Steel City 8" Jointer with Helical Head - Comments?

[Jimmy Powell]

I am considering this Jointer for my shop (wife's garage) and would like your all's feed back on this unit.

[glenn bradley]

The jury is still out for me on SCTW's approach to the spiral head. Hopefully an owner will chime in on the 16 cutters vs. the 40 or more on the Grizzly and Byrd heads.
I would assume good quality but, the same amount of work done by less cutters would imply quicker wear. This is quite possibly a non-issue as I have been running my G0490X for quite awhile and the carbide inserts are still doing a fine job on their first edge. I've just been curious about the pattern (outside the obvious cost savings) since I saw them.

[Mike Delyster]

Not sure about the 8" jointer you’re looking at, I think they still carry three different 8" jointers. I have the 8" Industrial Jointer 40605 with HSS blades and I could not be happier, that is my first Steel City machine and I would not hesitate to buy another product from them. I don't know if I care for the helical heads never had any experince with them, the HSS blades on mine leave a very nice finish.

Mike