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Thread: Grizzly Spiral head vs. Byrd

  1. #1
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    Grizzly Spiral head vs. Byrd

    Ive been in the market for a planer forever, and I'm starting to become impatient on the used market. It's so hard to find that right planer for the right price especially when they're in high demand.

    So I have considered taking the path of buying new and one of the companies I looked at was Grizzly, who I saw makes their own spiral cutter heads very similar to Byrds. The only difference is a lot cheaper. The 3HP Grizzly planer I was looking at with a spiral head was $1,700 new. If I bought a 3hp planer on the used market it would be around $500 at least just for the planer, and around $1000 for the Shelix head.

    I obviously know a Grizzly isn't going to compare well with a vintage machine with a Shelix head, but does anyone have any experience with Grizzly?

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Yadfar View Post
    Ive been in the market for a planer forever, and I'm starting to become impatient on the used market. It's so hard to find that right planer for the right price especially when they're in high demand.

    So I have considered taking the path of buying new and one of the companies I looked at was Grizzly, who I saw makes their own spiral cutter heads very similar to Byrds. The only difference is a lot cheaper. The 3HP Grizzly planer I was looking at with a spiral head was $1,700 new. If I bought a 3hp planer on the used market it would be around $500 at least just for the planer, and around $1000 for the Shelix head.

    I obviously know a Grizzly isn't going to compare well with a vintage machine with a Shelix head, but does anyone have any experience with Grizzly?
    The Byrd shelix for a 15" grizz planer is around $600 from Grizzly (item H7768), not $1k.

    The consensus is that the Grizzly spiral heads and the Byrds are very similar. I have a Byrd in both my Grizzly planer and jointer and so far have been perfectly satisfied with it.

  3. #3
    I have owned a Grizzly G0453 w/Bryd Shelix and currently own a Powermatic 15HH w/Byrd Shelix 15" planers. I opted for the much more expensive Powermatic 15HH largely due to the problems I had with the Grizzly outfeed roller. The Grizzly outfeed roller has a serrated steel pattern machined into it, I guess for better grip but it indents the surface of the wood with this pattern which must them be sanded off which is retarded. And the impression can be so slight its easy to miss until you apply finish. The Powermatic outfeed roller is smooth steel. Also the Grizzly had a nasty habit of shavings getting stuck to the outfeed roller and crushed into the surface of the wood, I had to pick these off the wood they were stuck on there pretty good and of course this left dents in the surface. I had a powerful dust collector connected straight to the planer so that wasn't the issue. The PM also has slightly longer extension tables and imo better fit and finish.

    I'm usually in the Grizzly camp, I have been quite negative on other Powermatic machines where you pay a huge price premium and get often times an inferior machine vs the Grizzly or no better but the planer is one of those exceptions where I like the Powermatic. It was tough choking down the price. I'd try to find a used PM if possible, you can always swap in a Bryd head if need be.

    As for the Grizzly spiral vs the Bryd Shelix cutter heads I'm a Bryd fan, have them in both the planer and jointer. On the Bryd Shelix cutter heads the inserts are oriented at an angle into the wood and also the inserts are radiused producing a sheering helical cut. The Grizzly spiral cutter head inserts are oriented straight into the wood and the inserts are also straight, so its basically a spiral of straight knife cutters. For most planning jobs probably doesn't matter a hill of beans, but I plane some insanely figured maple and for that I like the helical sheering cut of the Byrd Shelix.

  4. #4
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    Amazes me, but in the 2014 Grizzly catalog the cheapest replacement cutterhead is the Byrd. In the Spring/summer flyer the 15" Byrd Shelix is priced at $559.95

    The two other 15" spiral cutter heads offered by Grizzly are priced $639.95 and $719.95...

    I am toying with the idea of putting a spiral cutter head on my 15" Grizzly planer. At these prices I will go with the Byrd. But I am happy with my Grizzly 8" jointer with spiral cutter head and if the Grizzly were the same price as the Byrd, I would go with the Grizzly cutter head.

    Bill
    Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!

  5. #5
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    I was comparing to the price of a spiral head for typical 15" heads for other planers. I've seen them run towards the thousands

  6. #6
    I have two Grizzly planers, a 15" 453Z and a 20" 544, both with Grizzly spiral heads. The finish from either planer could not be any smoother.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danny Hamsley View Post
    I have two Grizzly planers, a 15" 453Z and a 20" 544, both with Grizzly spiral heads. The finish from either planer could not be any smoother.
    The 453Z is the one I was considering buying. Do you think it's worth the $1,800? I have the money for it, I just debate whether it would be much better waiting for a used machine to come up. I imagine it's the same deal as buying a new car; it's nice because I get a machine with no issues, but at the same time, it will decrease significantly in value. But if this is a quality machine and we are only talking about a few hundred dollars more, that's what I mean by worth it...

  8. #8
    Michael - I was asking myself the exact same question a few years ago. I looked for used and despite living in a metro area and going to see a half dozen planers; I never found anything I wanted to buy. At the higher end there is usually commercial stuff, 20" and 5+ HP but only having single phase 220 limits selection and the machines i did find all had a lot of hours. Yes they were rebuild-able but I was not interested in a multi-month restoration project (hats off to the guys who do - some of the work is awsome - but I'd rather cut wood than refurbish machinery - each to his own). The used residential ones had a lot fewer machine hours but were all below the range I was looking for and none had a spiral head. I concluded that used was taking way too long so I decided to just buy new.

    I got the 15" spiral grizzy (factory Byrd was not an option at the time and i was unwilling to throw away a good straight knife head just to have the byrd version) and it has been a great planer for my mid-size home shop. it has eaten a fair amount of wood and I have as yet to rotate the first carbide knife - tear out is minimal and maybe would be even less with a byrd but I do not regret the purchase.

  9. #9
    I would do it again. I have planed thousands of BF through the 4543Z and I also have yet to turn the inserts. They will last a very long time if the boards that you are planing are clean and not gritty.

  10. #10
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    I was lucky enough to try out a Grizzly G0490X jointer alongside another 8" jointer with an after market Byrd head installed. The owner had told me he could see no difference and seemed amused when I asked to come by and try it for myself. Seems he was just a questioning back when he bought . At any rate, as he stated, there was no difference in the surfaces. We even fooled around doing multiple blind tests something only woodworkers would find amusing).

    I bought the G0490X jointer. About 2 years later when it came time to upgrade the planer I went with Grizzly's G0453Z with their head installed as I couldn't fit a 20" machine in the shop. Both have been solid performers but, I am just an enthusiast; not a pro. By that I mean I use the machines on just about every project and I am always building something. They don't get the workout they would in a pro shop but, I'm in the shop more than not during my available time.

    I did my own analysis way back when and based on my sharpening/replacement schedule for knives, the spiral head is much cheaper over time. Some recent magazine articles on the same subject agree and have proven that I didn't forget all the math they tried to teach me in school. The difference in cost on the jointer was paid back a long time ago and I imagine the planer is pretty close to hitting that mark now. From here on, the savings just keep coming.
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 05-06-2014 at 8:32 AM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  11. #11
    I purchased the Laguna MPLAN1510-0130 16" ShearTec planer recently. More $$ upfront, but I looked at 2 items in my comparison.
    1. Power . Laguna 5HP vs 3HP on most competitors
    2. Cutters. Laguna 108 vs 74 on Grizzly and Powermatic. Byrd might make an equivalent configuration, bt they do not appear to publish these numbers. Any info I could find on cutter count came from the various brand owners, not Byrd.

    The cut is phenomenal. If you are careful, you can cut through kerf marks or leave the imprint from the feed roller. Of course everything is still pretty new.

    Noise is incredibly reduced, but I continue to wear hearing protection.

    I think any of these cutter heads is a great improvement over blades.

    Don

  12. #12
    A friend and I have 20" Shop Fox planers. His has the Grizzly and I put a Byrd in mine. We took a Mesquite board and planed one side on each machine. There was no difference.

  13. #13
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    I have a Byrd on my 8" Shop Fox jointer and a Grizzly spiral in my G0453Z 15" planer. The cut is the same as far as I can tell. As far as the chips landing on the board and getting pressed into the board, it is well documented and easily fixed. There is a foam seal you get to when you open up the top to get at the head. Remove it and you don't have an issue. The outfeed roller imprints on the board is a problem. I had them adjusted out except for very soft wood which I don't use. The softest I use is popular. I did install a rubber roller out of a Delta planer with success. I also read as you run more wood out of it the marks decrease because the edges dull. I thought about taking a file across the edge to dull them a little but never did. I will agree that the fit and finish of my G0453Z is not up to the same level as the rest of my Grizzly tools. It is not horrible but not the same. Overall I am happy with the planer.

    Byrd heads for Old Arn planers are almost 2z the cost of the current 15" import planers. Probably due to lack of demand.

  14. #14
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    Sep 2011
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    Michael,

    I just recently purchased the 453Z, thanks to a fellow member, I had a 10% off coupon, I also just received my first copy of Wood Magazine that I got afterwards. I would gladly reciprocate and give you that 10% coupon, at $1,850 - $185, the $1665 gets easier to chunk out, especially if you drive up and pick it up, but then again, $100 delivery charge wipes out the $100 in gas......

    BTW - love the planer, well so far. I am having a few issues with some more setup time and use hopefully disappear. I am still getting the serrated marks from teh out-feed side, but not all the time, and both of my lock down handles were cracked, but I just better replacements from McMaster.

    I also noticed an issue I missed in my original post that I had with a few questions on this planer, and the table seems to be sloppy until you lock the handles down. Not sure if it's user error yet, or an issue, but I jointed and planed 4 boards 3-4' long over the weekend, and I got different thicknesses between them, even though I planed them at the same time, and final passed all of them equally.

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