Byrd vs Grizzly 15" Spiral Cutter

[scott vroom]

I'm about to order the Grizzly 15" planer. For $1,495 I get the Grizzly spiral cutter (G0453Z); or for $950 I could get the straight knive model (G0453), order the Byrd 15" for $600 and install it myself. I've heard the Byrd design is superior to Grizzly's spiral cutter. Any thoughts on this? Is it worth the extra $55 to have the Byrd?

Thanks-

[Fred Hargis]

I had juts bought a Byrd head for my Delta 15" a few months back. i bought it from Grizzly, and was considering getting the Grizzly version (it will fit my Delta, apparently) but went with the Byrd because the cost difference was only $50. The $50 gets you the cutters mounted at a shear angle, instead of straight across, more cutters, and they (the cutters) are slightly larger than the Griz. I think it's worth the $50. There are guys who swear there is no performance difference between them, and I believe that. But for $50 it seemed to me like a no-brainer. The installation is fairly simple if you can deal with the bearings.

[glenn bradley]

I'm sure the Byrd heads are great and they do have the shear angle Fred mentions. After struggling with this for quite awhile and asking owners of both types of heads who reported no difference; I went with the Griz just because it is factory installed. I believe either would serve you well. Mine has been great BUT, I do not have a Byrd in the shop to compare with as some of the folks do.

If you do a Google search here on the words 'byrd grizzly' you will get a lot of hits on this discussion.

[Cary Falk]

It has been discussed many times. There are very few pjeoply that have the luxury of having both heads to compare. The head of Grizzly chimed and said that he has both and there isn't any difference. Everything that I have heard from people that have the Grizzly head was that they can't imagine how the Byrd could be any better. After going through athe hassel of putting a Byrd in my jointer I think I would take which ever head was factory installed. It wasn't difficult by any means just a PITA. I think a planer would be a bigger pain. I prefer to make sawdust.

[Philip Rodriquez]

I've got both. There is not a measurable difference. Go with whatever floats your boat.

[Erik Christensen]

I struggled over the exact same issue when I was buying my 15" planer.

What decided it for me was downloading the PDF from Grizzly on how to change the planer head. As others said it did not seem terribly difficult but was obviously very time consuming and had a large potential for screwing things up (given my mechanical skills) - a number of posts from those who had done the conversion suggested getting a new bearing set as they could be easily damaged on removal - adding to the cost of conversion.

I opted to just take the factory installed griz head and do not regret it. I have run a fair amount of wood though mine in the last few months and tear-out has been almost non-existent.

either one would be good to have - it boils down to what would be the most fun for a weekend - playing with gears & socket wrenches or throwing wood through your new planer

enjoy whatever you choose