Helical Jointer head purchase

[Jim Andrew]

Have read the old posts about helical and shelix cutterheads, and would
like to proceed to the purchase of one for my 10" Oliver bought just last year. Kicking myself for not getting one on the machine. Hard to live this
life as a tightwad. Anyway, wondered where you guys are buying them?
Byrd cutterhead just brings up amazon.com, and some other online tool companys, can you not buy direct? If any of you guys are dealers, send
me a price. Jim

[Jerry White]

Jim, you might try Wilke. They sell the Byrd cutterheads.

http://www.wilkemachinery.com/default.tpl?cart=114865956728380&id=45&startat=1&--woSECTIONSdatarq=45&--SECTIONSword=ww&CategoryBanner=Jointer%20and%20Planer%20Accessorie s%20Home

Also, Sunhill sells Byrd cutterheads:

http://www.sunhillmachinery.com/Conversion%20Page.htm

[Jim King]

I can tell you from experience you are making a worthwhile purchase. We plane with a helical head planer and get about 30,000 bf smooth as silk S2S before rotating the knives. We are working with real serious stuff. Bloodwood and harder. No down time.

[Jim Andrew]

I called sunhill friday afternoon. A woman answered so I told her what I was interested in and she said they have both the Byrd and a taiwanese,
but the taiwanese is better. So then passed me on to Ricardo, and he said
a helical 10" is about 1,000. I begged to differ as they have a 12" for 8
something, so he said he would call Oliver and call back. He did not. Found a site for Byrd, emailed them, and got a reply that they would sell me one.
Just happen to have one in stock, didn't have his prices as he was answering from home but thinks about 700.

[John Miliunas]

Jim, here 'ya go: http://www.byrdtool.com/journals.html
You won't be sorry getting into one of those!!! :D I've had one on my DJ-20 for over a year now and simply love it! :) I don't have a single, solitary clue how that woman would've told you the Tai/Chi head is any better than the Byrd!!! :eek: :confused: BTW, if you're interested in a little more "info" on Sunhill, I'd be happy to share my experiences, though privately. :) :cool:

[Russ Massery]

John, Is the finish on the Byrd cutter comparable to a knife style head? I've read where they (insert heads) tend to leave a "scalloped" finish. Is this true with your's?

[John Miliunas]

Russ, the nature of any typical jointer or planer (non-commercial/production) will leave scalloping. I do, however, believe that it is a bit more pronounced on the Byrd but, can be reduced significantly by adjusting your feed rate. :) Fact is, neither the jointer or planer are intended to create a "finish-ready" surface. In practice, whether it be the Byrd or "standard" knives, I doubt most people go from jointer or planer directly to finish. Additional prep work needs to be done, such as hand planing, scraping or sanding before going on to stain, oil or clear coats. The beauty of the Byrd is, it allows me to use woods such as Birdseye, curls or even burls with little fear of tear-out. For me, that translates into a lot less wasted material and a whole lot more time to concentrate on the rest of the project! :) :cool:

Usual disclaimer: I do not work for Byrd or am associated with them in any way, other than being a happy customer! :D

[Jim King]

As I said above we have a helical head planer and think it is fantastic. We get a finish that is glass smooth. Never seen anything like what you call scalloping. The planer is a General and quite heavy, I think about 1000 pounds. We run at 55 feet per min. finishing and 35 when taking off 3/8 inch on the first pass on badly sawn edgings.

[Dan Racette]

Jim,

there are other Oliver dealers out there and if you call them directly they can set you up with another style head for that 10" jointer that is normally marketed for their planers. I was about to get one before moving into a combo machine.

http://olivermachinery.net/machines.asp?machine=4455

These are true helical and give a great finish. They use 30mm inserts.

I would also fully agree with everything that john said about "neither the jointer or planer are intended to create a "finish-ready" surface". Also, the byrd head is spectacular in its minimal maintenance, just trying to give you options.

Good luck either way.

d