Dave Erickson
12-19-2017, 9:27 PM
I have a job coming up which involves a lot of figured maple, so I figured (groan) I needed to upgrade my jointer and planer, both of which have served me 25 years, but which have always given me problems with burlwood, grain reversals and knots, resulting in tear-out. Byrd Shelix cutterheads were available for both tools, so that is what I ordered.
Yesterday I upgraded the jointer, which is a Delta 37-315 8" jointer. It was complicated by one problem: the cutter head was not parallel with the outfeed table. I did not know this until I installed the Byrd cutter head, because the knife adjustment for the regular cutter head corrects for such a problem.
The install is very straightforward so I won't bother with details of removing the old cutter head and installing the Byrd in its place. I had to install a .015" brass shim between the pillow block on the right side and the jointer body, to get the cutter head parallel to the outfeed table. That took some trial and error, but the end result is that both ends of the cutterhead now cut the same.
Today I upgraded the Makita 2040. I took a few photos since I could not find any information about how to remove a 2040 cutter head before I started.
First remove the belt guard and belt:
374297
Then remove the hand knob and upper pulley. The hand knob has left hand thread and requires a pin spanner to unscrew it from the cutter head. I used the cutter head lock, fortunately the knob was not that tight. Once the knob is off the pulley slides off.:
374298
Then remove the two phillips screws, that is all that holds the cutterhead in place. The two screws below were removed earlier along with the belt guard.
374299
Remove the feed drive cover on the other side of the machine:
374300
Disconnect the idler pulley spring and remove the chain, then remove the gearbox cover. The pinion at the bottom is on the end of the cutterhead, and a couple taps with a rubber hammer is all it took to get the cutterhead moving.
374301
This is the 2-knife Makita cutterhead. The bearing retainer on the right end and the pinion on the left end need to be removed and installed on the replacement cutterhead. The screw that holds the pinion on has left hand threads. Once the screw is out, the pinion is still held in place, it is a press fit into the end of the bearing.
374302374303
Now install the pinion on the Byrd cutterhead:
374296
And install the bearing carrier, pulley and hand knob on the Byrd cutterhead. Photo in next post.
Yesterday I upgraded the jointer, which is a Delta 37-315 8" jointer. It was complicated by one problem: the cutter head was not parallel with the outfeed table. I did not know this until I installed the Byrd cutter head, because the knife adjustment for the regular cutter head corrects for such a problem.
The install is very straightforward so I won't bother with details of removing the old cutter head and installing the Byrd in its place. I had to install a .015" brass shim between the pillow block on the right side and the jointer body, to get the cutter head parallel to the outfeed table. That took some trial and error, but the end result is that both ends of the cutterhead now cut the same.
Today I upgraded the Makita 2040. I took a few photos since I could not find any information about how to remove a 2040 cutter head before I started.
First remove the belt guard and belt:
374297
Then remove the hand knob and upper pulley. The hand knob has left hand thread and requires a pin spanner to unscrew it from the cutter head. I used the cutter head lock, fortunately the knob was not that tight. Once the knob is off the pulley slides off.:
374298
Then remove the two phillips screws, that is all that holds the cutterhead in place. The two screws below were removed earlier along with the belt guard.
374299
Remove the feed drive cover on the other side of the machine:
374300
Disconnect the idler pulley spring and remove the chain, then remove the gearbox cover. The pinion at the bottom is on the end of the cutterhead, and a couple taps with a rubber hammer is all it took to get the cutterhead moving.
374301
This is the 2-knife Makita cutterhead. The bearing retainer on the right end and the pinion on the left end need to be removed and installed on the replacement cutterhead. The screw that holds the pinion on has left hand threads. Once the screw is out, the pinion is still held in place, it is a press fit into the end of the bearing.
374302374303
Now install the pinion on the Byrd cutterhead:
374296
And install the bearing carrier, pulley and hand knob on the Byrd cutterhead. Photo in next post.