There has been quite a bit of talk about putting a ITCH or Shelix head on a jointer. ITCH is an oliver acro meaning Independent Tooth Carbide Head. I always wonderd if it shouldnt be ICTH or Independent Carbide Tooth Head.

At any rate, many jointers have always been equipped with rebate ledgers to allow them to cut rebates or rabbits. Although many woodworkers never use this feature, its still there. A key aspect to this is to allow the edge of the knife to function as a spur nicker and cut a clean corner. The shelix type head does not have dedicted nickers on the front side of the cylinder. Therefore, it cannot cut the clean, sharpe edge you all wish to see in the rebate or rabbit application. If you dont use this feature, no problem. Go out and install a shelix in your machine.

The shelix is also good at cutting down some of the noise. O.K. Fine. Not enough of an issue for me to go out and buy one. It also does an excellent job on pagen grain hardwoods. Now you have my attention!!!!! Burl and Curl. If this is your thing, this feature may be a good idea as well.

Many folks often wonder why we need jointers that have 12 inch to 30 inch widths. Well, these are surfaceing machines or surfacers in addition to being jointers. But there is also one more aspect. By running a board at an angle, also known as shear cutting, I can improve the quaiity of the cut and reduce or eliminate blow out. By keeping the wood moist and running it through at a shear angle, I can get excellent cuts on pagen grain.

So instead of running an 8 inch jointer with a shelix, I have found I can get better performance out of running a 20 inch jointer with straight steel knives. By the time I buy a good 8 inch jointer and the shelix heads and the inserts and the torque wrench, I could have bought a 1950s or 1960s oliver or porter or newman in 12 inch, 16 inch or 20 inch widths for the same money or less and be getting the same performance ore more.

Just food for thought as there are always 9 ways to skin the kittie.