I've been working with wood for just over two years now, and my first two purchases were made with the intent of being able to "last a lifetime" - a matched pair of lightly used Powermatic machines (the good green ones!), a model 60 jointer and a pm100 planer. I've been working lots of qswo and love the rays. However, my knives do not. I've already changed my knives twice this summer as I work with the oak. Not a task I enjoy! I'd like to upgrade the jointer first, since it gets used every day.
But, other than a Byrd Shelix, are there any other good cutterhead options? I've read quite a few reviews online and am concerned about the "scalloping" some people get. It seems that these reports were all fairly old, maybe the new Byrd heads dont have this problem? Others claim the wood is just "fuzzy" and a quick sanding takes care of it. What has been your experience? Any other options I can consider?