Switching my jointer to a spiral cutterhead.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

After much frustration with resetting my knives I've decided to break down and buy a spiral cutterhead for my 8" Grizzly jointer. On the website there are 3 choices: spiral blades, index spiral and shelix spiral. Prices range in order from $130 to almost $400.
Was wondering if anyone else made this switch, which cutterhead did you choose and was it difficult of install? Also, is there any truth to the rumor that the indexing and shelix heads don't leave as smooth a finish as knives?

[Cliff Holmes]

I just made the switch a few months ago, to the Byrd head. Swapping it out was pretty easy, just wear gloves (don't ask). Go ahead and get the bearings at the same time so you don't have to hassle with removing the old ones, they're cheap.

I've found that the new head leaves just as smooth a finish as the old head. If you feed too quickly, any head will cause scalloping. However, since the Byrd head only cuts three times per rotation vs four on the knife head, it's somewhat more susceptible to it. On the other hand, the carbide heads can joint more types of materials, last longer, etc.

I did have some slight ridging after the new head was installed. I just removed the cutters in that area, cleaned them and the seats, then reinstalled them. The problem went away, apparently one cutter wasn't seated quite right.

You might want to invest in a in-lb torque wrench ($30 or so) to be sure you're always setting the cutter with the right amount of force. I've seen photos of shattered cutters from over-enthusiastic tightening.

[Ned Otter]

Jim - with such limited shop time, I could not justify spending the time to set/re-set jointer knives, and opted for a Byrd Shelix head for my 6" jointer. I have not regretted it.

You'll pay a premium, but only once - and never again have to be concerned with spending your valuable time (much more costly in the long run) re: straight edges and leveling.

In my opinion, the finish is comparable, but leaves some marks (as can knives) that - if seeking the ultimate in wood finishing - you still have to sand out.

One thing to note is that most new heads don't come with bearings, so you'll have to acquire a bearing puller, or order new bearings. Sometimes they will include new bearings with the purchase of a new cutter head.

You just need to be careful taking bearings off and putting the new ones on. It might be easier to just buy new bearings if you don't have a bearing puller. When you install them, make sure you only hit the inner race of the bearing and not the area where the balls actually are.

My head also did not come with the metal insert, referred to in the parts list as the "key" that allows the head to be locked in place. I had to transfer it from the original head, which was straightforward. It's basically a piece of metal that sits in a groove, allowing set screws to hold the head in place.

Not sure about the others, but with the Shelix, you simply rotate the carbide inserts when they become dull. Carbide is considerably harder than HSS knives.

My only issue with installation of the new head was that it needed a bit of shimming underneath the bearing block on one side. A few .002 snips of a feeler gauge did the trick.

One piece of advice that others have failed to follow is to always handle a any cutter head with gloves.

Good luck with your decision.

Ned Otter

[glenn bradley]

My G0490X came with the Griz head installed that was offered in 2008. This head and an additional Griz head are now offered along with the Byrd. This German-made head has been great and I decided on it based on the reports from a guy who had a Griz and a Byrd in his shop claimed no difference in the cuts -AND- the fact that it was already installed.

I'm sure the Byrd heads are great, the Griz works flawlessly for me. I'm not sure what is behind offering a third option at Grizzly but their sales folks might be able to clear up and questions over the phone.

As the the scalloping discussions that pop up; I had never experienced it but was able to make it happen. All I had to do was feed the material really fast and control it rather poorly to get the effect I think folks are talking about. I would equate it to the washboarding that knives produce in similar circumstances.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Some great advice here, thanks. Looking at the Grizzly head now after Glenn's endorsement. It's about $50 cheaper than the Byrd and looks like it comes with more parts.
Description
These cutterheads replace the standard straight knife cutterheads on our Grizzly jointers and planers. Each cutterhead has four spirals with indexable, four-sided carbide inserts, so each insert can be rotated for a new factory sharp edge. The 6" and 8" Jointer cutterheads include cast iron pulleys, bearing blocks and mounting studs. All cutterheads include 5 extra inserts, T-handle wrench, Torx bits and spare insert screws. These Grizzly cutterheads have an incredible finish, and are comparable to the Byrd cutterheads in quality of cut as well as the quality of the cutterhead itself. The inserts are imported from Germany.

Are the "bearing blocks" the bearings?

[Cliff Holmes]

The Byrd head also comes with the extra inserts and a tightening tool (it's just a socket driver with a torx socket).

I really don't see why the Grizzly heads would come with new bearing blocks and studs. It really can't even come with the whole bearing block, the lower half is part of the table casting. It doesn't say it, but I'm assuming the bearings themselves are also included, perhaps installed?

I guess I was the other way 'round: It's only $50 more, why not get the Byrd? Some people say the shearing cuts are better, some people say it doesn't matter. I say for $50 I want to make sure. YMMV.

[John Lanciani]

Hi Jim,

While it's not anywhere close to your jointer, I just recently put a Byrd head in my 16" Rojek J/P. The best way for me to describe the resulting finish is much better but not perfect. There is significantly less scalloping, and virtually no tearout, but I certainly don't get the "ready to finish" boards that some users claim. There are minute lines parallel to the feed direction and it is somewhat sensitive to feed speed. All and all it is a vast improvement and I'd do it again. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to come over and see for yourself, I'm right in Lunenburg.

John

[Ned Otter]

Jim - bearings and bearing blocks are separate items. The bearings reside on the physical rod that is at the center of the cutter head. The cutter head with bearings fit into the bearing blocks which are secured to the jointer itself. This is how it works on my PM.

Ned

[Mark Carlson]

Hi Jim,

I put a byrd head on a powermatic 54a. It was really easy. Took about 1 hour. I bought it from Sunhill because they offered it with the bearings already installed. I'm a big fan of these heads. I don't see scalloping and the machine is really quiet. I might upgrade to a machine with a tersa head someday but would never go back to straight knives I had to set.. If I could get a minimax or hammer with a byrd style head I would.

~mark

[Matt Meiser]

I put a Byrd on my 60's vintage Powermatic a few weeks back. It probably a two hour job, at least 1/2 of which was spent solving a cutterhead-to-table parallelism issue that existed before and figuring out why my tables weren't parallel (turned out that I can't check them with the ways unlocked, and there never was a problem.)

Byrd can at least sometimes supply bearings with the head which saves some time. I went that route.

[Richard Ray]

Before installing a Shellix head on my Grizzly 604, I would block up the DC hose every now and then. I have done it since. Not hard to see why the Shellix would make smaller chips. I nice benefit.

[glenn bradley]

There are minute lines parallel to the feed direction

John, just a side note; there has been discussion here of some residue under the Byrd inserts as supplied. Once cleaned out and the inserts were properly torqued back in, the problems went away.

I came across this discussion after I picked up a pattern on my Griz head. I had just jointed some really nasty stuff and thought I had damaged something. After reading about the Byrd, I pulled the inserts that lined up with the problem.

I found wood jammed under two of the inserts. Really makes you understand the forces at work at the point of impact on those cutters. Anyway, cleaned it out and torqued the inserts back and the lines went away. HTH.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Glenn, what did you use to clean them?