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Thread: Dealing with Tearout - Byrd Head or Drum Sander?

  1. #31
    Frank....

    When I mentioned raised pannels, I was meaning that after you make a raised panel with rails and stiles surrounding, it's nice to be able to run the door through a drum sander to level everything to the same plane.

  2. #32
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    All good points, Frank. Before buying my cutterhead, I spoke with several happy Byrd owners. A couple of these guys have larger cutterhead diameters than my 3" diameter (and more rows of inserts), and they suspect that cutterhead diameter is my culprit. But I've heard that Byrd demonstrates their Shelix at woodworking shows on a 15" generic 4-post planer, with a 3" diameter head, and it's an impressive demo. In any case, mine has not performed to the level that I had hoped, but I am glad that you and others are acheiving better performance.

    Todd

  3. #33
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    Mark - Ah...I see. I've never tried that. I thought the raised panel was supposed to stand proud of the door frame. Thanks for the clarification.

    Todd - I'm sorry your Byrd head isn't living up to your expectations. I would be outspoken as well if I had paid that amount and the results were less than advertised. May I ask, what is the diameter of your cutterhead? Have you discussed this with the people at Byrd, and if so, where they of any help?

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Snyder
    Todd - I'm sorry your Byrd head isn't living up to your expectations. I would be outspoken as well if I had paid that amount and the results were less than advertised. May I ask, what is the diameter of your cutterhead? Have you discussed this with the people at Byrd, and if so, where they of any help?
    Fairly typical specs:
    3" diameter
    5000 RPM
    20 or 30 FPM

    I did not discuss this with Byrd, but they were helpful on a previous issue. A number of inserts were chipped on the head, either by Byrd or by Oliver during install. Without hesitation, Byrd shipped me a bunch of new inserts. I was pleased with their responsiveness.

    The other weird thing is that a number of inserts have been cracking in half and falling out, in between uses. My guess is that Byrd had over-torqued the inserts. I have not called them about this. I have a torque wrench and am going to loosen and re-torque all inserts, to see if I can eliminate this problem.

    So my experience with their cutterhead has not been good from the start. It sounds like I'm the exception, as everyone else I talk to is pleased with their Shelix.

    Todd

  5. #35
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    Todd - Your specs, other than the faster feed rate, are the same as mine. Given that you might have some damaged inserts, I would be inclined to remove them all, inspect each one under a magnifying glass, then reinstall the good ones to the proper torque (anyone here know what it is?).

    Better yet, if you're feeling really proactive, I'd get on the phone with Byrd and explain the problem and see if they will replace all of the inserts given the condition you received their product and the problems you are experiencing. From the sounds of it, I would venture to guess that they would step up the the plate for you. You could also see if Oliver offers a reduction gear for your planer to slow the feed rate down even further...just an idea.

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Snyder
    Todd - Your specs, other than the faster feed rate, are the same as mine. Given that you might have some damaged inserts, I would be inclined to remove them all, inspect each one under a magnifying glass, then reinstall the good ones to the proper torque (anyone here know what it is?).

    Better yet, if you're feeling really proactive, I'd get on the phone with Byrd and explain the problem and see if they will replace all of the inserts given the condition you received their product and the problems you are experiencing. From the sounds of it, I would venture to guess that they would step up the the plate for you. You could also see if Oliver offers a reduction gear for your planer to slow the feed rate down even further...just an idea.
    Removing all the inserts would be a big task- this is a 22" planer. Loosening and re-torquing should do the trick. You can pretty easily see a cracked insert. But I agree I should call Byrd to give them the opportunity to make this right. I need to do this anyways, because I'm going to sell the planer in a few months. I can't, in conscience, sell it before doing everything I can to ensure it'll treat the next owner as well as possible. Regarding slowing down the feed rate, 20 fpm is pretty slow already. I would think this would be sufficient. I doubt Oliver offers a reduction gear, because this is a big industrial beast, and is produced in much lower volume than yours.

    Thanks for the ideas, I'll let you guys know where it ends up. And I also would be interested in you posting again in 6 months or so, and let us know if you still see excellent tearout performance.

    Todd

  7. #37
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    Frank, I remember seeing this on Byrd's website. Look like it's 50inlbs.http://www.byrdtool.com/bt-9.html
    Being a machinist sounds about right.
    Russ

  8. #38
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    Thanks for the info, Russ.

  9. #39

    This is a helpful thread

    Yes, I know - it's old, I dug it out of the posting graveyard - but between this post and the Byrd "generic 15" planer install instructions" changing the head was straightforward. Only advice I'll add is, order the new oil seal from eReplacements.com or wherever when you order the head, so you don't have to stop and wait for it in the middle of the operation.

    I didn't have any issues with the gear box oil gasket as has been reported elsewhere; the plastic seal on my new (old) Powermatic Model 15 was thick enough to stay in place and I had no leakage.

    Kudos to the OP. Much appreciated and very helpful post.

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Jensen View Post
    I have a Terminus (Tersa like) head on my jointer. I face joint all boards before planing. I had a ton of trouble with the curly maple. Even with fresh knives I had plenty of tearout. With non-figured stock, the fresh Terminus knives give a fabulous surface. But, but after only a few hundred feet wood, I start to get knicks in the knives. I'm going to switch to a Byrd head in the jointer too...joe
    Joe, does Terminus offer carbide? I switched my Tersa heads to carbide, the cut is I believe better in most woods I use and the last a very long time. I had a stack of M42 knives that I burned up before switching to carbide. I get around two years out of a set of carbides. Just a thought..........

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