Would like to hear from folks who have jointers or planers with spiral cutterheads. Were these heads factory installed or installed by owner/users? what do you think? Waiting to hear. Thanks/Ed
Would like to hear from folks who have jointers or planers with spiral cutterheads. Were these heads factory installed or installed by owner/users? what do you think? Waiting to hear. Thanks/Ed
Here are some recent thread talking about spiral cutterheads.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ral+cutterhead
Mine were installed by the dealer to accompany new purchases. I got some great deals on them. The spiral cutterheads were essentially free.
There are two cons to spiral cutterheads: higher initial cost and the cutter leaves scallops width way of the boards. Pros are: they give a cleaner cut especially in figured woods, they are quieter, the long term cost is less, less blade changes.
I put one in my Powermatic model 50 yesterday and it was maybe 45 minutes extra over a thorough tuneup.
I bought my planer with the cutterhead installed already.. I highly recommend it..
I have to plane some 3A figured maple this afternoon.. looking forward to it..
Matt - Where did you get your spiral head for your PM 50? I''m too lazy to look. I have not been looking forward to changing the blades and think that would be a great solution.
Thanks John
Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway!
If by spiral you also mean shelix, I recommend them. I put a Byrd shelix in my DW735 and couldn't be happier.
Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night
I ordered my Byrd through Holbren.
I have the Byrd on my 8" shopfox jointer and really like it. I ran a 6" wide board through the jointer last night, it sure does a nice job. I am considering a Byrd for the 18" woodmaster planer. What ever brand you get it will do a nice job, I think its worth the investment.
Regards!
Ed
I put a Byrd head in my General 480-1 a couple of years ago.
Simple swap taking about an hour.
Liked the job it did so much I upgraded to a new planer just about a year ago.
Bought a 15" Powermatic that had a Byrd head in it from the factory.
The scallops that are left by the cutters are long gone after the stock is sanded.
Best upside for me is I haven't had to adjust a knife since...
The jointer was not a big deal but I sure hated to change the knives on the planer.
Have one in the jointer, love it. Wish I had one in the planer. I will have to decide whether to do as Myk did or just get a new machine. Tough times will help delay that decision . . . I knew there was an upside ;-)
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
I put a Byrd in my MiniMax FS 35 J/P. Very pleased. Doesn't mind the curly stuff or knots either.
Dan
Eternity is an awfully long time, especially toward the end.
-Woody Allen-
Critiques on works posted are always welcome
I installed one in my Shop Fox W1741 8" jointer and love it. It wasn't difficult but I would describe it as a PITA. I am looking at getting a planner with one already installed.
Scalloping comes from too high a feed speed, i.e. the cuts don't have a chance to overlap. The Byrd cutter on my Grizzly 8" jointer applies three cuts per rotation, so the original 4-blade head has an theoretical advantage since it leaves 33% less room between cuts at a given speed.
From a practical perspective, the ability to joint other materials without damaging the knives, the long life without sharpening, etc, far outweighs any theoretical loss from slower speed.
It took me about three hours to replace the head, mainly because I cut my hand removing the original head and, not learning my lesson, cut my hand in seven different spots installing the new one. It slipped and in that split second I decided that cutting up my hand was preferable to dropping that brand new $350 head on the concrete. Wear gloves!!!
Last edited by Cliff Holmes; 01-04-2010 at 8:11 AM.