Byrd cutterhead for Ridgid jointer

[Robert Meyer]

I have searched the net and found lots of folks talking about upgrading their 6" Ridgid jointer with a Byrd Shellix cutterhead but can't find any that report the actual steps necessary for this upgrade and if it turned out successfuly. Grizzly now has the 6" Byrd for $250. It appears that it does not come with new bearings. Will the old bearings work with the Byrd?
What other modifications/problems will I run into replacing the Ridgid head with the Byrd head?

[Tom Hargrove]

I think you should save your money. I have a Ridgid planer, and for what it is, its a decent piece of equipment. I have looked closely at the Ridgid jointer, and think it is also a decent value. But I would never spend an additional $250 to put a different cutterhead in either tool.

If you want a better jointer, you might consider selling your Ridgid, adding the money you would spend on the new cutter head, and then searching for a good used jointer. I think you will be happier in the long run. I have an old but heavy cast iron "no name" jointer that I got for $50. It came with an open stand and chute that was set up to dump chips on the ground. I cleaned it up, fashioned a belt guard from some scraps, and cobbled together a chip collector from HVAC parts I got at the home center. After installing a new set of knives, I got the tables and fence set up correctly, and I am extremely happy with my $85 investment. I don't use a jointer that often, so it suits my needs well.

[Brett Robson]

I think you should save your money. I have a Ridgid planer, and for what it is, its a decent piece of equipment. I have looked closely at the Ridgid jointer, and think it is also a decent value. But I would never spend an additional $250 to put a different cutterhead in either tool.

I have to disagree. I also have a Ridgid planer in which I installed a spiral cutterhead. The planer was always a solid machine and the new cutterhead made it an even better performer. The cost of the cutterhead is less than half of what a new benchtop planer with a spiral cutterhead would cost.

I have the Ridgid jointer too although it's still in stock form. Here again the cost of the cutterhead is a fraction of a new machine with a factory installed spiral cutterhead. Most of the 6" jointers on the market appear cut from the same cloth. I doubt any other brand's 6" jointer would be dramatic improvement over the Ridgid unit which as far as I'm concerned, is without any major shortcomings.

The argument can certainly be made for larger, old-iron jointers and stationary planers but if the OP is like many of us those large and heavy machines are not always practical.

If the Ridgid jointer suits your needs I say stay with it. $250 or so for a new cutterhead is a small investment to make your machine even better.

[Robert Meyer]

Thanks for the comments.

However - my questions still remain unanswered.

Anyone with experience doing this modification?

[Mark Carlson]

I did the conversion on a powermatic 54a. It was very straight forward. I found generic instructions online for making the swap. I did get a bryd head with the bearing already installed to make it easier.

~mark

[Casey Carr]

Call Byrd, they're very helpful. They might be able to tell you whether the bearing diameters are the same or not.

[Kirk Duff]

I just ordered that same head from Grizzly it did not come with bearings on it. The change over is simple remove old head and replace it with the new one. Very few tools needed I was less than an hour when it was all done.

I installed it in a General 6" jointer. the only thing I had to do was raise the out feed table as the cuttter is a larger dia. which ment the depth gauge is out now. just replaced it.

I tried cutting a rabbit with the bryd head it does not cut a clean rabbit any more.

the last thing I found was the feed rate is a lot slower or you get skips. I just cut slower an have perfectly clean tear out free edge

I still would not go back to the straight knife. love being able to rotate out chipped blades

[Robert Meyer]

I took Casey's advice and contacted Byrd - who very promptly answered my query:

"We do have a shelix for the Ridgid JP0610, the head is $349.00 with tips. You will have to measure the cutting diameter of your current cutter-head a determine which shelix you will need. The two cc measurement are 2.480" and 2.625" that is the only difference in the heads. Grizzly item number H7764 is the larger cutting diameter 2.625, they do not stock the smaller one (2.480"). Your original bearing will work on the shelix they are the same size, the cost or the pair of bearings is $16.75/pair. We do not have instruction for installing the head, if you have your owners manual, the old head comes out and the shelix fit back in the existing machine. If you have any further questions or need anything else please let me know".

Thanks
Sara
Byrd Tool Corp.

Unfortunately, my Ridgid jointer has a cutter head that does not match either size offered by Byrd. I did find another Ridgid owner who managed to install the Byrd in his jointer but had problems getting the cutters level with the outfeed table. He also found that he needed new special sized bearings for the new head as the shafts are not the same diameter on both ends as the original head. Think I will purchase a new Jet or Powermatic 6" with the helical head installed from the factory.
By the way - Both Byrd and Grizzly have great customer service IMO.