Need help with Byrd Shelix install

[Jeff Dymond]

Hello all, I installed a Byrd Shelix head on my 15 inch Powermatic planer this weekend. When I run a board through the planer makes a squeeling noise like a belt slipping. It does this intermittantly and only when actually planing, not at all when just running. I replaced the belts with a matched set of three and adjusted to Powermatic specs of 1/4 inch deflection. I am 99% sure I have the gearbox together correctly. Infeed outfeed and chip breaker are set at .040 below cutting circle. Has anyone else had this problem or any ideas of what might be wrong. Would appreciate any advice. Thanks

[Dana Vogel]

Did you realign the two pulleys?

[Jeff Monson]

Possible bearing noise when under load? Really sounds like a belt issue though, might want to try a little less deflection.

[Kelly Bowe]

the infeed and outfeed drive rollers ride in bushing blocks rather than bearings. Try adding some oil to the four lubrication positions while the planer is running. Add oil until it seeps out of the bushing blocks. You add enough oil to flush the bushing blocks and the shaft. This helped when I converted my planer to the byrd head

[Jeff Dymond]

I did align the pulleys. I worked on the planer today and found that the infeed roller bushing is worn on the gearbox side. I can move it up and down a little bit so I think I need new bushings. I ordered a set from Powermatic today. Probably wont get them until after Christmas.I have oiled the bushings but I will try flushing them like Kelly suggested. Kelly did you have any noise problems with yours? I have isolated the noise to either the infeed roller or the chipbreaker. I ran a board through the planer with the cutterhead cover off and I can feel the vibration in the chip breaker when the planer is squeeling. If I raise the chipbreaker up to the same level as the knives, from .040 to .000 the noise almost disappears. I will follow up after I change the bushings. Thanks for the tips guys.

[Kelly Bowe]

Jeff,

I did have a noise issue with my planer after I installed the Byrd head. I have a grizzly G1021 15” planer. I added oil to the lubrication positions and enough to flush the bushing block. I know the manual says add a couple of drops but I kept adding until the noise subsided. I looked at the bushing blocks and saw that the oil was seeping out of the blocks but it can be whiped away and the excess did flush the bushing block. The bearings used elsewhere on the machine are either sealed bearing or bathed in gearbox oil so I did not focus on them. Forgive me if the following is redundant but you do know that the bushing blocks are spring loaded and blocks do move up and down? Is the fit of the shaft to bushing block fit loose enough for the shaft can move side to side or up and down in the bushing block? If the later is correct, what is the condition of the journal on the drive rollers? Are they worn? If the journal on the drive rollers is worn, replacing the bushing blocks may not completely resolve the issue. You may still have a loose fit that will cause problems.

After I got my planer reassembled, I did have a problem with snipe and I ended up setting the infeed/outfeed rollers and chip breaker to 0.020” below the cutter head arc. I originally set all to 0.040” as specified in the Grizzly manual. The 0.020” setting is what I found used in the manual for the Powermatic planer that has the Byrd cutter head. I gradually reduced the setting making test cuts until I settled on the 0.020” setting. A dial indicator and a simple block that I bandsawed and then drilled and tapped for a set screw were used to make the adjustments. I also set the table rollers flush to the table and reduced the infeed roller tension such that the setscrews that maintain the spring pressure are proud of the top of the planer casting by approximately 3/16” and I run stock through on an angle as some suggest to do with the 3 blade cutterhead I replaced.

Hope this helps.

Kelly