Shaper Spiral Head Cutters

[David Hawxhurst]

i in need of a spiral head cutter for pattern shaping and am trying to determine who has the better spiral head cutter. so far i found felder, byrd, and amana so far. i'm think a 3" x 3" or #3" x 4" would do the job with appropriate bearing/rub collar. what other ones should i be considering? is there significant perform differences between the brands?

[Stephen Cherry]

What kind of shaper are you using it on? You need to have enough room under the nut for the cutter and the bearing, and maybe enough room for an extra bearing on top.

I've got the 4x4x1.25 byrd, and it works just fie for pattern shaping. I can't make a comparison with the other cutters though. I bought my cutter from Oella Saw- Dave makes some pretty nice deals on bearing- cutter combos.

http://www.oellasawandtool.com/categories/Byrd-Shelix-Shaper-Cutters/

[David Hawxhurst]

i'm running a 5hp felder 700. currently have about ~5" under nut. not sure a 4" taller cutter with bearing on top and bottom would fit under nut.

[Jeff Duncan]

I'm not sure how many guys are going to have bought multiples to test and compare? I have the Amana and it works great for what I do. I would think any of the three would be more than adequate for most needs;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Peter Quinn]

You can't go wrong with any of those. Amana's is a bit smaller diameter IIR which can potentially get you into a little tighter radius if required. I think Garniga makes one too if you want to spend big. I know the Byrd heads rock first hand.

[Dave Cav]

For anyone reading along, I can tell you the Amana head will NOT fit on a Delta HD shaper; there's not enough room under the nut. I got one and had to send it back; otherwise it looked like a very nice head. I ended up ordering a custom made head from Joe at C.G.G. Schmitt and expect to get it in a week or so. They made a set of heads for my Millbury tenoner and they turned out great.

[Stephen Cherry]

For anyone reading along, I can tell you the Amana head will NOT fit on a Delta HD shaper; there's not enough room under the nut. I got one and had to send it back; otherwise it looked like a very nice head. I ended up ordering a custom made head from Joe at C.G.G. Schmitt and expect to get it in a week or so. They made a set of heads for my Millbury tenoner and they turned out great.

For the delta hd, I would watch the max rpm of the head and make sure it matches up with that particular flavor of delta hd.

[David Hawxhurst]

thanks all for the info. i will mostly likely get the bryd.

[Chris Fournier]

Royce Ayr Carbide, Canadian made, excellent quality and great value as are most of their products.

[Glenn Ancona]

David,
Give Greg a call at rangate in California, away from my dataBase at present for contact info but you can find him online. he sells both Zuani and garniga - I believe he has a pattern head from Zuani in stock that fits what your looking for.

good luck