Spiral cutterheads

[Ed Griner]

Would like to hear from folks who have jointers or planers with spiral cutterheads. Were these heads factory installed or installed by owner/users? what do you think? Waiting to hear. Thanks/Ed

[Glen Butler]

Here are some recent thread talking about spiral cutterheads.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=128372&highlight=spiral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=128675&highlight=spiral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=102885&highlight=spiral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=122429&highlight=spiral+cutterhead
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=127963&highlight=spiral+cutterhead

Mine were installed by the dealer to accompany new purchases. I got some great deals on them. The spiral cutterheads were essentially free.

There are two cons to spiral cutterheads: higher initial cost and the cutter leaves scallops width way of the boards. Pros are: they give a cleaner cut especially in figured woods, they are quieter, the long term cost is less, less blade changes.

[Jeff Willard]

Pros are: they give a cleaner cut especially in figured woods, they are quieter, the long term cost is less, less blade changes.

And knife height is fixed. I dropped one in my PM 54. And when I say dropped it in, it was almost literally that easy. Pull the old one, swap bearings, replace. 45 minutes, taking my time.

[Matt Meiser]

I put one in my Powermatic model 50 yesterday and it was maybe 45 minutes extra over a thorough tuneup.

[Rick Fisher]

I bought my planer with the cutterhead installed already.. I highly recommend it..
I have to plane some 3A figured maple this afternoon.. looking forward to it..

[John A langley]

Matt - Where did you get your spiral head for your PM 50? I''m too lazy to look. I have not been looking forward to changing the blades and think that would be a great solution.:D

[Myk Rian]

If by spiral you also mean shelix, I recommend them. I put a Byrd shelix in my DW735 and couldn't be happier.

[Matt Meiser]

I ordered my Byrd through Holbren.

[ed vitanovec]

I have the Byrd on my 8" shopfox jointer and really like it. I ran a 6" wide board through the jointer last night, it sure does a nice job. I am considering a Byrd for the 18" woodmaster planer. What ever brand you get it will do a nice job, I think its worth the investment.

Regards!
Ed

[gary Zimmel]

I put a Byrd head in my General 480-1 a couple of years ago.
Simple swap taking about an hour.
Liked the job it did so much I upgraded to a new planer just about a year ago.
Bought a 15" Powermatic that had a Byrd head in it from the factory.

The scallops that are left by the cutters are long gone after the stock is sanded.

Best upside for me is I haven't had to adjust a knife since...
The jointer was not a big deal but I sure hated to change the knives on the planer.

[Neal Clayton]

I have the Byrd on my 8" shopfox jointer and really like it. I ran a 6" wide board through the jointer last night, it sure does a nice job. I am considering a Byrd for the 18" woodmaster planer. What ever brand you get it will do a nice job, I think its worth the investment.

Regards!
Ed

i've got woodmaster's spiral head on my 718.

it's passable as a planer with it, not so much without it really. the snipe is still there due to the rubber rollers and what not, but the cut is smooth.

[glenn bradley]

Have one in the jointer, love it. Wish I had one in the planer. I will have to decide whether to do as Myk did or just get a new machine. Tough times will help delay that decision . . . I knew there was an upside ;-)

[Dan Forman]

I put a Byrd in my MiniMax FS 35 J/P. Very pleased. Doesn't mind the curly stuff or knots either.

Dan

[Cary Falk]

I installed one in my Shop Fox W1741 8" jointer and love it. It wasn't difficult but I would describe it as a PITA. I am looking at getting a planner with one already installed.

[Cliff Holmes]

the cutter leaves scallops

Scalloping comes from too high a feed speed, i.e. the cuts don't have a chance to overlap. The Byrd cutter on my Grizzly 8" jointer applies three cuts per rotation, so the original 4-blade head has an theoretical advantage since it leaves 33% less room between cuts at a given speed.

From a practical perspective, the ability to joint other materials without damaging the knives, the long life without sharpening, etc, far outweighs any theoretical loss from slower speed.

It took me about three hours to replace the head, mainly because I cut my hand removing the original head and, not learning my lesson, cut my hand in seven different spots installing the new one. It slipped and in that split second I decided that cutting up my hand was preferable to dropping that brand new $350 head on the concrete. Wear gloves!!!

[Cliff Holmes]

I installed one in my Shop Fox W1741 8" jointer and love it. It wasn't difficult but I would describe it as a PITA. I am looking at getting a planner with one already installed.

Good idea, swapping out a planer head is far more difficult than a jointer.

[Brian Gumpper]

Byrd had a problem one time too with some buildup from the plating process with residue getting on the cutter seats causing uneven cutters. If it bothers you, maybe try removing and reinstalling the cutters and cleaning up the seats. I have the cutter installing procedure with torque specs if you want it.

[Cary Falk]

Byrd had a problem one time too with some buildup from the plating cutters getting on the cutter seats causing uneven cutters. If it bothers you, maybe try removing and reinstalling the cutters and cleaning up the seats. I have the cutter installing procedure with torque specs if you want it.

I had to do this to mine.

[Brian Gumpper]

Only head I ever took back was a DW735 because the customer paid someone to install it and he wasn't happy with the cut, scalloping. I found out later that the person who installed it removed all the cutters to put it in and then reinstalled them without torquing them down. It is pretty important they all be even.

Replace one cutter, probably not a big deal. Change or rotate the whole set, get an inch pounds torque wrench and do it right.

[Glen Butler]

Scalloping comes from too high a feed speed, i.e. the cuts don't have a chance to overlap. The Byrd cutter on my Grizzly 8" jointer applies three cuts per rotation, so the original 4-blade head has an theoretical advantage since it leaves 33% less room between cuts at a given speed.



I believe we are talking about different things here. You are talking about see every knive contact point, and the "ridges" would be running across the board parallel with the knife. I am talking about constant ridges all the way down the length of the board perpendicular to the cutterhead. The spiral head knives do not sit perfect with each other, they vary up and down by a fraction. Probably not more than 0.001. When a board comes off the machine you cannot even visibly see these ridges they are so small, but they are surely there. Take a piece of cherry and run it. Leave it in the sun so it darkens, then sand it, by hand, with a block sander. The ridges will begin to appear as you sand off the darkened wood.

[Cliff Holmes]

Yes, you're right. I've always heard what you're describing as "ridging" or "plowing". As some people have already noted, getting all the heads torqued to the same spec (and making sure you don't have crud under the heads) should cure that.

[glenn bradley]

Just to add a recent experience; I had never had any scalloping either direction . . . I launched a piece off the jointer the other day, realized I was trying to run a too short piece and found other ways to do what I was after. Next time I went to use the jointer, you guessed it, ridges, lengthwise, down the board. The two inserts that got a bite on the board and launched it looked fine from above but were in line with the problem. Removed them and sure enough; slivers of wood had gotten jammed under 'em. Just gives you an idea of the forces at work here. Cleaned out those two and re-torqued; problem gone.

[Chip Lindley]

At the Premium Price Byrd charges for the Shelix, GUNK under brand new inserts should not be *something up with which we must put!* (no double negatives used) Removing, cleaning and re-torqueing umpteen inserts is no fun! I have to wonder if Byrd is addressing this issue seriously, or if it an on-going problem? I would consider a GUNKed head at a nicely discounted price Tho!

Sort of On Topic is the question: Is a genuine Byrd head that much better than Grizzly's or Jet's insert heads? The Byrd inserts are angled slightly to provide a skewed cut. The *lesser* makes' inserts appear to be exactly perpendicular to the bearing axis. Each inserts cuts it's full width each revolution. Again, I have to wonder? Who Likes What Most?

[Gary Herrmann]

I don't know that it's gunk. It looked and felt like cosmoline to me, which I think is pretty standard. Though why they'd put the blades back on after is a mystery to me

[Glen Butler]

Well now I want to swear. That is a big project ahead. I have a hard time believing the teeth will sit that true when I am finished. I hope what you are saying is gospel, cause if I get done and there is still ridging there will be words.:D What is a good torque for these teeth? They are so brittle, I had a couple break just using a screw driver.

[Brian Gumpper]

As I said, the buildup under the cutters is old news and has been resolved.

If anyone wants the cutter installation instructions with torque specs PM me your email address.

[Myk Rian]

What is a good torque for these teeth? They are so brittle, I had a couple break just using a screw driver.
Screw driver?
Torque is 55 inch pounds.
http://byrdtool.com/SHELIX%20miscellaneous.html