Chris Rosenberger
04-16-2006, 10:00 PM
For the last 1 1/2 years I have been trying to decide what type of replacement cutterhead to get for my Powermatic 180 planer. I was wanting something that would give reduced tearout & easy knife changes. After the first of the year I decided it was time to get one. I called Byrd. They were at least 10 weeks out & the cost with new bearings & delivery was over $2,200. I decided to wait a few days before ordering. Before I made a decision on the Byrd head I ran across the Terminus web site.
Terminus has a closeout deal on heads for the Powermatic 180 planer for $595. I called Terminus & the total cost with new bearings & delivery was $750. Extra 18" double edge knives are $48 each. The knives can be resharpened 1 time by Terminus for 1/2 the cost of new knives.
I did some online research on the Terminus & found some very good reviews & nothing negitive. Some had said they had expereinced reduced tearout. Reduced tearout was why I was looking at the Byrd head. I decided to order the Terminus.
For those that are not familar with the Terminus head. It is a quick change straight knife, indexed cutterhead. Each knife has 2 edges. Tersa is another brand of this type of cutterhead.
http://www.terminus-stl.com/indexMain.html
The head arrived early last week & I installed it. The installation went very well, about 2 hours including feed roll adjustments.
The first thing I noticed when I started the planer was that the noise level was alot lower. The stock cutterhead has large openings in front of the gibs. These openings cause a loud roar when the planer is running. The Termninus head does not have any openings, just the blades protruding slightly above the head. The noise level was also lower when planing lumber also. The planed surface was very good. I ran boards with & against the grain, ran curly wood, ran knots & took deep cuts. The only tearout was around one knot & it was very small.
I did discovered one thing that I did not know before I purchased the head. That is that the wood chips are alot thinner & lighter. This means that my dust collector fills up quicker because the chips are fluffy. The barrels are lighter to empty but need to be empited more often.
Overall I am very happy with the Terminus planer head & glad I bought it.
Terminus has a closeout deal on heads for the Powermatic 180 planer for $595. I called Terminus & the total cost with new bearings & delivery was $750. Extra 18" double edge knives are $48 each. The knives can be resharpened 1 time by Terminus for 1/2 the cost of new knives.
I did some online research on the Terminus & found some very good reviews & nothing negitive. Some had said they had expereinced reduced tearout. Reduced tearout was why I was looking at the Byrd head. I decided to order the Terminus.
For those that are not familar with the Terminus head. It is a quick change straight knife, indexed cutterhead. Each knife has 2 edges. Tersa is another brand of this type of cutterhead.
http://www.terminus-stl.com/indexMain.html
The head arrived early last week & I installed it. The installation went very well, about 2 hours including feed roll adjustments.
The first thing I noticed when I started the planer was that the noise level was alot lower. The stock cutterhead has large openings in front of the gibs. These openings cause a loud roar when the planer is running. The Termninus head does not have any openings, just the blades protruding slightly above the head. The noise level was also lower when planing lumber also. The planed surface was very good. I ran boards with & against the grain, ran curly wood, ran knots & took deep cuts. The only tearout was around one knot & it was very small.
I did discovered one thing that I did not know before I purchased the head. That is that the wood chips are alot thinner & lighter. This means that my dust collector fills up quicker because the chips are fluffy. The barrels are lighter to empty but need to be empited more often.
Overall I am very happy with the Terminus planer head & glad I bought it.