Anyone changed Dewalt Planer cutter head for Byrd?

[tim walker]

And if so, how difficult was it?

[joe maday]

Do a search on line, Chris Wong, Flair Woodworks has a nice step by step blog/video showing the change-over.

[Myk Rian]

Do a search here. It's been done so many times, you could write a book. If you're mechanically inclined, it's easy.

[Jeff Monson]

Not hard at all, took me about an hour the 1st time.

[Tony Leonard]

I did mine. It was not difficult.

I have been breaking inserts though. Wondering if anybody else has had an isue with them breaking often? I cleaned and re-torqued all of them becuase I had an issue with the "lines" in the cut surface. Wondering if my torque wrench is off and I've over or under torqued them?

I'm not getting the glass smooth surface I got with a new set of knives, but it sure does a good job any figure, grain reversal, etc. The surface is easy to clean up with scrapers and sandpaper.

Tony

[Myk Rian]

I've broken some also. Seems to have been factory torque.
There will always be very shallow scallops that sand or scrape out nicely.

[Gary Muto]

I've broken some also. Seems to have been factory torque.
There will always be very shallow scallops that sand or scrape out nicely.

Myk,

Are you saying that they may have been over torqued at the factory and that leads to cracking later?

[Mike Goetzke]

One issue I had with installation was that the fastener on the gear was overly tight. Did it several years ago so can't remember the trick I used to get it off. After putting it on I didn't use it for a couple months. When I took the cover off I noticed something on the table. It was several bits of carbide. Looked like several of the inserts exploded just sitting there. Byrd was very good about it and sent a replacement. On the replacement I had to tap a few of the insert fastener holes deeper because I could see some of the inserts were loose and the bolts weren't touching the inserts. At that time they claim they got a bad batch of inserts. One set had numbers on it and the other didn't. I think the original had the 1-2-3-4 markings.

Mike

[Matt Mackinnon]

I am very interested in WHY? the Dewalt735 is a great lugable planer but it is still plastic and disposable. the unit doesn't have metal gears inside and they are ware/throw away parts inside. So you are spending $600 for the planer, and another $450 for a head. ($1050 total) for essentially a 13" lugable using the term loosely plastic planer.

A new 15" spiral planer costs $1500 that is cast iron and a real 3hp motor. Or you can buy an older 15" unit on CL or the Kajiji. I have seen them selling between $500-800 and put your byrd head on for $620. You get a larger planer with proper oil bath transmision for close to the same price and it's not throw away plastic. But not lugable. it is the portable factor?

[Myk Rian]

Myk,

Are you saying that they may have been over torqued at the factory and that leads to cracking later?
That was my experience. After a few uses, a couple cutters broke. I took them all out to re-torque them. Several were so tight I was afraid I would twist the bit off.

[Gary Muto]

Myk,

Thanks for clarifying. I had a Ryobi planer and the first set of knives lasted a long time. I had a hard time with the blade change. I thought I should loosen and tighten the screws ASAP on the replacement and of course I never did it. I now have a DW735 and I will do that (when it gets out of storage due to a move from MI).

If I get a Byrd cutter for it, I think I will try and do the same. Even if there are cutters that are already cracked, it may be easier to loosen the screws sooner than later. Those little imact drivers are helpful too. Percussion is your friend!

[Jack Lemley]

I put a Byrd head in my DeWalt 735 a couple months ago and should have done it long ago. Great cuts, no broken teeth, etc. Took me about 1 1/2 hrs to install but part of that was figuring out the old head lock doesn't go back on with the Byrd head ;-)

I have also seen the comparisons between the DeWalt/Byrd combo in the forums with the 15" plane with spiral head winning the day. That is certainly a valid comparison but for me I have had my 735 for 6 years so my additional cost was the Byrd head. If the DeWalt breaks down I'll fix it or throw it away and get a new one keeping my Byrd head. While one can make a good business case for getting rid of the 735 and getting a 15" in my case it just didn't make sense. I had the $400 but not the $1500 - $350 resale of the 735 for total cash outlay of $1150. I am a hobbiest and doubt I will ever wear out the Byrd head or the 735 for that matter but time will tell.

Jack