PDA

View Full Version : Byrd install on Grizzly G0490 8" jointer



Brian Kincaid
01-05-2011, 12:18 PM
First things first Holbren's great. My mother bought the cutterhead for me for Christmas.
Ordered new bearings with Byrd head. They pressed on the non-pulley bearing.

You will need:
1) Phillips screwdriver
2) Socket wrench set
3) Metric allen wrench set
4) Snap ring pliers (auto parts store)
5) Rubber mallet
6) Small sledge hammer
7) I cleaned the parts as I went so I won't call that out. No reason to put the machine back together dirty! Wax those tables while you have it all open!

Here is how the install went:
1) Remove front and back cover on the base, 6 screws each
2) Remove fence, one bolt
3) Lower infeed and outfeed table ALL the way, have to loosen bolt-stops to get them down
4) Take off red cutterhead guard, one #4 allen screw
5) Remove rear belt guard, 2 bolts
6) Remove belt, have to loosen and raise motor mount, 4 bolts see note below
7) Unbolt pillow blocks that seat bearings, 2 bolts each
8) Gently pry up pillow block/cutterhead/pully assembly. Watch for shims on either side! Mine had 2 thin shims on the pulley side.
9) Tap off pillow block from non-pulley side. Mine came off easy.
10) Remove pulley, there is a hex bolt on the end of the pulley side shaft. Remove it and the pulley should slide off. Make sure you save the shaft-key!
11) Removing the pulley side pillow block was the most difficult part of the install. I had to set up a rig that let the cutterhead hang from the pillow block so I could hit the shaft of the old cutterhead with a sledge hammer (I was actually hitting a small block of wood to keep from marring the shaft). The shaft will finally break loose and leave the bearing in the pillow-block.
12) Use snap ring pliers to remove the snap-ring that holds the bearing in the pulley-side pillow block.
13) Remove bearing and replace with new bearing. Re-insert snap-ring.
14) Set pulley-side bearing and pillow block on new cutterhead. To seat the bearing slide the pulley over the assembly where it will go and gently tap the pulley with the rubber mallet. When it's seated tap in the shaft-key. The new cutterhead shaft will not extend to the end of the pulley like the old one. Just verify the bearing is fully seated.
15) Screw the allen bolt onto the new shaft. Put the non pulley side pillow block on the assembly. (this bearing was already pressed on by Holbren)
16) Reinstall the assembly into the jointer doing the steps backwards.

Note:
To easily adjust the motor/belt tension I used two jet parallel clamps and a board to span under the motor. Flip the heads around on the jet clamps and use them to push the board up evenly from both sides (raising the motor).

Results:
1. The new cutterhead is MUCH less noisy.
2. Feed is now constant pressure (seems a little harder to push, but is WAY more smooth).
3. I did a face-joint on a piece of junk oak with reversing grain and there was very little tearout. I would have expected a nightmare with the old blades.
4. The new cutterhead and old cutterhead were nearly identical with respect to outfeed table height.

Question:
Does anybody have a part number for a really good belt for this machine? I read somewhere that someone got a good belt from McMaster for around $20 but I don't know the first thing about belts.

Hope this helps somebody down the road.
-Brian

Don Bullock
01-05-2011, 12:27 PM
Brian, thanks for the post. I just copies it as a document in my computer. Whenever I have the cash to change my G0490 to to a Byrd I'm sure that this will come i handy. It's posts like this that make SMC a fantastic community.

Brian Kincaid
01-05-2011, 12:50 PM
Don,
Glad to help. SMC is a place where collectively all get more than we give. If you saved an offline copy please note I added some info on step 14.
-Brian

Van Huskey
01-05-2011, 3:19 PM
6) Small sledge hammer

What project isn't made better with this tool?

Although there is much discussion and it seems the clone cutterheads do the job just as well as a Byrd the thing I like about the Byrd head is that is is very similarly priced BUT it is made in the USA. We don't often have an option to buy American with any machine but the ones with Byrd heads do keep a good chunk of the money here. I certainly understand the reasons Grizzly and others don't offer multi-head options though. The only manufacturer that I know that offers both a "clone" and Byrd option as well as straight and spiral heads on their jointers is Oliver.

Great Christmas present and I am sure many will appreciate your instructions!

Don Bullock
01-06-2011, 3:13 PM
Van,

Grizzly does offer a choice. A Byrd cutter is available as an option for the G0490 at $395.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-Jointer-with-Parallelogram-Beds/G0490

Jim Stewart
01-06-2011, 8:43 PM
Who is Holbren? I am thinking of converting to the byrd head on my Go490. Thanks for the write-up. is pressing on a bearing something I will have to take to a machinist?

Brian Kincaid
01-07-2011, 4:20 PM
Who is Holbren? I am thinking of converting to the byrd head on my Go490. Thanks for the write-up. is pressing on a bearing something I will have to take to a machinist?

Holbren is a distributor for Byrd. Google Holbren Tools to get there. I don't think I can post a link.
Pressing on a bearing is just the process of positioning a bearing on a shaft that has very little clearance. In my writeup I mentioned Holbren put one of the bearings on for me. I used the pulley to push the other one into position with a rubber mallet. No machinist required.

-Brian

Mike Cruz
01-08-2011, 12:03 AM
So, Holbren beat Grizzly's price on the Byrd head? How much was Holbren's price? I just looked and Grizzly is at $385 for that cutterhead right now, but when I got mine, it was on sale for about $330.

Ronald Blue
01-08-2011, 7:53 AM
Go to a Motion Industries or Bearing Headquarters and they will be able to set you up with and industrial grade V-belt. There is a difference in belts. Gates is one brand.