Byrd or Grizzly shelix head for my shaper ?

[Mike Kees]

I want to purchase a shelix head for my shaper to use with a rub bearing for pattern shaping parts with a sled/jig. Does anyone have experience with the Grizzly heads ? Wondering if they are a good way to go ,comparable to byrd or should I spend more for byrd ? Right now the difference for a comparable 2'' high head is about $90. Thanks in advance for any help, Mike.

[Larry Edgerton]

I would suggest one taller than 2" if you are only going to have one, more versatile. I have a Byrd and a Tersa, no Grizzly so can not comment on that.

[Jared Sankovich]

The Amana 61292 seems well regarded. It's also a 62mm od If you are looking to have the ability get into smaller curves.

[Mike Kees]

Larry I wanted to go with a 3'' but when I looked at my spindle capacity it is only three inches, so if I want a rub collar in there I am stuck with the two inch height.Unless someone manufactures 2.5''? Should I be considering straight cutters and rub collars instead ? Jared's post has me thinking about the overall diameter now. Mike.

[Jared Sankovich]

Larry I wanted to go with a 3'' but when I looked at my spindle capacity it is only three inches, so if I want a rub collar in there I am stuck with the two inch height.Unless someone manufactures 2.5''? Should I be considering straight cutters and rub collars instead ? Jared's post has me thinking about the overall diameter now. Mike.

What shaper? 3" under the nut seems like a 1.5hp shaper?

[Larry Edgerton]

Really, just 3" under the nut? Even on the 1" spindle?

If that is the case, then you may have to go with the shorter one. On diameter, a couple of considerations. The bigger the diameter the nicer it is to work with and the better the cut. Are you going to be doing small circles? I never do so I have 4' and larger.

The other thing is that if you have a 2" cutter it does not mean you can do a 2" circle comfortably. 2 1/2" maybe if you cut out your waste closely. When You run a pattern bit into a cut that is cutting on half a circle at the same time, such as trying to cut a 2 1/2" circle with a 2 1/2" cutter it will want to grab and do bad things to you because your bite is too much. Kind of like you were hogging a 1 1/4"cut with that same cutter. Know what I mean?

I seldom do small circles, but when they are within a couple of inches of my cutter diameter I do them with a router, especially on smaller parts that are hard to get a good hold of.. Learned that lesson the hard way. BAM!

[Mike Kees]

Yeah. It is a Steel city 3h.p. I measured the capacity with washer and one nut fully engaged on threads of spindle,three inches it is. How much capacity do you guys have on your shapers ?

[Jared Sankovich]

Yeah. It is a Steel city 3h.p. I measured the capacity with washer and one nut fully engaged on threads of spindle,three inches it is. How much capacity do you guys have on your shapers ?

I could swear my smaller shaper (3hp delta) was 4", but I just measured and it's 3" as well.

[Rod Sheridan]

Larry I wanted to go with a 3'' but when I looked at my spindle capacity it is only three inches, so if I want a rub collar in there I am stuck with the two inch height.Unless someone manufactures 2.5''? Should I be considering straight cutters and rub collars instead ? Jared's post has me thinking about the overall diameter now. Mike.

Hi Mike, I have a 50mm X 125mm head ( about 2" X 5") with straight cutters that I use for pattern copying.

You can also get cutters with a shearing action, I would suggest the rebate cutter type as it will have scoring cutters and can be used for rebating as well as pattern copying.

361426

regards, Rod.

P.S. What is the lowest spindle speed your shaper has?

[Mike Kees]

Rod it is 7000 rpm.

[Mike Delyster]

I have a 2"h X 3"d X 3/4"bore Byrd with the matching Byrd rub bearing and spacer that I don't use anymore because I have a larger shaper now with 1-1/4bore cutters. That cutter wasn't used a whole bunch, the inserts have never been turned. I would sell it to you if your interested.

[Mike Kees]

Mike I might be interested. I am trying to buy all 1-1/4 tooling for that very reason,but it may be a long time before I upgrade . How much do you want for it ?

[Justin Ludwig]

I've used a 3" Byrd for many purposes with great results.

[Mike Delyster]

I will dig it out and PM you.
$50+shipping?

[J. Greg Jones]

Great price on that combo-I got a good deal on the identical set from Holbren and it was still north of $200. The rub collar alone is almost $50 as it is machined to clear the inserts. I really like mine-nice addition to my Delta HD Shaper.

[Mike Kees]

So I bought the byrd from Mike,waiting for it to show up in my mail now. Can't wait to try it out. Mike.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Any advantage of going the 4" or 4-13/16" diameter Byrd over the standard 3"? Thanks

[Rod Sheridan]

Any advantage of going the 4" or 4-13/16" diameter Byrd over the standard 3"? Thanks

A larger cutting diameter generally results in less chip out.

At 7,000 RPM a 3" head has a surface speed of about 5,500 feet per minute. A 4" head will be 7,300 feet per minute and a 4 3/4" cutter will be 8,700 feet per minute.

The latter cutter has a better speed and kickbacks increase below about 8,000 FPM when hand fed so I would stick with the larger cutter if your machine is capable of running it.............Regards, Rod.

[Mike Kees]

Received the byrd head. Went straight to my shop and installed my 3/4 spindle on shaper and then the new ''tool'' and tried it out. I think it will do nicely . I already have a project in mind to put it to use. Thanks , Mike for selling this to me.