Considering a New Planer

[Rich Aldrich]

I have been considering getting a new planer. I have the DW735 right now - straight knives. Been looking at the Grizzly G1033X - it says it is a helical head where the G0454Z is spiral. Jet and PM are a bit above my price range unless I can find them on sale. I am in no rush, so I can wait it out. IIRC, Jet just had a 10% sale.

I plan to sell a rifle to help with the purchase - an inherited Browning BAR 7mm Mag semi auto. Way to much gun for me. My bolt action 7mm Mag is just right.

[Mike Kees]

Rich not sure exactly what your question is,but I think all of the four post planers are pretty much the same design and build quality is very similar. For that reason I would not hesitate to buy one used. Good luck.

[Rich Aldrich]

Yeah, I just threw out my thought with the hope people would reply back with suggestions. Since I posted, I am trying to find the difference in cutter heads between the G1033X and the G0454Z. Are they shelix, the German cutter head or the helical China version.
What insert cutter head Jet and Powermatic use? The Laguana looks interesting but I am not familiar with their equipment. I do know of used 20" Laguana for sale.

[Matt Day]

Just about all those helical heads will give you the same performance. Byrd has name recognition, but you can’t tell a cut from a Byrd compared to a Grizzly.

[Stewart Lang]

I at one point had two 20" planers in my shop, one with a true helical head (by Byrd) and one with a spiral head (by Grizzly). The difference is, in the helical head the inserts are "spiraled" and also skewed. A regular spiral head the inserts are just "spiraled", but still cut straight, if that makes sense. I ran some boards through both planers cause I was curious about this. It seems like you get a little bit better cut on figured areas with a true helical, which makes sense, but the difference is relatively small. They both cut great. Straight grain woods you won't notice any difference.. It'd make a much bigger difference if you could slow down the feed rate in these planers, but that's another topic..

So if you want the best you can get, shoot for a true helical. But a spiral head will do just fine and make a big improvement over straight knives.

Also, pretty much all these planers are exactly the same build. I have a 1998 20" grizzly 4 post planer, and a recent G1033X and honestly other than the control box and the handwheel, they're identical everywhere. Right down to the vent pattern in the sheet metal in the base. Powermatic, Laguna, Grizzly, when it comes to the 4 post planer, they're all pretty much identical. I believe Powermatic has a true Byrd head in theirs, but as I mentioned, the difference is minor. You'd be better off buying a Grizzly with straight knives and swapping it out with a Byrd and you'd save thousands. Unless you really want the Powermatic paint color haha, but that'd be the only difference.

[Myles Moran]

One other difference between the spiral and helical heads is replacement spiral inserts are fairly cheap, but for the helical they're pretty pricey, relatively speaking. If you work with enough figured wood to take advantage of the helical, they'd be worth it, but I'm very happy with my spiral head.

[Max Neu]

I live in Ohio,and have a clean 20" Powermatic with a Byrd head if your interested.

[Stewart Lang]

One other difference between the spiral and helical heads is replacement spiral inserts are fairly cheap, but for the helical they're pretty pricey, relatively speaking. If you work with enough figured wood to take advantage of the helical, they'd be worth it, but I'm very happy with my spiral head.

The inserts between my Byrd helical head and my spiral Grizzly head are interchangeable. At least they were with the heads I had. $30/per 10. However considering they can last you like 4+ years, it's not that expensive.

[Alex Zeller]

I've been looking for a 20" planer as well. Since Grizzly loves to send me a new catalog every year I often find myself looking at it. While I like the post with the switch (vs the magnetic switch and loose wires) on the 1033X the inserts for that model seam over priced. That leads me to looking into buying the 1033Z straight blade and getting the Byrd cutter for it. Cost wise it's only a few dollars more even if you buy new bearings. Plus you have the option of using the straight blades and doing the upgrade down the road.

Where you will save is when you replace the 100 cutters. 100 inserts for the 1033X will cost you about $950 where as the Byrd will only cost you $350. With light to average use that could be a very long time down the road. The 454Z spiral head cutters are about the same price as the Byrd inserts. The price difference isn't as great so buying the straight blade and upgrading to the Byrd would never pay off. The 454Z having a built in mobile base is a nice feature (if you need one) to go along with the $300 savings. Not sure if made in China vs Taiwan matter to you.

[Rich Aldrich]

I live in Ohio,and have a clean 20" Powermatic with a Byrd head if your interested.

I sent you a PM

[Rich Aldrich]

Just about all those helical heads will give you the same performance. Byrd has name recognition, but you can’t tell a cut from a Byrd compared to a Grizzly.

I was wondering if there was a big difference. Thanks for the comparison information.

[Rich Aldrich]

I at one point had two 20" planers in my shop, one with a true helical head (by Byrd) and one with a spiral head (by Grizzly). The difference is, in the helical head the inserts are "spiraled" and also skewed. A regular spiral head the inserts are just "spiraled", but still cut straight, if that makes sense. I ran some boards through both planers cause I was curious about this. It seems like you get a little bit better cut on figured areas with a true helical, which makes sense, but the difference is relatively small. They both cut great. Straight grain woods you won't notice any difference.. It'd make a much bigger difference if you could slow down the feed rate in these planers, but that's another topic..

So if you want the best you can get, shoot for a true helical. But a spiral head will do just fine and make a big improvement over straight knives.

Also, pretty much all these planers are exactly the same build. I have a 1998 20" grizzly 4 post planer, and a recent G1033X and honestly other than the control box and the handwheel, they're identical everywhere. Right down to the vent pattern in the sheet metal in the base. Powermatic, Laguna, Grizzly, when it comes to the 4 post planer, they're all pretty much identical. I believe Powermatic has a true Byrd head in theirs, but as I mentioned, the difference is minor. You'd be better off buying a Grizzly with straight knives and swapping it out with a Byrd and you'd save thousands. Unless you really want the Powermatic paint color haha, but that'd be the only difference.

Good information.

Buying straight and switching to Byrd would pay off with insert changes. The 1033X has expensive inserts compared to the Byrd.

Mustard can be expensive.

[Rich Aldrich]

I've been looking for a 20" planer as well. Since Grizzly loves to send me a new catalog every year I often find myself looking at it. While I like the post with the switch (vs the magnetic switch and loose wires) on the 1033X the inserts for that model seam over priced. That leads me to looking into buying the 1033Z straight blade and getting the Byrd cutter for it. Cost wise it's only a few dollars more even if you buy new bearings. Plus you have the option of using the straight blades and doing the upgrade down the road.

Where you will save is when you replace the 100 cutters. 100 inserts for the 1033X will cost you about $950 where as the Byrd will only cost you $350. With light to average use that could be a very long time down the road. The 454Z spiral head cutters are about the same price as the Byrd inserts. The price difference isn't as great so buying the straight blade and upgrading to the Byrd would never pay off. The 454Z having a built in mobile base is a nice feature (if you need one) to go along with the $300 savings. Not sure if made in China vs Taiwan matter to you.

Really good analysis of the cutter head cost. I prefer Taiwan over China, but I am not Shute it is a big difference here. I have a Byrd head in my jointer and it is great. It is a bit more money to go with the G1033Z and change heads over buying the g0454Z, but this should be my last planer upgrade. This is something to ponder.

[Tim Otto]

A great quote: however, to me, "the glass is always full". It may be half water and half air. Why not consider getting an older Rockwell, Powermatic, Boice Crane, Buss and rebuild it with a new shelix.

Bear in mind that some of the shelix (byrd) heads sold by Grizzly have about 1/3 fewer cutters on them for the same length.

[Tom Dixon]

The G1033 is the Helical head Taiwanese made planer. That is the one I purchased. The G0454Z is the Spiral head Chinese made planer. the G1033 uses a 15 x 15 x 2.5mm Indexable Carbide Insert. Byrd sells this 15 x 15 x 2.5mm Indexable Carbide Insert through Amazon. I see no reason not to use the Byrd inserts when it comes time to replace mine and save 2/3 of Grizzly's price. These heads are designed around a standard insert so there are likely other suppliers as well.
Example: Global Tooling
I'll get serious about shopping for replacements when the time comes. That's likely a couple years out in the future so there will likely be more price competition the more prevalent these cutters become.