Byrd Shelix on a Dewalt DW735

[Jeff Moore]

Byrd Tool is now manufacturing and selling its Shelix planer head for some portable planers, including the DeWalt 735. At a cost of $599 for the DeWalt and $439 for the Shelix, $1038 is admittedly a little steep for a portable, when one can get a decent stationary 15" machine (GO453) from Grizzly for $795. But, if portability is an issue for you, as it is for me, this seems like a potentially sweet combination.

Has anyone out there tried this combination yet? If so, please share your thoughts. Thanks.

[Mike McCann]

Jeff

there was a huge thread on this about three weeks ago when they first came out. I believe some of the guys have already installed theirs and they are giving it rave reviews.

[Michael Donahue]

Byrd Tool is now manufacturing and selling its Shelix planer head for some portable planers, including the DeWalt 735. At a cost of $599 for the DeWalt and $439 for the Shelix, $1038 is admittedly a little steep for a portable, when one can get a decent stationary 15" machine (GO453) from Grizzly for $795. But, if portability is an issue for you, as it is for me, this seems like a potentially sweet combination.

Has anyone out there tried this combination yet? If so, please share your thoughts. Thanks.

FWIW Steel City is going to be coming out with a 13" benchtop planer with a spiral head for about $750. Don't know when it'll be out, but I remember seeing in recently in Fine Woodworking. This way you don't have to monkey around with changing out the heads and Steel City seems to have a pretty good rep.

[Gary Click]

I still like mine but I also paid $339.00 which helps.

[Jeff Moore]

Thanks, Mike. I did a search before I posted and didn't find the other thread. I guess I'll give it another try.

[Brad Townsend]

Just to add to the thread, been there, done that, and yes it's a winner. I did the same cost calculation and it is hard to justify spending that kind of money, but I already had the planer and not enough space for a big heavy iron 15". Bought mine when they were first introduced and saved a $100 off the current $439 price. Ordered from Holbren. No more fiddling with knives and the finish it puts out is fabulous.

[JD Dolan]

Anybody tried this on the DW733?

[Alan DuBoff]

Brad,

How is the noise with the new cutter?

The one thing that always bothers me about the DW735 is that it is sooooooooooo LOUD...the worms crawl from my front lawn over to the neighbor's yard when I turn it on...it is easily the noisiest machine in my shop, bar none...it will make a deaf man stand up and ask, "did you say something?"...:rolleyes:

Does the new Shelix knock off some DBs from the noise level?

[Jim Kountz]

Brad,

How is the noise with the new cutter?

The one thing that always bothers me about the DW735 is that it is sooooooooooo LOUD...it is easily the noisiest machine in my shop, bar none.....:rolleyes:


I think this is true of most bench top or portable units. As least the ones I have are. I have the Dewalt 734, a Craftsman(gulp) and an older Delta. I guess they just dont have enough mass to absorb some of the noise like a larger planer. That being said my stationary 15" is plenty loud too!!

[Craig Coney]

Brad,

How is the noise with the new cutter?

The one thing that always bothers me about the DW735 is that it is sooooooooooo LOUD...the worms crawl from my front lawn over to the neighbor's yard when I turn it on...it is easily the noisiest machine in my shop, bar none...it will make a deaf man stand up and ask, "did you say something?"...:rolleyes:

Does the new Shelix knock off some DBs from the noise level?
I have noticed a substantial reduction in noise. I haven't taken any readings with a meter, but the noise is a little more than the motor running without any load. The cutters have a different sound than just the straight blade cutters.

[Brad Townsend]

I have noticed a substantial reduction in noise. I haven't taken any readings with a meter, but the noise is a little more than the motor running without any load. The cutters have a different sound than just the straight blade cutters.
I would agree with Craig. The thing to remember though is that the motor and blower are LOUD. Even though it is significantly quieter with the Byrd, it is still a loud machine.

[Matt Benton]

I think this could be a great solution for me, both to cut down the noise as well as vastly improve the knife situation.

One question I have is, is anyone concerned about having this much money in a tool with a universal motor? Can the motor be rebuilt if it goes out, and if not, does anyone have a guess as to what the replacement cost might be?

Thanks!

[Brian W Evans]

One question I have is, is anyone concerned about having this much money in a tool with a universal motor? Can the motor be rebuilt if it goes out, and if not, does anyone have a guess as to what the replacement cost might be?


I had to replace the motor in my DW735 about 18 months ago. Parts and labor were about $220, IIRC. I didn't want to do it for a portable planer, but what I wanted to upgrade to would have cost 10 times as much (PM 15HH) and I just couldn't swing it at the time.

[William M Johnson]

There are a couple of shortcomings in the instructions for installing the Shelix head. I finally got around to putting mine in 3 weeks ago. One minor thing that is left out is the sheet metal catch that keeps the head from rotating when the top is off. There is no provision for this with the Byrd head, so it needs to be left off.

The really important thing that they don't talk about is:

When tightening up the drive pulley with an impact wrench, don't hold onto the cutter head with your bare hand.:mad:

Go ahead and say it.

Bill

[Craig Coney]

The really important thing that they don't talk about is:

When tightening up the drive pulley with an impact wrench, don't hold onto the cutter head with your bare hand.:mad:

Go ahead and say it.

Bill

Did you feel it or did you notice you were leaking first? I noticed I was leaking.

[William M Johnson]

I don't think leaking does it justice. Fortunately I have a good friend who is a hand surgeon that prefers to work on the kitchen floor more than the hospital.

The worst part was that I had to fly a patiet to the Mayo clinic the next day. As I was letting the door of the airplane down the cable caught and pulled the bandages off and threw them about 10' down the ramp which was about 5' short of where the blood was spurting. I had to chase them down while painting the ramp red. It throbbed the whole way back.

Then I had to take the bandages off hoping that the blood loss had not stuck them together. Not!!!! More blood etc.

All good now, but still kind of knarly

[Jeff Monson]

I had really good luck with my byrd head on a dw735, I also removed the blower fan from mine and it was at least 40% quieter than it was stock. I had no issues with chip removal after removing the fan as I had it hooked up to a dust collector. The change in cutterhead made it somewhat quieter but removing the fan improved it more. Very nice upgrade to a already good planer.

[Jeff Monson]

One more side note, I did an interview with dewalt on the performance of the byrd head installed their planer and was told a dw735 with a shelix head is in the making. :)

[Julian Nicks]

Jeff, I like the idea of removing the chip removal motor! I will be trying this out.