought I got a bum blade, and didn't know
it was going to become a repeat problem. I'm sure I will communicate
further with them in the future to resolve this problem.

But I'm not sure that the carbon steel blades are worth the effort,
after reading up on Suffolk's blades. Still waiting on more input
from the peanut gallery...


Greg G.