Powermatic quiet head indexing

[adrian williams]

Does anyone know the proper way to index a quiet head for grinding? I made a sheet metal jig that has a tooth to hold the head in place. It works for the most part but I think I'm holding the head too far forward. I looked on owwm and vintage machinery to no avail. I'm also looking for a jointing attachment and roller and bed gauge as well as any unwanted quietheads or their parts. Ill pay shipping. Thanks Adrian

[Chris Rosenberger]

There should be an indexing ring & pin behind the cutter head pulley.

[adrian williams]

257936No sir

[Chris Rosenberger]

That is where it should be. The best option would be to locate the index pin & ring for your model planer with a quiet head.
What model planer do you have?

[adrian williams]

160 there is no hole in the cover for a pin and no space for the ring and there are nine rows of knives. I've asked Powermatic and they know less than I do. I've used the tension on the belts and a peice of sheet metal with a tooth on each side to hold it in place but it doesn't work too well. There has to be a way ,the quiet head was a later innovation. Thanks adrian

[Chris Rosenberger]

The quiet head is not original to that planer.
You may still be able to find the indexing ring & pin that will fit. I am guessing that one from a Model 180 would work. From what I remember, the 160 is identical to the 180 except it is 2" narrower.

The index ring mounts on the hub of the pulley & the index pin mounts with 2 of the bolts in the bearing housing.

[adrian williams]

Powermatic said the serial number is in match. I don't doubt they don't know. They've let me down in two other areas. An index ring and plunger for a quiet head seems as though it would be hard to find. Maybe a post in Boyd in owwm. Thanks I have to find if its worth the money for it all or just get a terminus. Thanks for the info. No one else seems to know.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have a Terminus in my Model 180. It is a great cutting cutter head. Blade changes are very easy.

[Dave Cav]

There is another quiet head thread going over at OWWM right now. General consensus seems to be that the quiet head is a major pain to deal with. I have a 180 with a Byrd head and it works great, no knife grinding or jointing, cutters last nearly forever, a lot more quiet than a stock head. It was in the machine when I got it, but I planned to install one anyway when I got a 180. If you got the 160 cheap enough you could still install a Byrd or Terminus head and be money ahead.

[Mel Fulks]

I've never seen one . I have a friend who buys and sells machinery ,and he will not buy "quiet head" planers.