Byrd Shelix Cutter insert Wrong Orientation ?

[Elman Concepcion]

Hello everyone.
First post here.

Two weeks ago I ordered a Shelix cutterhead from Byrd tools.
I received it last Tuesday.
On Wednesday I dismantled my Jointer.
Put the Endcaps on the cutterhead and I was about to install it when I noticed that one of the cutting inserts was oriented in the wrong direction.

Can someone confirm that this is a manufacturing defect.
It does not seem right to me.
Byrd tools is out until Monday so I thought I’d ask here first.

Thanks

I’ve attached some pics:
click image to enlarge.

[Bill Orbine]

No, it doesn't look right.... but..... I think you should share the make and model of your jointer because someone else with the same jointer can share his/her experience with the Byrd head.

[CPeter James]

That corner sticking out is going to leave a really big scratch. I am puzzled as to how it got through many different manufacturing processes like that without someone noticing.

CPeter

[Steve Peterson]

I haven't removed any of the inserts on mine, but I think there is a recess that they sit in to orient properly. Remove the screw and see if it is just crooked or defective.

Steve

[Elman Concepcion]

It's a JET JJ-6s and the cutterhead is the Byrd Tools Generic 6" G6 / 63 - 63 mm cutting diameter.
It fits my jointer perfectly and the bearings went into the endcaps fairly easily.

Yes. Don't know how that cutter even made it out of manufacturing.
It's a mystery to me.
Where is their Quality Control.
The tool came without any sign certification.
I would hope Byrd Tools has an engineer at the end of the line signing off on these heads ?

This is rather annoying as it took two weeks to receive it after ordering.
And now I'll have to wait some more by sending it in and waiting again to receive a new one.
the whole thing will probably end up taking a month unless they have another one in stock.
But I don't think so as they told me it takes two weeks to deliver as the manufacturing is made to order.

[Elman Concepcion]

I haven't removed any of the inserts on mine, but I think there is a recess that they sit in to orient properly. Remove the screw and see if it is just crooked or defective.

Steve

I did remove the insert - look at my first picture - the insert bed is oriented towards the right in comparison with the previous insert bed which is oriented towards the left in agreement with all the other insert beds.

[Erik Loza]

Elman, I have no professional affiliation with Byrd but they have a pretty solid reputation in the industry. Have you contacted them directly to get a response? And by that I mean picking up the phone and calling a live person rather than just emailing. That would have been my first step. I hope you get quick resolution on this.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Bruce Page]

Elman, I have no professional affiliation with Byrd but they have a pretty solid reputation in the industry. Have you contacted them directly to get a response? And by that I mean picking up the phone and calling a live person rather than just emailing. That would have been my first step. I hope you get quick resolution on this.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

+1 on Erik's suggestion, contact Byrd directly.

[Tony Joyce]

Look fine to me. There is a company that makes an insert planner head that has half the inserts turned one way and half the other. I'm sure Byrd can explain why they do this better than I could. It will not cause a problem. It is done to prevent tearout on the end of the head.

Hermance.jpg

Tony

[Elman Concepcion]

Look fine to me. There is a company that makes an insert planner head that has half the inserts turned one way and half the other. I'm sure Byrd can explain why they do this better than I could. It will not cause a problem. It is done to prevent tearout on the end of the head.

Hermance.jpg

Tony

Thank You Very Much

That is very reassuring.
I so hope you are right.
I've looked around the net to see if I could see other examples of this configuration without success, hence my trepidation.
Most of the examples I see do not have the last insert pointing in the opposite direction.
Maybe this is something new Byrd tool is doing to address the ( tearout ) issue you have pointed out ?

I've not installed the head do to this mystery.
So I guess the final test is installing it and evaluating the performance.
I will wait till I talk to Byrd on Monday and then I'll report back here.

Thanks Again
Elman

[Elman Concepcion]

Ok - I finally found something that looks like my Cutterhead.
Thanks Tony Joyce for pointing me in the right direction.
I'm still a little iffy but I feel better all the same.

Here is the video.
Scroll to :30 - 2:52 and 5:23 - ▶ HelixHead High Performance Helical Cutterhead for Planers Moulders Jointers - YouTube

[Elman Concepcion]

Elman, I have no professional affiliation with Byrd but they have a pretty solid reputation in the industry. Have you contacted them directly to get a response? And by that I mean picking up the phone and calling a live person rather than just emailing. That would have been my first step. I hope you get quick resolution on this.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

As I previously commented.
They are not available until Monday due to the holidays.
That is why I posted here first.
Other wise I would not have felt the need to post at all -

[Wade Lippman]

In all of the pictures that others have posted, and in my Grizzly tools, there is only one way the cutter could be installed. On yours it looks like it can go on any which way. How do you replace them if there is no fixed orientation. (and if there is a fixed orientation, then you have your answer... the way it fits is correct.)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wade, when I look at his first photo it appears to me to be pretty obvious there is a fixed orientation.

[Jim Andrew]

On my 12" jointer, I lost 1/4" of width with the Byrd cutterhead. Maybe they turned that cutter to make the cutterhead take the full width.