spiral cutterheads -are they worth it?

[howard s hanger]

I am expecting a Hammer A3-31 J/P in early August and I got a flyer from them saying I can add their new "silent power" spiral head for $800. Their video clearly shows how much quieter it is than the straight knives and I have heard it is much better on figured wood. I was actually shocked a bit on how quiet it is. However, $800 is a chunk of change but they also told me it's not a DIY change out so it would be cheaper if they did it or simply get one already equipped from the factory. Will I regret spending the $800 or regret it more not spending it?

[David Kumm]

Felder developed their version of the spiral to compete with Byrd and others but felt the byrd heads used too much power- particularly with their single phase smaller motor. If that is what you have you might consider it also for that reason. They have a graph of power consumption that seemed too good to be true but evidently is. Dave

[Van Huskey]

In general I am a big fan of spiral carbide insert heads on hobby level machines, they should save money in the long run as long as you use them enough. They leave a better finish on gnarly grained wood, so the more highly figured wood you use the more benefit you will see. The Hammer uses disposible self setting knives so you don't have to worry about long setup times. Many will say they are happy with their straight knives and they indeed do a very good job in the A3 series, the real proof to me is you almost NEVER see someone that has replaced a straight knife head with a Byrd and would go back.

If this is not a Byrd head they are advertising then they have switched very recently, as in the last month or so. They had been installing Byrd heads in the A3 31 and A3-41 for the same $800 for the last couple of years. If this is indead a inhouse head I will be interested to see it at IWF this year.

Just looked and it is an all new journal head with a shear cut (important) can't wait to get a look at one!

[Jim Stewart]

I have a 20" planer and an 8" jointer with Byrd spiral heads. To me the change was night and day for the better. Don't know about long term yet but I have used them for a year. It is amazing how smooth the cut is and how well it does burly wood. I would not go back.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have the Grizzly equivalent on my jointer and I love it. And when it gets dull, loosen and remove screw, turn the cutting head 90º,reinstall screw and torque to spec. No alignment....go back to jointing. I will get a planer with a Byrd head or equivalent in the future or buy the Byrd head for my lunch box planer.

[Cary Falk]

I have a spiral on my *" jointer and 15" planer. I would not go back. The noise reduction alone is worth it. The carbide last a long time. I HATE changing knives.

[Peter Quinn]

I could kick myself for not doing it sooner. You won't regret not getting it until you use somebody else's that does have it. Then you will need to tie a boot to a stick. Go for it.

[Larry Edgerton]

Check on the price of replacement cutters as compared to Byrd before biting the bullet.

I'm just saying......

Larry

[howard s hanger]

Wow. It looks like the jury is unanimous. It does look interesting with a single, spiral row of cutters.

[Van Huskey]

Check on the price of replacement cutters as compared to Byrd before biting the bullet.

I'm just saying......

Larry

Good point, the Byrd inserts are cheap at $3 each, some the Grizzly inserts top $5 and get close to $6 each.

[Van Huskey]

Wow. It looks like the jury is unanimous. It does look interesting with a single, spiral row of cutters.

Trust me it won't be as big a landslide as it appears now when all have had their say.

[Rod Sheridan]

I believe that the Hammer cutter is MAN rated for reduced kickback, if so it's the only MAN rated carbide cutter I have seen offered...........Rod.

[James Baker SD]

I believe that the Hammer cutter is MAN rated for reduced kickback, if so it's the only MAN rated carbide cutter I have seen offered...........Rod.

please define MAN rated for those of us that need a definition. Thanks.
James

[Larry Edgerton]

Is the standard head just an old school straight knife? I thought they had their own insert head along the same lines as Tersa, etc.

The reason I ask is that I have both Tersa and Byrd heads and I would choose the Tersa over a Byrd. Their head must be different as the Tersa is not loud at all, 78 db in my planer.

Here is my concern with a head that is unique to one manufacturer, especially a small one with limited numbers. If that company goes out of business, or decides not to support an older product, pulls out of the USA, etc.where do you get your replacement cutters?

I took a chance years ago on Tersa becoming the norm and not disappearing and it has worked out well, but if it had been SCM's proprietary cutter I would not have bought it.

Then again I worry too much........

Larry

[Rod Sheridan]

please define MAN rated for those of us that need a definition. Thanks.
James

Hi James, the EU standards for cutters have 2 classifications, MAN for manual, and MEC for mechanical. Those designations indicate whether a cutter can be hand fed or have to fed by a mechanical means such as drive rollers.

MAN cutters have extremely small projection and have been developed and tested to eliminate kickback, they're required for all hand fed applications in the EU.

A nice safety improvement in cutters..........Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

Larry, it is indeed a cartridge knife system, I change the blades in my jointer in about 3 or 4 minutes with no adjustment required. Almost as fast as Tersa.......Rod.

[Jim Matthews]

If you're in a production shop, your requirements are very different than us hobbyists.

If you're just running an occasional board, the footprint of the machine should be weighted heavily to determine your choice.
That said, if you buy a standard knife home user machine, you'll not likely resell it.

[howard s hanger]

my main deal is the noise. I work out of my garage off an alleyway so I have neighbors all around me. My current Dewalt 735 sounds like a 747 taking off and I cringe everytime I use it because I'm worried about bothering them. I can't really use it in the evening due to the noise. The straight knife version of the A3-31 is a lot quieter than the 735, or so I'm told, but having the spiral cutterhead would be even quieter. I like that idea. I'm a hobbiest as well and wouldn't be using it all that often so I would imagine the cutters will last me a long time - probably many years.

[Barry Richardson]

Spiral heads on all machines where I work and on my jointer at home. I wound not even consider a jointer or planer at this point without one. If you keep nails and dirty wood away from them, they last a looong time before you even need to rotate the blades. BTW those lunch box planers are all loud by nature. Most any big planer will be quieter.

[Matt Winterowd]

Having worked with both Tersa and Byrd heads in a production shop, Ive come to the opposite conclusion as Larry. I'd choose Byrd (or Grizzly) every time. Way less tearout with the spiral heads, and I have yet to see a groove from a nick on the Byrd. Happens weekly on the Tersas.

[Mark Carlson]

I got an A3-31 about a year ago with the byrd head installed. The sound issue was big for me because I have close neighbors. Even if that wasn't an issue I wouldn't go back to a straight knife jointer or planer.

~mark

[Greg Portland]

my main deal is the noise. I work out of my garage off an alleyway so I have neighbors all around me. My current Dewalt 735 sounds like a 747 taking off and I cringe everytime I use it because I'm worried about bothering them. I can't really use it in the evening due to the noise. The straight knife version of the A3-31 is a lot quieter than the 735, or so I'm told, but having the spiral cutterhead would be even quieter. I like that idea. I'm a hobbiest as well and wouldn't be using it all that often so I would imagine the cutters will last me a long time - probably many years.
I don't see where noise should be a part of your decision. Large industrial machines are going to be loud, especially with dust collection. Yes, the Dewalt is a higher pitched noise but that doesn't mean your neighbors will sleep like babies with the Hammer J/P.

[Van Huskey]

I don't see where noise should be a part of your decision. Large industrial machines are going to be loud, especially with dust collection. Yes, the Dewalt is a higher pitched noise but that doesn't mean your neighbors will sleep like babies with the Hammer J/P.

I dunno, IF we assume the 10dB drop Felder is claiming over their straight knives and probably another 10dB over a Dewalt screamer that is a BIG difference.


RE straight vs insert heads, we go round and round about this a lot, the thing to remember is all straight knife heads are NOT created equal. You must judge the individual heads not just insert vs straight, we fall into that trap a lot. The Hammer straight knife journal head is very good for its price range, but in my opinion the Byrd was/is better, I would assume the new head is at least as good as the Byrd since they are using it for their full line, if Felder had developed it just for the Hammer line I would be more dubious.

To the point about support regarding cutter bits MOST cutter head bits are available from multiple sources since they tend to repurpose them. I don't think I would worry about Felder if theirs is proprietary BUT I would feel more comfortable is it was a bigger company like SCMI.

[howard s hanger]

I went ahead and changed my order to include the new spiral head. What the heck. You can't take it with you.

[Larry Edgerton]

Having worked with both Tersa and Byrd heads in a production shop, Ive come to the opposite conclusion as Larry. I'd choose Byrd (or Grizzly) every time. Way less tearout with the spiral heads, and I have yet to see a groove from a nick on the Byrd. Happens weekly on the Tersas.

I am not sure how much of it is the head and how much of it is the planer, but I have no problem with tearout with an SCM 520 running the Tersa, and the amount of sanding I do "not" have to do is awesome. The finish is as good as I have ever seen. That being said, I am keeping an eye out for another big PM that I will add a Byrd head to for rough planing just for that knicked knife thing. I don't like the shallow scallops that come off of a Byrd head.

Part of the reason that the Tersa type heads with minimal knife projection work so well is that because of the shallower cuts they have speeded up the cutterhead. My head turns at 7200 rpm, with four knives. At 16 fpm finish speed that is 150 cuts per inch, and in 4th gear at 72fpm it is still running at 33 cuts per inch. I don't remember exactly what my old PM 180 ran, but it was in the 4000 rpm range if I remember correctly.

I did some research on noise in woodworking machinery, and what causes the majority of the noise is air compressing and decompressing. Try moving your chipbreaker closer to the head if you want to see how this works. On some machines where it is adjustable you can tone down the sound by moving it back a touch so it still does its job, but just barely. I did this on an old Delta I used to have. I was going to try drilling holes in it but bought a PM 180 instead. That was loud too, but not as bad.

On old school machines you have that huge gullet with the jib and room for a wrench that can grab air, compress it as it closes on the chipbreaker, and releasing it after it passes.

When you look at the Tersa head there is almost no gap at all as there is no need for tools. The knife projection is much less an old school head as are most machines from Europe, probably some of it for the reasons that Rod mentioned. They use this same head on jointers which would have to meet the MAN standard. Because there is no volume of air to compress, there will be less noise. This is why the Byrd heads are quiet, there is not a continious knife, so air pressure can stay more stabile as it escapes around the edge of the individual cutters.

Research on how to make effective tires quiet was instrumental in quieting machines. This is where the compressed air situation was discovered. Have you noticed how quiet semis are compared to 30 years ago? Now they sneak up beside you without you knowing they are there, and most of that is tire design changes.

Howard.

Congrats! A fine machine with either head, and you will be proud to have it in your shop. I know I would be....

Larry

[David Kumm]

Larry, you've mentioned one of the reasons I like the Byrd. It is saving many PM 180,221,224 from the graveyard. They are great candidates for the head and will outperform many new planers for another lifetime. They work well with DD speeds of 3600 or belt speeds of 4500. Dave

[Larry Frank]

I think that the spiral cutter heads are great. However, the costs are always a consideration

For a standard 15" 4-post planer

Straight HSS Blade Set $ 72
Straight Carbide $210
Byrd Heat $795

I would love to have the Byrd Head but for the amount of wood that I plane which is probably a couple hundred board feet a year, it would be very hard to justify. There is little doubt that for a production shop or someone who puts many hundreds a year through a planer, it would be a benefit.

[David Kumm]

Felder uses what is basically the ESTA disposablade system. Dave

[Van Huskey]

Larry, you've mentioned one of the reasons I like the Byrd. It is saving many PM 180,221,224 from the graveyard. They are great candidates for the head and will outperform many new planers for another lifetime. They work well with DD speeds of 3600 or belt speeds of 4500. Dave

The other nice thing about Byrds for the older PM planers is they are cheap compared to Byrds for almost any of the other old iron planers. I am curious how well they are balanced, following Larry's point I wonder how much you could speed one up via VFD and not have a "Byrd flying the coop".

[Jack Lemley]

Anyne here have experience with the Accu-Head spiral cutter head with carbide cutters (bought separately)? The Accu-Head is quite a bit cheaper than Byrd even with add on carbide bits. I have a Dwalt 735 and am looking to change the straight cutter head.

Thanks
Jack

[Van Huskey]

Anyne here have experience with the Accu-Head spiral cutter head with carbide cutters (bought separately)? The Accu-Head is quite a bit cheaper than Byrd even with add on carbide bits. I have a Dwalt 735 and am looking to change the straight cutter head.

Thanks
Jack

The Acuu-Head has a very low population of bits compared to the Byrd head for the 735. However, it tends to make more sense to me than a Byrd for lunch blx planers. My point being if you are going to spend Byrd money on a 735 in most cases it makes more sense to start looking at a 4 post 15" planer either new or used.

[jim gossage]

I have an 8" york jointer w spiral head and 64 radiused carbide cutters. I have used it moderately for 6 yeatrs and still have not turned the inserts. Still very smooth w never any chipout

[Van Huskey]

I have an 8" york jointer w spiral head and 64 radiused carbide cutters. I have used it moderately for 6 yeatrs and still have not turned the inserts. Still very smooth w never any chipout


That is a high population of bits on a 8" journal head! Who made that one, usually they are closer to 40 bits on an 8".

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Finished setting up my new 8" jointer, a Grizzly GO490 with the Byrd Shelix cutter-head. I have never experience such a smooth cutting setup. I ran a piece of character cherry through my 201 Powermatic planer equipped with a straight cutter-head; severe chip-out as usual. Ran the same piece over the GO490 with Byrd Shelix cutter-head; baby bottom smooth. Today I called Byrd and ordered a Shelix for my 201 planer.

I am proud of my Shelix. My Grizzly jointer now sports a "Shelix Helical Spiral Head Byrd Tool" decal compliments of a sign maker friend. Being forward thinking, the same decal is on my planer.

[Correy Smith]

I have a Minimax F1 Tersa head and a Delta X5 with a new shelix on it. I also added the new Wixley Planer Read out that will read to .001" instead of the previous +/- .005 res.
With HSS tersa on a 120mm radius head deliver exceptionally smooth faces and edges. But you can control the feed rates and swap out knives dependent of task in less than two minutes and back again for fine finish work. Leaves difficult curly wood looking like glass with no tear out for the first few hundred feet. Slowly deteriorates from there.
4Post planers with the 3.5 " straight knife head can not deal with reversing grain and causes more damage than not. The Byrd is pretty amazing of an upgrade. Grizzly had them for $650 shipped to Hawaii for $30. Cutters at Global Tooling are only $2.35 each. They have great rates on Tersa as well. I do mostly furniture these days and finish with hand planes. The .001" minus deep scalloped "lines" from the shelix are removed with one or two passes with a hand plane. On highly curly wood it is pretty amazingly better than what I was dealing with prior. Ribbon stripe grain, with wide patches of reversed grain will raise a bit but not really tear out. Eucalyptus torrelliana for example and monkey pod as well. But tighter curl it does fine. It has paid for it self very quickly. Verrrry quiet compared to the OME head. I have forgot it on a few times....
The wixley was another HUGE improvement. After installing the Byrd I got the head parallel to the table within .001". With the wixley I get repeatable cuts within .002" easily. YOu will learn that the locks will drift a couple thou if you stuff a fat piece thru. So it was intersting to be able to see what was happening at that level of resolution and then be able to adjust your work methods to get your best results from a basically hobby level machine.
That said I would prefer to have the tersa for edging because with a slow pass you get and edge that really does not need sanding. Now if I only had a super surfacer to follow the Byrd then just ONE pass with a hand plane... sublime
Hammer sounds nice, I hope you enjoy it!
Correy

[Van Huskey]

Correy you hit on an important point, the quality and size of the straight knife head is important when comparing it to a Byrd or other insert head. A large cutting circle with indexed knives or jointed knives can produce a better finish than an insert head as long as the knives are still very sharp. I think as insert heads continue to evolve you will see designs that are more specialized as finish heads and rough heads, there used to be a distinct line between these types of planers in US machines where you might see an Oliver 299 in a pattern makers shop you would likely see a Powermatic 225 in a lumberyard and it was unlikely you would see the planers reversed.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have a Minimax F1 Tersa head Correy

I will have one of those sitting next to my 520 when I get my house done.

Envious in Michigan.....

Larry

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Correy, thanks! I had checked into buying a readout for my Powermatic 201 planer when I first bought it in 2003 but did not get one $$$$$. I was unaware of the Wixley 550 until your post. I will have a Wixley 550 courtesy of Amazon next week.

[Kurt Sallaz]

I have used a Byrd on a Powermatic 15" planer and while it may be quieter, I don't like the surface it leaves after planing. If you lay a straight edge across the grain direction you will see "swales" caused by the cutter head action. Run your fingers across it and it feels like a washboard. Much harder to get those out than the "snipe" caused by the straight cutter heads unless you have a drum sander to finish it up with. Originally the Powermatic came fitted with a Chinese clone of the Byrd and the finish was as I described above so after complaining to Powermatic they sent a tech out with a Byrd and the finish was the same. I am surprised nobody else has encountered this. Any ideas?

[Van Huskey]

I have used a Byrd on a Powermatic 15" planer and while it may be quieter, I don't like the surface it leaves after planing. If you lay a straight edge across the grain direction you will see "swales" caused by the cutter head action. Run your fingers across it and it feels like a washboard. Much harder to get those out than the "snipe" caused by the straight cutter heads unless you have a drum sander to finish it up with. Originally the Powermatic came fitted with a Chinese clone of the Byrd and the finish was as I described above so after complaining to Powermatic they sent a tech out with a Byrd and the finish was the same. I am surprised nobody else has encountered this. Any ideas?

Take the bits out clean under them very well and reinstall and retorque properly.

[Correy Smith]

Are you referring to the approx 1/4 wide x .001" deep scalloped grooving parallel with the length of the material? The trade off for me was that tear out had been as much as 1/8" and would ruin a show face of an expensive board . I have an easier time removing the .001" " lines" than 1/8" deep tear out that compromises the target thickness of the stock regardless of hand sanding, hand planing or panel sanding there after. Which actually , I find drum sanding to be quite labor intensive. I avoid it when possible. Most of the woods I work with have to be taken down slow and or coarse to avoid the burn. I have even started hand planing smaller architectural jobs. It is hands down is the fastest way to finish wood IMO. Larger jobs I try to find a "sander".
I will hopefully have a SAC 630 Thicknesser eventually with the Tersa head. They have feed rates down to 13fpm. I am hoping that with the possibility of skewing,slow FPM, high rpm and sharp Tersa HSS, I can get the results from the thicknesser that I can get off the F1 jointer. Which is not 100% but closer to 95% better than good most times. I am thinking my speed rates may only be about 10~12 fpm with some of the gnarly wood though.
If I was just pushing thru Oak, soft maple, pine, walnut, straight head was All I needed. I even bought the Foley Belsaw knife Grinder tried all kinds of bevel angles and kept a crisp set on all the time. But the HSS in the couple of different brands of knives I was using do no compare to the quality of the Tersa steel. I did not bother with carbide because I needed sharp edges for the figured wood and would not be able to sharpen at home. I was tired of the poor grind quality I was getting from sending them out.
Interestingly though the narrow cutting face of the inserts are less hostile to the material than a wide blade. And if there was tear out ( have not seen any yet, that has disappointed me) it would be limited to the width of the cutter. Straight knives I had seen plenty of larger flake come out , long bands of nasty day spoilers. It is interesting also the geometry involved in the Byrd system. The attack angle is more similar to a hand plane with a chip breaker tight to the edge. The bevel grind must be somewhere close to 50 degrees. I think this has a lot to do with the quality of the cut. The traditional straight head works kinda like an adze. It comes down with an arced swing and scoops out a chip. The insert, at the very mid point of taking a chip has a very low bed angle, shaves it off. I think the edges will last longer as well. The force to the edge is applied differently . LAstly I have not counted, probably will not but think that I am getting more cuts per inch than I was before as well.
But all this stuff is way beyond my pay grade. Completely speculative of course.

[Correy Smith]

Hey Jerry, will the 201 mill thicker than 9.25" ? My 4 post is 6" but will go to 6.80". How do like it? You get the HH?
C

[Jerry Hillenburg]

Correy, The scale's lowest reading is 9" but I have never had it that low. They are making a batch of Byrd Shelix heads for the Powermatic 201 now - Becky at Byrd Tool said it will be 2 weeks. Looking forward to it and the Wixley 550 readout. My 201 is nice now, but it is soon to be amazing!

My 201 Powermatic is one of my better finds. It was a demonstrator at a Superior Distrubuting in Indianapolis. It's 3 phase so they were having a tough time selling it - bought it for $2900 in 2003 in like new condition. The price today is $6000 new .

[Andrew Hughes]

To confuse the topic even more I would like to add that my Oliver jointer has 54 inserts on a 8inch head.six rows of nine.The surface is slightly better in flatness than my powermatic 15HH.The inserts are the same spec as Bryds just closer together. Andrew

[jim gossage]

That is a high population of bits on a 8" journal head! Who made that one, usually they are closer to 40 bits on an 8".

Sorry, I was going from memory on that one - possibly even drinking that night! It is a Yorkcraft jointer from Wilke Machinery with 54 cutters, 6 rows of 9.

[Nick Sorenson]

I have had the Byrd for around 6 months now and love it. Great system, way better than blades and plenty of power (someone mentioned needing extra power for the byrd) on my single phase 3 HP Grizzly planer.

I can't imagine planing being any better. Very very little tear out.

They send out wood samples for those who want to know what to expect out of the Byrd heads. I didn't believe how smooth the sample was compared to what I was used to seeing with blades.

Well worth the $650.

And as others said it's nice being able to rotate the cutters (they each have 4 carbide edges). I'm still on my first edge after 6 months of medium to heavy use (I get rough lumber so I do more planing than some people even though I don't have a boat load of work currently).

[Peter Kelly]

Dropped by Felder earlier today and looked at the new Silent Power cutterblock. Very nice piece of machining, actually makes the Byrd one look crude by comparison. Anyone considering a Felder / Hammer jointer, planer or combination machine should strongly consider the upgrade.

[Will Blick]

Kurt, this makes me suspect something else is wrong.... cutters are one small part of a planar. Even straight knives will have a bad outcome if you have other problems, such as vibrations, non concentric bearings, un even rollers...just a few off the top of my head..sometimes trouble shooting is difficult. I have the PM20" with Byrd, and have NO problems, the cut is as smooth as the best straight knives, like everyone mentioned, with no tear out, no noise and blades that seem to last forever... I was always replacing HSS straight blades in my previous planar.

as for the noise issue....if the above numbers are correct, 10db, and another 10db, remember, this is a log scale, so 10 = 10x, so 20 db = 1000x...regardless if this value is correct, 100x noise reduction is incredible... my PM20 / Byrd is so quiet, no need for hearing protection.... the motor makes as much noise as the cutters.

you made the right move upgrading now, as its difficult to get it to factory standards...and the $800 extra, whatever you don't save in blades and saved wood, you will recoup at re-sale.

[Ralph Butts]

Howard I have also been working with hammer rep on the west coast on a new A3 as well. I am torn between going with A3 31 with new spiral head vs A3 41 with straight knives. After reading through this post the only reason I did not consider the A3 41 with the spiral was cost. The total machine price is getting up there for me. I think that what I am reading here is the finish difference is well worth the extra $1000 for the 16" version (my true desire exposed). I think I will certainly regret not getting either machine with the spiral cutterhead. As a hobbyist I am just having a hard time with wrapping my head around spending 6k on a machine. I am sitting on the middle of the fence and need a push. With nothing to reference but my own experiences it just seems like a lot of money for boy toys. I am sold on selling my separates due to space needs and this will really be an upgrade assuming I can get fair market value for my units.

[Van Huskey]

As a hobbyist I am just having a hard time with wrapping my head around spending 6k on a machine. I am sitting on the middle of the fence and need a push.

No problem, just remember it is 2 machines @ 3,000 each, see how simple that is... push. :D

[Chris Fournier]

I use a Tersa on my jointer/planer and a spiral head in my shaper. You can discuss this forever and not really get any where. I used standard knives for more years than anything else and I machined 10s of thousands of board feet of lumber, hard and soft - no reclaim. If you keep your cutting tools sharp and use good technique then any of the aforementioned cutters will do. It is now a budget consideration. If you are doing fine woodworking you will be resurfacing all machined surfaces by hand anyways.

[Erik Loza]

...If you keep your cutting tools sharp and use good technique then any of the aforementioned cutters will do. It is now a budget consideration. If you are doing fine woodworking you will be resurfacing all machined surfaces by hand anyways.

Agree with this ^^^.

I don't want to get into a spiral-vs-Tersa debate (because honestly, they both do a fine job...) but will mention as a matter of statistics that of the hundreds of planers, jointers, and jointer/planers I have sold over the last ten years, I could probably count on less than both hands the number of customer who said, "Nope, just have to have a spiral after all". And at least three of that group were pro shops with 20"+ planers, running probably 6+ hrs a day.

When a customer who picked up something like an older FS350 at auction, which would've had the American-style cutterhead, calls me and asks what to do, I just tell them to call Byrd and get a spiral head. Why? Well, getting a Tersa would probably be at least, if not more, expensive and the Tersa dealers (in my experience) also just sell you the head and that's that, whereas Byrd seems to be more responsive to MM customers, have the bearings (from what I have been told) and seems to be faster on the turnaround (again, from what I have been told).

However, when someone calls and asks me if its better to have a spiral or a Tersa head on their brand-new machine and, as in our case, it already comes with Tersa, then it's a no-brainer. It has nothing to do with cut quality, it's all about time and money. I don't know about Byrd but with some other suppliers of machines with spiral heads, I am going to assume that the insert teeth may be proprietary and that you may be forced to deal only with them for that item? I explain to folks that Tersa is great because you can shop around and find your best deal on knives. Just speaking for myself, cost of Choice-A and Choice-B being the same or close to the same, I would always choose the one that left me more options in terms of wearables that I would be paying to replace, myself. It would be like shopping for a new car. The selling point being tires. One handles great but only takes one size of tire and it's only available from the dealership, whereas the other also handles great but takes a variety of sizes or brands you could get at Discount Tire, Firestone, etc. You tell me, then?

Time is the other issue. I've only changed teeth on a spiral head once but Tersa was hands-down faster. For home woodworkers like you or me, possibly not an issue. In a production environment, a different story. Of those planers I mentioned earlier, the one shop I know best was running Teak flooring all day long on that machine and in his case, he told me that he would've preferred to keep the Tersa head in that machine, since it was faster to change knives and the finish quality was better, but that even the carbide knives were taking so much damage from debris in the the wood that spiral made more sense from time perspective. Of course, he had to pay another several thousand dollars out of his pocket to switch the head over but in his case, time was money, so I guess it needed to happen.

Anyway, there is no right or wrong choice, just opinions. My 2-cents, for what they may/may not be worth.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Ralph Butts]

Well thanks in no small part to Van's fine advise I am getting off the fence and today I have placed my order for a new Hammer A3 41 with a spiral cutter block. I purchased the digital handwheel and will most likely add an extension table or two before delivery time. Most likely won't have anything to show until the end of September if I am lucky or early October if I am not. It somewhat hard to feel excited being that I spent a bunch of money and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. I guess I will have to just hang a photo in the shop over the empty space for now. I will post an update and photos upon arrival. :D

[Van Huskey]

Well thanks in no small part to Van's fine advise I am getting off the fence and today I have placed my order for a new Hammer A3 41 with a spiral cutter block. I purchased the digital handwheel and will most likely add an extension table or two before delivery time. Most likely won't have anything to show until the end of September if I am lucky or early October if I am not. It somewhat hard to feel excited being that I spent a bunch of money and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. I guess I will have to just hang a photo in the shop over the empty space for now. I will post an update and photos upon arrival. :D

If I had not decided to go with old iron seperates that is the exact machine I would have gotten. I am interested to hear about the new cutter head and really anxious to here from someone with Byrd experience after they play with one.

I hate waiting when the money is spent, I go through buyers remorse on almost every big purchase and it is not cured until I get to use it a fair amount then it almost always completely disappears. When I have to wait just to get the item it just compounds the anxiety! I think you will be VERY happy with it.

[Mel Fulks]

This issue is made more complicated by some of the terms we use.Most steel knives sold today are not high speed ,they are semi high speed.T1 or M2 are true high speed but usually not referred to as such.One of the steels sold by TERSA is T1 but their site refers to it as 18 percent tungsten high speed.Traditional cutter heads perform real well with true high speed but I have worked in several shops that didn't have one piece of it until I convinced them to try it ,all noticed much less tear out after switching.True high speed is also a little quieter.There is a distinctive put- put sound to cheap steel.As for knife wear,it is greatly improved by fast feed speed .Use slower speeds just for final cut.

[howard s hanger]

Mine is supposed to hit the U.S. this coming week. Pretty exciting! On a related note, I posted a review in Lumberjocks about my K3 winner. Another poster started in about how the Hammer is a cheap version of Felder and the A3 series is made in China! :eek: This was the first I ever heard of this so I called Felder USA headquarters and the president is supposed to call me by Monday. I'm going to get it straight from the boss about exactly where the A3 is made and the sources of the parts. Evidently he had some damage caused by the shipper and he was upset at Felder about it. The Felder 500 series is really a Hammer with the upgraded X-roll slider. Nothing cheap about either Hammer or Felder.

[Peter Kelly]

On a related note, I posted a review in Lumberjocks about my K3 winner. Another poster started in about how the Hammer is a cheap version of Felder and the A3 series is made in China! :eek: This was the first I ever heard of this so I called Felder USA headquarters and the president is supposed to call me by Monday. I'm going to get it straight from the boss about exactly where the A3 is made and the sources of the parts. Evidently he had some damage caused by the shipper and he was upset at Felder about it. The Felder 500 series is really a Hammer with the upgraded X-roll slider. Nothing cheap about either Hammer or Felder.
I can tell you Hammer machines and their associated parts are not made in China. Their castings do come from a foundry in Poland but all parts and final assembly of Hammer branded units are done at the Felder factory in Hall, Austria.

[Rick Fisher]

The replacement cutters are typically made by Tigra in Germany .. CMT makes them as well..

I have a Magnum indexable cutterhead .. the OEM cutters are $5.99 each from the machine manufacturer.. I bought Tigra cutters for $2.75. Same plastic box, same model number..

[Scott Vigder]

Just obtained the Powermatic 15" planer with the spiral head. Assuming cut quality is similar to the old straight knives, the spiral is MUCH quieter.I no longer have to search for ear protection to plane a board, and that is real delight....and a real time saver as I can never remember where I put them.