Anyone in Seattle area want to try/compare Accu-head vs. stock head for Rigid planer?

[Larry Rasmussen]

Well prompted by some comments on the Lumber Jock site on the Accu-head spiral cutterhead used on Steel City planers and a comment in Fine Woodworking on these cutterheads I bit the bullet and ordered one for my Rigid 4330 Benchtop Planer. You can see a little more info here:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/16771/easy-to-install-spiral-cutterheads-for-250

The comments based on impressions from a woodworker's show contact with the manufacturer were posted by FW staff in a Blog at the Fine Woodworking site.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/assets/uploads/posts/16771/Resize_of_IMG_9735_lg.JPG
"Shinmax's Accu-Head cutterheads are available for retrofitting to many popular jointers and planers. They come with the right bearings and pinion gears attached for each specific machine, making installation a drop-in procedure."

Anyway I ordered one and UPS provided a delivery estimate of 12-3-09. Price $249 delivered. I will see if I can get a measured base line for loudness before and after the new head is installed. I will post comments/pictures on the installation process. I did install a Shelix cutterhead on my previous planer, a Grizzly Model GO453. The obvious differences between the Accu-head and Shelix heads include Accu's steel inserts vs Shelix 's carbide, the straight on orientation of inserts on the Accu vs. Shelix's angled seating, the overall much greater # of cutter inserts on the Shelix and finally the fact that each insert on the Accu-head has two blade surfaces vs four for the Shelix.

I live in Shoreline in the North Seatle area, close to I-5 off exit 145th. I have a compact garage shop. I invite any members here to come by to run a piece of your wood through the planer both during the next week with the stock cutterhead and then again after the new head is installed. I think the greater variety of wood types and uses would contribute to a more thorough and informative assessment of the difference/performance of the Accu-head replacement cutterhead.

I am home much of the day on Black Fri, the weekends and early evenings during the week. The little planer is plugged in and ready to go. Just send an email to me at larry206@comcast.net and we can set up a time. I'm hoping someone will have a piece or two of some highly figured wood- perhaps something they have had problems with.

Regards,
Larry Rasmussen
14th Ave NE
Shoreline, WA 98155

[Jeff Willard]

Larry,

I think it's great that you are offering this opportunity to others to do this research and share the results so that the members here can make more informed decisions and spend our (often, too scarce) dollars wisely. That's what this place is all about. But, and I'm not trying to be a wiseguy here, do you think it's the best of ideas to publish your home address on a public forum?

[Larry Rasmussen]

my road trying somehow to discern which home on a long long stretch of 14th Ave NE has the Rigid planer in the garage will likely run out of gas well before figuring out which house might be mine. There is no service of any kind listed in my name for this home, the obvious concern would be phone listing of course. Following the level of alert you suggest would I also work all summer with the garage door closed to avoid exposure as a woodworker with a 300 buck planer in the garage as well? I'm only commenting after someone else PMd me about this also.

[Barry Vabeach]

Larry, did you call them or go through the website. I tried the website, clicking on "order" and searching, but could not find any product listing.

[Robert Louis Johnson]

Hope you have had a good experience with the Accu head. Can you comment on it now, and perhaps compare it to the Byrd head I believe you have/had in another machine?