Brad Adams
01-06-2015, 8:53 PM
I finally got sick of the tear out I was getting with my 734 planer. Even with new blades installed I really had to take light passes to keep from tearing out the grain on any thing that wasn't straight grained. Hard maple would tear up a new set of blades after only running a few boards through the planer. I have a Grizzly segmented cutter head in my jointer, so I knew the straight set blades give a really clean tear out free cut.
I decided to try out the Accuhead since I'm cheap and didn't want to spend the extra money on a Byrd head. UPS delivered it this afternoon, so I couldn't wait to get it installed. It only took thirty minutes to install it in the planer. It took more time to clean and reinstall the cutter bits after the planer was put back together. Here it is installed in the planer.
303610
This is a piece of oak planed with the straight blades in the planer. Notice the tear out. This was really common with the straight blades even when watching the grain direction.
303611
After one pass with the new cutter head installed.
303612
Huge difference in the cut. It really cuts cleanly. The head only has 25 cutters but boy does it really work good. If you have reservations about the number of cutters, it is unfounded. The cutters that came with the head are high speed steel, time will tell how long they last. When they wear out I will replace them with carbide. On the plus side the planer cuts a little quieter too. I think it is gonna be a good investment.
I decided to try out the Accuhead since I'm cheap and didn't want to spend the extra money on a Byrd head. UPS delivered it this afternoon, so I couldn't wait to get it installed. It only took thirty minutes to install it in the planer. It took more time to clean and reinstall the cutter bits after the planer was put back together. Here it is installed in the planer.
303610
This is a piece of oak planed with the straight blades in the planer. Notice the tear out. This was really common with the straight blades even when watching the grain direction.
303611
After one pass with the new cutter head installed.
303612
Huge difference in the cut. It really cuts cleanly. The head only has 25 cutters but boy does it really work good. If you have reservations about the number of cutters, it is unfounded. The cutters that came with the head are high speed steel, time will tell how long they last. When they wear out I will replace them with carbide. On the plus side the planer cuts a little quieter too. I think it is gonna be a good investment.