This does not seem normal to me, but then again I stopped buying Freud products many years ago. IMHO you are getting a refurbished product or the manufacturer takes no pride in what his product looks like brand new. If they don't care what it looks like new, I would have concerns about what amount of care that went into the manufacturing process.
Igor,
Forrest now will build a blade to your liking,, IIRC they do and or will grind a blade to suite your needs. You have to contact them directly vs. going through a distributor.
You might want to take a look here
The "dried glue" on your blade is actually an epoxy resin that Freud places within the vibration dampening laser cut slots to prevent material from lodging within it.
I suspect the "paint run" within the metal is the tension ring on the blade. Every Freud Industrial blade is run through a high pressure roller to straighten the blade blank within a couple thousands of an inch. There is a noticeable "ring" at about the 8" diameter mark on a 10" blade.
The printing is the last thing to go on the blade, and thus the first to wear off. The fact that it is not worn off in a radial patter would suggest to me that it was merely worn or chaffed in shipping.
I've never known Freud to offer any "recon" products, and I've sold their product for 11 years.
Without seeing the blade I could only assume that the product was used, or my theories above would be applicable.
Rick
Thanks, Leon. I'll check that out. Forrestman's prices are high compared to other sources, but his selection is much better than what else I've seen.
For wood, I have ordered a WWI blade so that I can use it on both the TS and the RAS. I see that most people here praise the WWII but I also found strong reviews for the WWI.
BTW, finally got the DeWalt moved in and assembled last night. Will do a bit more confirming/tweaking of the setup with a dial gauge today before cutting.
Thanks for the detailed comments. Some of what you wrote suggests my original post wasn't as clear as it could have been. FWIW a little more detail: The "dried glue" looks like something had been glued to the blade at the center hole -- maybe 2" square (though the glue is not in a defined shape) -- during processing and then it was popped off (or it fell off from the glue drying out and the stresses of processing) and the glue was not cleaned up.
As for the "paint run": Picture the looking at the side of the blade. Then, take a small brush loaded with some thin polyurethane and dab it at the bottom edge of the hole. Let the poly run down and dry.
As for the printing, it looks like the worst stereotype of "Chinese" production. With the replacement blade it looks like too much ink was used. Every try taking coated printer paper designed only for a laser printer and using it in an inkjet printer. Like that, but it was allowed to dry.
Yes, the Freud blades I've received all have a clear coat of some sort sprayed on - I believe it's a corrosion inhibitor to keep the metal all nice and shiney before use. It wears off fairly quickly between the arbor washers - the rest has been removed through general blade cleaning or by the cleaning the sharpening service I use performs. (Have lost most of the lettering as well.)
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