Several months ago I pulled the trigger and ordered a special Byrd shelix cutterhead for my old iron 12" jointer. It arrived, and was a disappointment in that it left ridges about .004 deep. This meant that I could not use the jointer cut for edge gluing right off the jointer, and so I spoke with Tom and Gary at Byrd and sent them samples of the cut. After a bit they got back to me (I was not pushing it time-wise) and said that they would like to mill me another. It arrived, and I installed it this weekend, with help from a wonderful step son and his torch and 20 ton hydraulic press. The bearings were tough, and 2 were lost in the removal process.
Well, I write to report that the new cutterhead is everything I hoped it would be. There are still tracks, but I would put them at about .0005" and not a problem at all. This is quite an upgrade.
Byrd was a total pleasure to deal with. I hated for them to go to the expense of having to do a second head, but it really was required. I think mine was the first one they made after they relocated their shop, and my guess is that the milling machine got bounced around a bit and wasn't reset at first.
Anyway, I recommend them without hesitation.
I have a 20" 4 post Asian planer, and I am wondering whether the machine is of a quality to justify the Shelix head for it. Since it is a standard item for Byrd, it will be less expensive than the jointer head, which was a 22" journal. Has anyone out there pulled the trigger on such a purchase?
Alan
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