So I have question. Are knives smoother than the bryd heads? I have a friend with some type of bryd China made head. It is a little on the wavy side and rough. I use my 6 inch Delta to smooth veneer before I slice it. I had to line some of my wife's dresser drawers with cedar. She found a few bugs. So I tried cutting 1/8 inch veneers but she said they were not smooth enough. I tried sanding. What a pain. I decide if I ran the cedar board through the jointer then sliced it she was happy and I did not have to sand them. My wife would of never approved my friends boards as they are not real smooth.
I have an 8" jointer with an insert head, and a 15" planer with HSS knives.
Frankly, the finish between the two surfaces is about the same. With slight sanding probably indistinguishable.
For me, one is as good as the other. Except that the insert head may deal with crazy grain better with less tear out.
Thinking about it, I like both equally. Can't voice an opinion one your friend's insert head, but it is likely inferior to the normal insert heads...at least from my experience. Perhaps it was assembled without proper cleaning of the head where the inserts rest? Who knows? But I will say again, in my case I see little if any difference between the surface off my jointer and the planer with HSS knives. At least until the planer knives tear out something that the insert head might not have...
Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!
I get a better surface from my straight knives then the bryd head in the planer. I don’t buy figured wood very often unless it super nice and not too expensive.
Lee maybe you friends inserts are dull carbide doesn’t really start out the sharp. Inserts are not so great with softer woods.
Aj
I did not mean he had a real Byrd head as he had a China made tool. It was a year ago so I don't remember the brand. I will find out when I talk to him again. I have never seen a real Byrd Shelix cutter head and I did not know they were made in the US. I was not impressed with what I saw. I am a hobbyist.
Last edited by lee cox; 04-18-2019 at 10:09 PM.
So if you joint some cedar with a real Byrd head will it be smooth enough so women's hose will not catch on it. My Delta is very smooth after jointing cedar using knives.
It should be smooth enough Lee might even be a little burnished due to the scraping angle of the bryd head.
But the inserts would still need to be fairly sharp.
The bryd insert has a slight radius to the edge that makes it surface obviously different then sharp knives.
Aj
Go to know. I have friend which builds furniture for money. He is good but I think he still uses knives. At least over year ago when I toured his shop. He built a new house and shop. We are all old which may have something to do with it.
I have a Grizzly 0490x and like it. I have had it for several years now with no problems. I did notice that a few people have complained about some of it's maneuverability, and I guess I would somewhat agree with that, but I don't move it too much so it's not that big of a deal. I also agree with those who have said to get a 12 inch machine if possible. There have been many times that I have wished mine was a tad bigger - like now, when I have some beautiful 9,10, and 11 inch cherry and white oak that I want to use. It would be great to just run it through with any hassle.
I'm in MPLS too. CL is pretty limited. If your in the market, I've had great luck from these sites:
https://www.interplantsales.com/ - Eastern Mpls burbs - Ok on price, prob better than CL
https://www.machinio.com/?gclid=EAIa...SAAEgIlPPD_BwE -Used machines nation wide
https://www.k-bid.com/auction/list/minnesota random deals
http://www.all-bid.com/cgi-bin/mncal.cgi?allbid - about as good as kbid
https://bid.bid-2-buy.com/ - I picked u a Delta DJ-20 for $350 with Helical head on on a couple years ago from this site....
-Hope this helps!
You might visit this site:
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Po...1859,6539,6543
If a board is tearing out;
Make certain the knives are sharp
Slow your feed rate
Make certain of the grain direction.
I prefer straight knives but my friend Liam has spiral heads in his machines and they’re sharp, the finish is very nice and they’re slightly less particular about grain direction.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
FWIW, there was a 16" Oliver for sale last night on CS, NJ, for $250!
No rust, and the guy said the bearing were good.
It had a motor and everything.
It was gone within the hour, of course.
I actually saw it in time to bid, but where the heck do you put something like that?
Point is, you can often get great deals (OK, not THAT great) on the really big old 'arn, because folks just want them gone.