david brum
04-10-2011, 11:40 PM
I managed to find a Grizzly discount coupon and got a 15" Shelix head for my '80s era 15" planer. The final justification was that the old blades were really dull and I just couldn't face the ordeal of changing them again.
I watched the PWW video and read the pictorial on Bryd's site, both of which made it seem like a breeze. The big difference is that they aren't working on 30 yr old machines with really stuck bearings. :( It eventually all came apart though, and I succeeded in installing the new cutter head. The Byrd cutter heads that Grizzly sells are for generic 15", 4 post planers. At some point in the distant past, the Delta planer which served as the model for my planer must have been subtly different than newer models. I ended up having to scrounge some metric bolts (originals were SAE) to attach the gear and pulleys. I also had to dremel and file the gear which attaches to the cutter head in order to make it fit.
One most humorous (now) and dumb thing that I did was to fill the gear box with oil, not realizing that oil was leaking out the other side and through a perfectly placed hole in the makeshift work bench, then onto the floor in a big pool. :o
All in all, about a 4 hour job, not counting an hour to re-machine the gear. I fired it up this morning and was pleased at how much quieter and smoother the planer operates. As others have said, the machine definitely isn't working as hard.
Aside from no tearout, I can't say that the board's surface is better than standard cutters. The surface shows a little more ripple than I expected. From reading other's reviews, I expected something like lengthwise tracks. Am I wrong about this?
I'm glad to have this over and done, and no more blades to change. Anybody want an old 15" cutter head?
I watched the PWW video and read the pictorial on Bryd's site, both of which made it seem like a breeze. The big difference is that they aren't working on 30 yr old machines with really stuck bearings. :( It eventually all came apart though, and I succeeded in installing the new cutter head. The Byrd cutter heads that Grizzly sells are for generic 15", 4 post planers. At some point in the distant past, the Delta planer which served as the model for my planer must have been subtly different than newer models. I ended up having to scrounge some metric bolts (originals were SAE) to attach the gear and pulleys. I also had to dremel and file the gear which attaches to the cutter head in order to make it fit.
One most humorous (now) and dumb thing that I did was to fill the gear box with oil, not realizing that oil was leaking out the other side and through a perfectly placed hole in the makeshift work bench, then onto the floor in a big pool. :o
All in all, about a 4 hour job, not counting an hour to re-machine the gear. I fired it up this morning and was pleased at how much quieter and smoother the planer operates. As others have said, the machine definitely isn't working as hard.
Aside from no tearout, I can't say that the board's surface is better than standard cutters. The surface shows a little more ripple than I expected. From reading other's reviews, I expected something like lengthwise tracks. Am I wrong about this?
I'm glad to have this over and done, and no more blades to change. Anybody want an old 15" cutter head?