Sound advantage or difference of a helical cutter head

[John Piwaron]

Those of you that have made the change to some kind of helical or spiral cutter head for your jointer and/or planer - besides the obvious benefits of no more knife changes or cutting quality improvements, did you notice any reduction in the noise the machine makes?

I'm asking because I saw an ad today from Felder about their "silent spiral" cutter head. The video they have (with sound) shows a regular knife planer vs a silent spiral planer. In their video, the silent spiral is considerably quieter than the knifed version. Sound is the one thing I never see discussed here. I'm wondering if all helical cutter heads have that property, or has Felder discovered something that's now only in their machines?

[gary Zimmel]

I have Byrd heads in my 8" jointer and 15" planer and the noise reduction is huge compared to when I had knifes in the machines.

[James Baker SD]

I put Byrds in Powermatic joiner and planers. Big reduction in noise.

[David Kumm]

All spiral or helical heads reduce sound quite a lot. Felder developed their own to save power on their single phase machines. Byrds take more HP than a straight knife and Felder was concerned about installing it in the smaller motor machines. Theirs worked so well it is now offered in all series. The numbers on HP usage are impressive and it has channels that direct the chips into the dust chute. Another advantage is the chip size is smaller and requires less cfm. I'm still a straight knife guy for old machines and was a skeptic until I saw it in person but I think it may be the best insert head I've seen. I have straight knives, Byrd, and ITCH. Only missing the Tersa. They all have their pluses and minuses. Dave

[Sam Murdoch]

I put Byrds in Powermatic joiner and planers. Big reduction in noise.

The Felder heads are not available as replacements for other manufactured machines are they?

[David Kumm]

The Felder heads are not available as replacements for other manufactured machines are they?

No. I don't think they are even available for Felder replacements yet but are planned for the future. Byrd is the way to go for retrofit. Dave

[howard s hanger]

I was told when I ordered a Hammer A3-31 if I wanted the spiral head, it had to be ordered with the machine. No retrofitting offered at this time. I'm glad I did. It is very quiet.

[Cary Falk]

I went from a lunchbox planer to a 15" stationary with a grizzly spiral head. I can have a conversation next to it now and don't feel bad about running it with the garage door open. It is about as loud as my dust collector while running wood.

[Mark Kornell]

I put a Byrd in my Dewalt 735. It was pretty loud to begin with, and the new head didn't reduce the sound in any significant way. A little, perhaps something like 3 db. (No, didn't use a sound meter. In hindsight, should've.) The sound is a different pitch, around half an octave lower, and is more bearable.

The Dewalt has a built in blower which contributes to the noise. Hard to tell how much that contributes to the overall sound.

The noisiest planer I have ever heard, by far, was a Delta X15 with a helical head. It was hooked up to an industrial DC, and there was something about how the air was pulled across the head that generated an almighty howl. Impossible to have a conversation within 50 ft of the thing when it was in use and the DC was on. It was a lot quieter without the DC running, although still just as loud as my Delta.

[Danny Hamsley]

The spiral heads with the carbide inserts are the best thing since sliced bread and fuel injection. Easier on the ears, too.

[glenn bradley]

I have Byrd heads in my 8" jointer and 15" planer and the noise reduction is huge compared to when I had knifes in the machines.

+1 on what Gary said. Mine are not Byrd heads but they are spooky-quiet compared the the knifed units they replaced.

[John Piwaron]

I put a Byrd in my Dewalt 735. It was pretty loud to begin with, and the new head didn't reduce the sound in any significant way. A little, perhaps something like 3 db. (No, didn't use a sound meter. In hindsight, should've.) The sound is a different pitch, around half an octave lower, and is more bearable.

The Dewalt has a built in blower which contributes to the noise. Hard to tell how much that contributes to the overall sound.

The noisiest planer I have ever heard, by far, was a Delta X15 with a helical head. It was hooked up to an industrial DC, and there was something about how the air was pulled across the head that generated an almighty howl. Impossible to have a conversation within 50 ft of the thing when it was in use and the DC was on. It was a lot quieter without the DC running, although still just as loud as my Delta.

I've got a DeWalt DW733 that I'm considering this for. I looked at the Byrd site and don't see a replacement head listed for it. I suppose that doesn't mean one isn't, just that I didn't see it. I found another place, Global Tooling I think, that says they have one for it.

However, your results aren't encouraging. Yet, money aside, I don't have room for another floor standing planer. So, it's modify my lunchbox and be happy with a better cut and/or never having to change knives again.

maybe I can get room for a new floor standing machine if I get rid of my wife's washer or dryer. . . . . .

[Grant Wilkinson]

John: If the 733 is still under warranty, you may want to wait to replace the head. I contacted Dewalt about putting a Byrd on my 735 and they told me the warranty was void if I did. As David said earlier in this thread, the Byrd needs more HP than a knife head and Dewalt told me that the 735 was not built to handle the demand. Having said that, I've read of many people putting Byrd heads on 735 machines and loving them.

[Rod Sheridan]

All spiral or helical heads reduce sound quite a lot. Felder developed their own to save power on their single phase machines. Byrds take more HP than a straight knife and Felder was concerned about installing it in the smaller motor machines. Theirs worked so well it is now offered in all series. The numbers on HP usage are impressive and it has channels that direct the chips into the dust chute. Another advantage is the chip size is smaller and requires less cfm. I'm still a straight knife guy for old machines and was a skeptic until I saw it in person but I think it may be the best insert head I've seen. I have straight knives, Byrd, and ITCH. Only missing the Tersa. They all have their pluses and minuses. Dave

I believe that the Felder Silent Power head is also the only MAN rated head available.............Rod.

[Erik Christensen]

I have a 5HP Clearvue DC with 6" pipe all the way to the modified planer dust shroud - when the DC is running the air flow noise through the planer is so loud I cannot tell if the 15" grizzly spiral planer is running or not.