Spiral heads for Grizzly planers

[Anthony Whitesell]

I am pondering the idea of getting a used 15" planer 3HP. Looking at CL, there are are few Grizzly's listed that are at least clean. I made the mistake of not getting a spiral cutter head on my 8" jointer (I got the G0490 instead of the G0490X). For a 15" planer, I'm considering anything but a spiral head. Easier "blade" changes, no sharpening, carbide will hopefully hold an edge longer, yada, yada. I have seen a Grizzly G0551, G1021Z, and even a G0454. The question is for 15" planers that are no longer made by Grizzly, can one get a spiral head for them? Where?

[Cary Falk]

Here is Grizzly's cross reference sheet.
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2015/main/50?p=50

[Anthony Whitesell]

Great answer one question, get a bunch more. Cary's link has three different carbide insert cutter heads. Which one is best? Or is just personal preference?

I have seen Byrd replacement heads available from other sources, so I assume the cutter inserts are as well. Is Grizzly the only source for cutters for the other two heads? Or are the Byrd and grizzly inserts interchangeable?

[Cary Falk]

It is personal preference. I have a grizzly and a byrd head and can't' tell the difference. There was a thread here less than a year ago that had a source for the grizzly inserts that were cheaper. If you can' find it let me know. I saved the link on one of the computers. Who knows what will be available in 20 years when i need new ones.

[Rick Alexander]

I've got a G0454 20 inch planer that I added a Byrd head to that I got directly from the Byrd folks. I seem to remember they had most all of the heavier Grizzly's covered. Absolutely the best thing you can do to make that planer work better. Another good addition is a digital read out because the thickness gauge was about useless on mine. I'm going on 4 years on my cutters and have yet to turn them and I normally use sawmill lumber for most of my projects. We liked them on the jointer so much it was a no brainer to add it to the planer.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'm having a hard time with the financial logistics of sharpening or replacing four 15" planer blades (minimum $45), only made worse if you only have a small nick in the blade. Replacing one or two nicked cutters would be a lot cheaper than changing blades. Changing blades brings it's own perils in trying to get them all set properly. I have straight blades on the jointer and aligning the blades is a piece of cake. I will have to 'suffer' with the straight blades as the return on investment to buy and change the head to a spiral carbide is way too many years out to justify it. I did buy a wet sharpener capable of sharpening jointer blades and hoping to be able to touch them up myself. It could do the planer blades, but I'm not going to even try. I change my blades at least once a year. I work with a lot of eastern white pine and the knots are rough on the blades.

I thought I had read it was personal preference, but was looking for another reason that may push me one way or the other. So far it really comes down to having alternate sources for the inserts. Do we know if the Byrd and Grizzly inserts are interchangeable?

[Cary Falk]

Do we know if the Byrd and Grizzly inserts are interchangeable?

Here is a picture of a grizzly insert(JT) and a Byrd insert(BT). The grizzly measures 14.17mmx14.17mmx2.0mm with a 6.3mm hole and the Byrd measures 15.0mmx15.0mmx2.5mm with a 6.7mm hole. The Bryd also has radiused edges while the Grizzly are straight.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_1598_zpsyy6wmomk.jpg

[Anthony Whitesell]

Doesn't look interchangeable to me. I do like the radiused edges on the Byrd cutter considering it cuts point first.

I've not find an alternate source for the Grizzly inserts (link or web). I'm also not completely sure what to search for, but the obvious keywords hasn't turned up anything. I don't care if they are cheaper or more expensive, the idea is to have a second supplier at the ready. Knowing my luck, I will break a cutter, have no spares, and Grizzly will be out of stock.