Follow up reviews are my absolute favorite! I love having access to someone's experiences and insights on a tool they have been using for a while, as opposed to the fit and finish type of reviews that do not give you any type of idea about how good of an investment it really is.
THANK YOU I rarely see updates on other channels. I've even came to notice some of them no longer use the tool with no explanation on why they changed or upgraded.
After watching your video I went to my woodcutters and ordered a spiral head for my Grizzly jointer. I didn't get the Byrd, I got the Lux Cut III.I was very reluctant to put money into the jointer as it was below average at best. Since I didn't have the $$ for a new jointer I decided to give it a shot. What was once a very marginal tool is now an absolute gem. I watched several video's on how to swap and tune up my jointer and it is a totally different machine. With ear protection on when I first turned the unit on I wasn't even sure it was running. After the first pass with a board I was amazed at the quality of the cut. Fast forward a bit and the only thing I noticed was before I couldn't slow down the motor while jointing but with the spiral head I can. Even with that, I would do it again in a heartbeat! Everything you have said on this video is spot on with my findings. Thanks for turning me on to Mywoodcutters, they are awesome. Now for a spiral head for my Makita planer! Keep up the great work!
It seemed like the fence was warped, but I think in actuality the cutterhead wasn't properly aligned. I had to shim one side to get it aligned with the outfeed fence, I got it within .001". The fence does have a slight twist, but not huge. The issue was when jointing wider boards for door panels the jointer would put a slight twist into the panel the same way it was twisted. I will try another panel and see how it comes out. I am contemplating putting and extruded aluminum fence on it. Thanks for the reply!
@@tonymarrazzo354 - I have an 8-inch Grizzly parallelogram jointer and the fence is giving me problems too. It's never square to the bed. I have to check and adjust it every single time. I can't figure out why since it is usually slightly tilted backward, which shouldn't be possible because there is a stop to keep if from moving that way. It's only a few months old.
@@StumpyNubs Mine has been warped from the get go. I called Grizzly to see if it can be flattened, and they don't have the equipment to do that. To have it done locally is price prohibitive. There are lot's of aftermarket fences for table saws, and band saws, but I have never seen one for a jointer....... I never tilt my jointer fence, so I will get creative on a new fence setup.
There are no reviews I trust more than the reviews from James. I just ordered my Lux III cutter head for my old delta jointer from my woodcutters. Cant wait to install it. Thanx James.
Best woodworking channel! You are so amusing to listen to. I normally hate those never stop talking chanels which never comes to the point, but in your videos I enjoy every word.
James, my only regret in updating my 13" Dewalt planer to a helical cutterhead----is the fact that I waited so long to do it! Depending on usage, you will pay for the upgrade in a year or two----just in blade changes and the time that takes. I will never go back to knives!
I installed a Lux Cut Helical head in my 6" Powermatic Planer today. It was very easy to install. It cuts beautiful. I had to slightly lower my outfeed table and I had to file the keystock to make it fit. I highly recommend this change. Thanks Stumpy Nubs.
Thanks for the 2-year review. Agree about most reviews being unboxings, not actual reviews. The Shelix was definitely worth adding to my DW 735 and it is true that you need to take lighter passes. That is not a big deal at all and like you, no tear-out and no knicks for me in 4 months.
James, I went with the Lux Cut and am very happy!!! Thanks so much. I have attached a poor photo with a question. When you tried to verify that the new head was co-planer with the old table (which I removed and thorough cleaned and smoothed up the ways). I can’t find where you or anyone else showed this with the helical head. The “helical” is the issue in when trying to find a consistent reference mark. Again I love your channel!
I bought a grizzly 15" spiral cutter head planer 12 yrs ago and just bout my first 10 pack of cutters at Christmas time last yr and not because they got to dull but because they broke or got chipped I'll never buy anything but spiral cutter heads again. I enjoy your videos really good information
Here's a way to get more than a decade use out of the original inserts. If the insert is being turned to the fourth (and last) position, instead putting back in what is obviously a high use area, swap it into a position where an insert has never been rotated! Bingo. You gain nearly 4 new edges whilst allowing the tired insert to see out its days in quiet contemplation. A simple idea from a simple guy.
You are so right. The inserts towards the middle of the planer head get the most use, while the ones towards the edges hardly get any use at all. Swapping inserts from the edges to replace the center ones is a brilliant idea.
Agree with jointer replacement . I replaced the knives on my 6” Steel City jointer and got a huge improvement in performance and eliminated the hassle of knife sharpening, adjustment etc. hadn’t thought about the lack of chip jams but it’s true. I have not replaced the knives in my Dewalt 735 planer and am unlikely to do so as it’s performance is very good already, knife replacement is cheap and easy. The cost of a spiral cutter for it is way too expensive. More likely is that I’ll continue using it until it breaks at which point I’ll get a 15” heavier duty planer with spiral cutters. So, easily worth it for the jointer, planer not so much
I just replaced an older cheaper style 2-post planer, with the DW735. And I have to say it is the quietest planer I have ever heard. Because it is a 4-post design, and the entire machine is encapsulated in a big box, the noise from it is very subdued indeed. A real bonus of this machine, along with the fan-forced chip collection system, and the half-speed 179 cuts-per-inch setting, which is phenomenal. Will probably order a shelix head for it at some stage, but not when it came with 2 extra sets of blades, which can slide left or right slightly to hide knicks! The Shelix costs $842 shipped to NZ, so that is a real thing.
I just installed a lux cut 3 from my wood cutters today in my DJ-20. What a game changer. The noise levels are down 50%. The cut is superb. I highly recommend a spiral cutter in our machines. Btw Byrd has a six week wait for a head so get yourself a Titan knife Lux cut 3 today.
I had a bench top planer with straight knives and a Grizzly 6" jointer with a helical cutterhead (not Byrd, whatever Grizzly uses). I really needed to upgrade both as the planer wasn't powerful enough for the amount of work I was doing with it and the noise was unbearable, while the jointer was too narrow. There was no question in my mind that I was going to get helicals on both replacements. I ended up with a Felder A3 31 combination machine with their helical cutterhead. While that might be out of the budget for hobbyists, I still would advise upgrading to helical heads by upgrading the whole machine rather than retrofitting, especially a bench top planer. Thats like putting racing tires on a Civic. Sure, you get great traction and control, but there's nothing to back them up. Upgrading the entire machine solves the power issue as it will be designed for the helical head and the noise issue as it won't be a benchtop with a universal motor. IMO the combo machine is a great option as you're only paying for one cutterhead and one motor. Even in a production shop I don't find the changeover to be a problem. Just plan your work flow and you won't be making that many changeovers anyway.
I changed both my cutterheads on my planer and jointer as well and can happily say that I haven't even rotated my jointer teeth in 10 years, and 2 years on my planer. I have never rotated the teeth and both cut just as good as the first time I put them in.
What you didn't mention is the reduced sanding time and discs being used. The finish on the wood is so good that I often don't have to go below 220 grit.
It is a truth! I am sanding every single board that comes out of my planer. When you put time/sand paper and the cost of helical head on a scale.... Well, I am ordering helical heads.
Totally agree, I'm a huge fan of the helical heads ... that said, as you stated in your original video, not all helical cutter heads are equal. To me shelix is the only way to go. I bought them as original equipment on my Powermatic jointer and thickness planer. Yes, they are more expensive at time of purchase but that pain will quickly subside as soon as you start to use them. I'll never go back to the HSS cutters that I had on some of my old tools. Great review.
Hey James, thanks for the follow up. You are so right about the timing of reviews. I also by waiting an up grade comes out and the price sometime drops a little.
I couldn't agree more. I changed both my jointer and planer a couple years ago and love the performance. I've found that I don't use my drum sander as often after planing.
Follow up revive is great. Could you talk about the difference between helical cutter heads . some manufactures are now having these type heads but most are straight not spiral.
I would never buy a straight head. I want my cutters to shear the fibers at an angle so they produce a smooth surface with no tear-out. That's also how a hand plane is often used, turned to a slight angle during the cut. I can't imagine why they would make them straight. It defeats the whole purpose.
I up graded mine right away I was lucky enough to to get my Dewalt 735 planer and 6 inch delta jointer used and cheap so I stuck the money into the helical cutter heads. Love them and I did buy them from your supporter
Thanks for your update Stumpy! I have been on the fence to upgrade & more than once, I have had the info filled out to order a Byrd head, but the $1264 for my General 130 14” planer is tough to swallow 😳. I went ahead & ordered it this time though. Thanks for your quality reviews. My terribly noisy Delta 8” jointer upgrade will have to wait though. Keep up your reviews!
I looked up my planer on woodcutters site. I had no idea these were that expensive! Almost $700!! From your review, I'd love to upgrade but unfortunately, not in the cards right now. Regardless, I love your videos. Based on one, I upgraded my dust collector with a Wynn filter, moved the motor/impeller close, and added a trash can Thien filter. The result is AWESOME!!
Thx for the information... I was thinking of switching over.... I while definitely make the switch after ur videos... once again thank you and enjoy ur videos very much
Seriously considering getting a helical cutter for my General Model 130. Due to operator error I failed to correctly tighten one of my blades recently after a sharpening. The blade blew out (in too many pieces to count) and basically destroyed the chip breaker at the same time. I can't find a replacement chip breaker anywhere, so I have a nice boat anchor sitting in my wood shop. Just need to convince my wife that the price is worth it for a nice planer I got out of a high school woodshop for less than $200!
Nice follow up. I watched your other Video about the Helical heads and this follow up helped me make up my mind to replace an older joiner/planer instead of replacing / sharpening the Knives all the time. I am eyeing a new planer with the Helical heads as standard.
It is nice to see an update after a couple years. I don't see one for my planer but holy crap are they expensive. Cheapest cutter was double the cost of what the planer cost me originally. They may be worth it but it will take some time to wrap my head around the price as there is some real sticker shock there.
The DeWalt model is over $400 and the set for my planer is almost $900, quite pricey, but there is a lot of precision work that went into designing and manufacturing them.
I upgraded my jointer to a helical head six years ago. I've never regretted it for a second. I'm looking for a new planer, and you can bet it will have a helical head in it. Good review. I concur with your findings.
If your HSS planer blades don't have a single snips that would mean that these blades were installed 30-40 mins ago! I am planning to install helical heads on my planer and jointer next week or so and I've heard a lot of positive feedbacks from several woodworkers that have switched from HSS to helical heads.
Thanks for this very valuable information. I am shopping for a planer for the first time. Can you recommend a good benchtop planer that comes standard with a helical cutter?
I put Shilex cutter heads on my 8" jointer and 13" planer in 2014. I had the same experience as you except that the power was not an issue for me because my machines have powerful induction motors of 2HP on the jointer and 3HP on the planer. The big issue I have had is that every time I use the machines I have 3 to 7 of the cutters snap in half. I lost seven of them the very first time I used the jointer. I replaced the cutters with the spares that came with the cutter head and removed and replaced all of the cutters and torqued them to specs using a calibrated torque screwdriver. Still I have cutters snap in half every time I use the machines. As I said power is not an issue for my machines but I still only take 1/32" cuts to lessen the chance of breaking cutters. I think the reason I have this problem is that I live on the Gulf Coast and the steel cutterheads tend to rust which results in the cutter mounting screws loosing torque. If the cutterheads had been cad plated this would likely not be a problem. I did call the manufacturer in 2014 and they sent me 20 spare cutters. My experience is that instead of the cutters lasting for a very long time they last for a very short time and at $3.50 each it costs me $10.50 to $24.50 every time I use one of these machines. I kept the old cutterheads and will be putting them back in the machines this year. I am surprised that this has not been a problem for more users. I love the way the spiral cutter heads perform but the cost is out of this world and my budget. For the same reason I would rate the reliability as 0 out of 10 and could not recommend them. One good thing for me is that since it is too expensive to use the jointer and planer I get a lot more exercise using hand planes which helps keep me fit at the age of 77.
You should have sent that cutterhead back immediately. That's not acceptable. While I have never heard of a case like yours, I have heard some stories about rust in very damp shops. And the result can be as you said. LuxCut heads have a more-rust resistant alloy. But I doubt you want to buy another expensive head. I'd still try to get in touch with Byrd and see what they will do for you.
@@StumpyNubs No need to contact them. I bought these several years ago. Any warranty is long since expired. I really wanted these things to work as the surface they produce is so good even with some missing cutters. Actually in looking at the way the cutting forces act on the inserts on small diameter cutter heads it surprises me that everyone does not have this problem. You would ideally want the cutter to enter the work piece parallel to the surface of the board but the smaller the cutter head diameter the more the cut wants to lift the cutter. There is little material on either side of the insert next to the mounting screw and given that carbide is brittle it seems to me to be inevitable that the inserts will break. The first time I used the jointer after installing the cutter head I was very impressed with how it performed. I did not have it hooked up to the dust collector and when I was cleaning up I kept finding halves of the carbide inserts and that prompted me to check the cutter head. I noticed that there was a little rust under the sites where the broken inserts were. I cleaned the rust away and used the spare inserts to replaced the broken inserts. I also removed all of the insets, removed any rust, and replaced and torqued the screws according to the instructions provided with the cutter head. I contacted the company and the sent me another 10 spare inserts. Note that when these first inserts broke the cutter head was brand new and had not been in my shop but a few days so the rust did not occur here. I assumed and still do that the formation of the rust under the inserts caused them to become slightly loose and more likely to break. That implies that using them in a humid environment would make them much less reliable. Since I have had the cutter heads I have not used them a lot but every time I have I have had more inserts break. I used them in the last month to surface a mesquite board. I checked the jointer afterwards and it had one missing insert. In this case I passed the board over the planer 4 times making 1/32" cuts. I did not check the planer cutter head because it is not as easy to access. The diameter of this cutterhead is larger than the jointer's so according to my theory on why the inserts break It should be less likely to break the inserts. Since I have not done a failure analysis experiment to determine the cause of the failure it is possible that I just had a bad batch of carbide inserts. Since I don't have the resources to do such an experiment I cannot blame anyone for this problem but I offer it for your information and suggest that you check for broken inserts on a regular basis since when a cutter breaks the other cutters on the same diameter of the cutterhead will be taking more of load increasing the likelihood that they will break.
I'd sure love to but the lead time at BT is 10 to 12 months . I really don't understand that with a product that will sell easily. . I'm hoping to get my hands on one quicker through Canada...
Thanks for that information. I’m still on my first set of knives on both my jointer and planer without any sharpening. When my jointer needs new knives I plan to upgrade it. My planer knives have a second side I haven’ used yet. When I bought this planer it came with an extra set of knives so it will be a while before I upgrade it. In some ways that’s good because I won’t have the expense at the same time.
Amen to that, brother! There's no way my wife would let me drop 650 clams on a PART for a tool. I paid $325 for my 8-inch jointer and I was just about moved into the doghouse. The only thing that saved me was showing her that a 6 incher can sell for twice that. But dropping 550 for the head, 150 for the shipping and then another 100 for the tax man... That's going to take a while to save up for...
I have a 500mm wide 400kg thicknesser with a 3hp induction motor and it is super quiet. It is much quieter than my old bench top machine with brushed motor. So much so that it makes less noise whilst cutting than the old one did whilst running without any timber going through it.
Byrd makes two cutter heads for the Dewalt 735, one that is the same cutting diameter as the original and a second that is 1/16" smaller in diameter. The larger one requires taking all the inserts off to install. Can you comment on removing and reinstalling the inserts? Potential for stripped screws or other issues? I lean towards the larger diameter one, just a little leery of the potential for issues with that many inserts to R&R.. Great videos BTW!
I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment. I upgraded my Dewalt 735 a couple years ago. I've not even had to rotate a single cutter. One day I'd like to do my jointer but I think I'd rather upgrade from a 6" to an 8" and put a shelix on that. Have to see how the budget goes. At least I can dream!
How hard was it for you to change out the cutter on your 735? That's the only reason I haven't done it yet. Just nervous at the prospect of getting it apart only to not be able to get it back together again.
@cajunfid - It wasn't too bad. There are excellent instructions on line as well as several videos that demonstrate what to do. Should you order the Shelix, be sure to order the OEM size. This means you WILL have to remove all the cutters before inserting the "roller" back into the machine. Having the OEM size your DRO (should you have one) will remain accurate as calibrated.
Hi, I'm in the UK, but I'm struggling to find the answer to this. Can you upgrade any normal straight knife cutter block with a helical one on any machine, well at least the trade machines. Great videos btw.
Good info on the helix cutters, but I have a pressing question I just have to ask. Do you use all of the items on the wall behind you? I have entered many contests where you guess how many marbles are in a jar and closest to the correct number gets a complimentary Saw Stop cabinet saw from the great guy putting on the contest. Just a thought you may want to give consideration to!
I agree with everything you said except the noise reduction - my noise reduction has been one of my favorite things about the helical cutter heads! For me the noise reduction seems like at least half of what it used to be. Granted - I didn't replace the cutter head, I went from one planer to another, so some of that could have been the older motor being louder... but still.
I have pondered switching my 15" stationary planer to these type cutters but do not put a lot of weight into the reasoning of getting a nick in my planer knife. These machines are "thickness planers", not machines to present a finished surface. Sanding is always going to be the next step after the planer and I have never seen an instance where normal sanding did not eliminate the high spots created by the nicks. It is a non issue. I do appreciate your comments and views, I would like to get more mileage from my cutters however. While my old bench top planer was not a problem or hassle at all to change the knives, less that spinning all of the carbide cutters. The jointer would clearly be another situation. Is there a reason that you show regular knives on the jointer and carbide inserts on the bench top planer?
Just a note if you miss cut off at the manufacturer you may wait a long time. I ordered my set in March a the vendor was repeatedly promised delivery dates that weren't met. It wasn't the distributors fault. I waited 90 days pass the original promise date. The product is good but manufacturers ability to predict delivery sucked.
There's another kind we have here in Australia (not sure if they have it over there). It's slightly different to the true helical head that you're showing. It has less teeth and they're not at an angle, but they still follow a similar pattern. If you look up the "Hafco ts-13" (scroll through the pics on their website, to the cutter head) you'll see what I mean.
I installed a Shelix cutterhead on my DW 735 one year ago. Overall I think it has been a great investment, however, the power demands on my machine are significant. I have been through 3 circuit breakers before finally bypassing the breaker because it pops after 6-8 passes or less taking 1/32 off of a 6" board. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue. I have contacted Byrd but they have not commented if this is a common issue.
Received my cutter head today after a three-week wait. Apparently they are selling so many that the cutters themselves are a supply problem. They did offer to refund all but a small deposit until the head shipped, which is good customer relations. I tried it out on pine, black walnut, white oak, bubinga and padouk. It seems to work exceptionally well leaving a smooth finish with no ripples. Also, no snipe. I had my planer set up pretty well to begin with, but you can't see or measure any snipe on either end of the workpieces. A note of caution, though. I am very experienced working on mechanical stuff and it took me two solid hours to install on my Ridgid TP1300. I had to use a small gear puller to get the drive pulley off the original head. And they really should include torque recommendations in their instructions. Again, I'm experienced enough to know how hard (and how NOT hard) to tighten nuts and bolts.
Just to add another data point to this video - I have the OEM Felder/Hammer helical cutterhead in a Hammer A3/31 planer/thicknesser, been running it for about 3 years now. They brand it "Silent Power", and is a added-cost option when you spec the machine. If you take a look online at the design and geometry of this head vs the Byrd type, you will see that the Felder design is much more advanced. It still uses the staggered rows of shear-cutting inserts, but they are pocketed into the surface of a nearly-full cylindrical head, instead of sticking out of a small-diameter core. Obvious advantage of this is the aerodynamic noise reduction, and the protection of the blade edges that are not in use. The chips exit in a smooth channel in front of the blade rows. Felder have side-by-side noise measurements (on youtube) showing about a 10dB reduction planing the same board on the two machines. I can confirm that the planer is very quiet - you can almost have a normal conversation with someone as you plane a board! Surface finish is very good, just as reported here, and I am just about to rotate the set of knives after several thousand feet of planing mixed timbers; it's still perfectly usable but a bit more pressure is needed and I'm about to process some rather (very) difficult elm burl, so it's time to freshen up. The thicknesser also works beautifully, with the "digital" thickness setting that is actually clockwork but works perfectly and allows me to set thickness to 0.1mm with good confidence. I have no commercial interest, I'm just a private customer who has found this machine to be an extremely good purchase, even though it is more expensive than some others. I'm a scientist/product developer by profession, and I think they have done a really nice job on the essentials on this machine, even if it does not have all the heavy duty extras that the production Felder ones enjoy (e.g. the fence mounting is relatively poor). In the context of this video, I would encourage Stumpy and others to look at this cutterhead as a state of the art example - and yes it is better than the US-sourced ones at present. :-)
Is this a comparison to straight or spiral blades? Entry grade woodworker here so curious since helical blades are about the price of the planar alone.
Yep, yep, yep. Went with a Byrd at work a bajjillion years ago in a 20" planer at a University lab for convenience and noise reduction. It cut the noise way down. I continued to swap knives on my 15" planer until about a year ago when I bought a Byrd head. My shop is drastically quieter and not fidgeting with 3 15" knives makes my life easier. I'm still in a love affair with an old Wallace 4 knife shortbed 8" jointer. When that wears off Ill find a longbed 8" longbed jointer and it's not getting used until it has a Byrd head in it.
I've really debated over this for quite a while, wondering if it would be worth it for my Rigid planer from HD. I don't have space for a larger planer, so I need to make the most out of what I have. I have a good source for rough-sawn lumber, which means I can spend quite a bit of time getting it to the dimensions I need. Add in that a lot of this lumber is sourced from urban loggers, and you just never know what you're going to hit. I'm constantly dealing with nicks in the blades, and I've just come to accept that I'll have to spend more time sanding with 80 grit. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on one of these really soon.
I'm interested in switching to the helical blades. My jointer I believe is straightforward. My delta 22-580 might be more problematic. For the brief shots you show of your planer it's either a Delta or very similar. Could you point me to a vid on swapping cutters? Thanks!
In this video, you have what seems to be, a cutter head with 40 inserts. A Crafttech CX13HC planar helical head from BUSYBEE TOOLS has 26 14.3 X 14.3 X 2mm cutters. The cutters are staggered on parallel planes to the rotational axis. They do not look like the flutes of a drill bit. Is this type of planer worth buying?😁 It might be a generic brand of KING CANADA
James, It was suggested that when I purchased mt 3 hp grizzly planer that I get a helical cutter. I would if I could justify the expense. Maybe after Ifinish paying for the planer? You are a guy who makes it plain. Thamks
I’ve been seeing a couple of these videos about helical head blades and im convinced this will be worth the change. I hope I will be able to get them in México.
It appears that the new bench top jointers and planers come from the same factory. This leads me to two question ? Are all the helical heads universal and the same to all machines ? If so what is there a better quality of blades ? Best Regards Dirk
I'm considering getting a shelix cutterhead for my planer .... which happens to be a Delta 22-560, the same model you show in the video when doing the install. I notice that mywoodcutters has fairly generic installation guides; was there anything tricky or not-so-obvious that needs to be done when installing on the Delta? Or, even better, an installation video that you're aware of? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. By the way, I very much appreciate videos like this that update your thoughts on a tool after you've used it for a while. Too may reviews are "unboxing" or "installation" videos giving first impressions. This is something I'm going to live with for a while (and spend $$ upgrading) so reviews after a period of time are much more valuable to me. Thanks!
I remember a lot of the Delta had to be disassembled to get the head out. And I needed a pulling tool to remove the pulley and bearings. I got one from Harbor Freight. This model is a pain, but not difficult to figure out on your own. Just keep track of your screws and if you think you may forget how to put it back together, take some photos along the way with your phone
@@StumpyNubs Thanks for the quick reply. A few months ago, I did an overhaul of the planer, replacing belts, cleaning and greasing the pillars, but stopped when I got to the cutterhead. The tip of using the puller will be really helpful. Thanks.
A couple. I don't bother keeping track. When it's time to rotate them all, they will all get rotated. If, on the fourth rotation the nicked edges come back around, I'll just give those cutters a quarter turn again and use the dull edges since they are only a small part of the overall row of cutters.
Just bought a Dewalt 735x and wish I had known about helical cutter heads. The cost of upgrading plus the planer, would've been better off buying one that came with helical cutters from factory.
Just about to buy the same...735x, upgrading from a delta 580. But first step will be to buy a lux helical and install into the 735. Many review the dewalt with machines with helical pre-installed and always comes back that dewalt in general is better built. For tiny bit more, some elbo grease, few bandaids, and you will end up with a better unit.
Hmmmm, don't know why they would say that. They can still leave some "wash-boarding" machine marks that can be seen if the light hits the work piece just right, but those come out when you do your regular sanding.
I saw a Rockwell Blade Runner in the background of one shot. Thoughts? I have had one for a year now and am still deciding whether it's really a useful tool. I have the circle cutter accessory and did find that helpful for one project. Otherwise, it doesn't really get much use.
I rarely use it, but when I need it it is very handy to have. I only use it to make cutouts in the center of a piece when I can't cut in from the outside with a bandsaw.
I don't have a problem with dust collection from my planer. In fact, I like the massive amount of dust. I have a wheelbarrow at the end of my table. When it fills up, I just take it to a tree or other area that needs landscaping fill. No pine.
@tyvek05 A lot of people beg to differ. People who still have intact hands. Yep, Sawstop products are expensive. So is getting a finger reattached. And the reattached finger won't even work very well.
I love my SawStop table saw. The funny thing that I don't have to use my measuring tape anymore when I work on my SawStop saw! I used to have a Delta table saw and I would have to use measuring tape every time before I do a cut. With SawStop..... my measuring tape stays in my pocket. The safety option that comes with SawStop table saw is a great-great addition.
@@StumpyNubs Woodworker Source uses their drum sander far more. I would think that a commercial store like that would be a better source for such a comparison. For a hobby shop, people get by using less because they have more free time than money. But a store that sells thousands of board feet of wood daily will use the best tool that is the most time efficient, and they use drum sanders. Also, if you nick a sanding belt, the change is quick and easy.
I saw one video of a guy on youtube that really hated these things. Dunno if he did something wrong. Seems like half the screws got stuck and he snapped off screw heads and had all sort of problems, perhaps he tightened them too much or something.
A comical amount of comments summed: "WHAT?!?! You mean to tell me that I should invest in a quality set of cutter heads that costs more than my dirt cheap, 90% plastic and chewing gum planer/jointer but will provide immense conveniences? Nah. I'd rather continue causing myself frustration, hassle, and lower quality production to save money I'm ultimately gonna burn on far less consequential, frivolous things that provide me little to no benefit. Now hand me that chest drill and 5/8" straight flute bit. I got six holes to drill and only a week to do it. I don't like new things. Change is scary."
Hey there, sorry to ask a question on a really old video, but I have a feeling you still check these out. Can you tell us about the finish quality of the boards you've run through? I've read various reports regarding snipe, but the consistent feedback is that the cut finish is similar to a hand plane and feels around 220 grit. In your opinion, does having a high quality helical cut reduce some secondary sanding processes? Maybe it skips right over 80 and 120 grit?
A helical head does not cause or eliminate snipe. Snipe comes from the way the machine is set up, not the cutters themselves, and can usually be corrected by adjusting the infeed/outfeed tables, or by making extensions to better support the workpiece as it exits the machine. I do not think a helical head creates a smoother finish than sharp, straight knives as respects the grits of sandpaper you may have to use, but it does eliminate tear-out in most cases, which makes a big difference in the quality of the cut, and the cutters do stay sharper a lot longer, which makes a big difference too.
I wish we could get these for our planer/thicknesser, its a beast at nearly 600mm wide blades and tear out is always an issue especially with Sapele cause the grain can go in multiple directions, that would be a great test. Was that Meranti you had? Nice stuff to machine.
OH can I relate I have a very old Delta Home craft 4 inch plane that I rebuilt the bottom up but those damn knifes are just a real challenge let me tell you . If i lived on a mountain top it would be at the bottom of the mountain, but love it is was nice to BRING IT BACK TO LIFE BUT THOSE KNIVES GURRRRRR. Happy Trails
Follow up reviews are my absolute favorite! I love having access to someone's experiences and insights on a tool they have been using for a while, as opposed to the fit and finish type of reviews that do not give you any type of idea about how good of an investment it really is.
I’m really starting to love ur videos. Love the no bs approach. Straight to the point, clear and concise and super informative/helpful. Thank you!!
THANK YOU
I rarely see updates on other channels. I've even came to notice some of them no longer use the tool with no explanation on why they changed or upgraded.
After watching your video I went to my woodcutters and ordered a spiral head for my Grizzly jointer. I didn't get the Byrd, I got the Lux Cut III.I was very reluctant to put money into the jointer as it was below average at best. Since I didn't have the $$ for a new jointer I decided to give it a shot. What was once a very marginal tool is now an absolute gem. I watched several video's on how to swap and tune up my jointer and it is a totally different machine. With ear protection on when I first turned the unit on I wasn't even sure it was running. After the first pass with a board I was amazed at the quality of the cut. Fast forward a bit and the only thing I noticed was before I couldn't slow down the motor while jointing but with the spiral head I can. Even with that, I would do it again in a heartbeat! Everything you have said on this video is spot on with my findings. Thanks for turning me on to Mywoodcutters, they are awesome. Now for a spiral head for my Makita planer! Keep up the great work!
What specific problems were you having with your jointer before?
It seemed like the fence was warped, but I think in actuality the cutterhead wasn't properly aligned. I had to shim one side to get it aligned with the outfeed fence, I got it within .001". The fence does have a slight twist, but not huge. The issue was when jointing wider boards for door panels the jointer would put a slight twist into the panel the same way it was twisted. I will try another panel and see how it comes out. I am contemplating putting and extruded aluminum fence on it. Thanks for the reply!
@@tonymarrazzo354 - I have an 8-inch Grizzly parallelogram jointer and the fence is giving me problems too. It's never square to the bed. I have to check and adjust it every single time. I can't figure out why since it is usually slightly tilted backward, which shouldn't be possible because there is a stop to keep if from moving that way. It's only a few months old.
@@StumpyNubs Mine has been warped from the get go. I called Grizzly to see if it can be flattened, and they don't have the equipment to do that. To have it done locally is price prohibitive. There are lot's of aftermarket fences for table saws, and band saws, but I have never seen one for a jointer....... I never tilt my jointer fence, so I will get creative on a new fence setup.
There are no reviews I trust more than the reviews from James. I just ordered my Lux III cutter head for my old delta jointer from my woodcutters. Cant wait to install it. Thanx James.
Best woodworking channel! You are so amusing to listen to. I normally hate those never stop talking chanels which never comes to the point, but in your videos I enjoy every word.
James..... Thank you for sharing your time and expertise.
James, my only regret in updating my 13" Dewalt planer to a helical cutterhead----is the fact that I waited so long to do it! Depending on usage, you will pay for the upgrade in a year or two----just in blade changes and the time that takes. I will never go back to knives!
I installed a Lux Cut Helical head in my 6" Powermatic Planer today. It was very easy to install. It cuts beautiful. I had to slightly lower my outfeed table and I had to file the keystock to make it fit. I highly recommend this change. Thanks Stumpy Nubs.
Did it come with the bearings on the ends? Or do you have to purchase them separately? I have a old powermatic 54a.
@@IndianaJBird Sorry for the delay. My computer crashed. Yes, it came with the bearings.
Thanks for the 2-year review. Agree about most reviews being unboxings, not actual reviews. The Shelix was definitely worth adding to my DW 735 and it is true that you need to take lighter passes. That is not a big deal at all and like you, no tear-out and no knicks for me in 4 months.
James, I went with the Lux Cut and am very happy!!! Thanks so much. I have attached a poor photo with a question. When you tried to verify that the new head was co-planer with the old table (which I removed and thorough cleaned and smoothed up the ways). I can’t find where you or anyone else showed this with the helical head. The “helical” is the issue in when trying to find a consistent
reference mark. Again I love your channel!
Sorry for some reason I can’t post the view of the dial indicator set up on the out feed table trying to index from and ever changing surface
Smart content James! Thank you for holding your channel to a high standard :)
I bought a grizzly 15" spiral cutter head planer 12 yrs ago and just bout my first 10 pack of cutters at Christmas time last yr and not because they got to dull but because they broke or got chipped I'll never buy anything but spiral cutter heads again. I enjoy your videos really good information
Here's a way to get more than a decade use out of the original inserts. If the insert is being turned to the fourth (and last) position, instead putting back in what is obviously a high use area, swap it into a position where an insert has never been rotated! Bingo. You gain nearly 4 new edges whilst allowing the tired insert to see out its days in quiet contemplation. A simple idea from a simple guy.
You are so right. The inserts towards the middle of the planer head get the most use, while the ones towards the edges hardly get any use at all. Swapping inserts from the edges to replace the center ones is a brilliant idea.
Great idea!
Agree with jointer replacement . I replaced the knives on my 6” Steel City jointer and got a huge improvement in performance and eliminated the hassle of knife sharpening, adjustment etc. hadn’t thought about the lack of chip jams but it’s true. I have not replaced the knives in my Dewalt 735 planer and am unlikely to do so as it’s performance is very good already, knife replacement is cheap and easy. The cost of a spiral cutter for it is way too expensive. More likely is that I’ll continue using it until it breaks at which point I’ll get a 15” heavier duty planer with spiral cutters. So, easily worth it for the jointer, planer not so much
I just replaced an older cheaper style 2-post planer, with the DW735. And I have to say it is the quietest planer I have ever heard. Because it is a 4-post design, and the entire machine is encapsulated in a big box, the noise from it is very subdued indeed. A real bonus of this machine, along with the fan-forced chip collection system, and the half-speed 179 cuts-per-inch setting, which is phenomenal. Will probably order a shelix head for it at some stage, but not when it came with 2 extra sets of blades, which can slide left or right slightly to hide knicks! The Shelix costs $842 shipped to NZ, so that is a real thing.
I just installed a lux cut 3 from my wood cutters today in my DJ-20. What a game changer. The noise levels are down 50%. The cut is superb. I highly recommend a spiral cutter in our machines. Btw Byrd has a six week wait for a head so get yourself a Titan knife Lux cut 3 today.
I had a bench top planer with straight knives and a Grizzly 6" jointer with a helical cutterhead (not Byrd, whatever Grizzly uses). I really needed to upgrade both as the planer wasn't powerful enough for the amount of work I was doing with it and the noise was unbearable, while the jointer was too narrow. There was no question in my mind that I was going to get helicals on both replacements. I ended up with a Felder A3 31 combination machine with their helical cutterhead. While that might be out of the budget for hobbyists, I still would advise upgrading to helical heads by upgrading the whole machine rather than retrofitting, especially a bench top planer. Thats like putting racing tires on a Civic. Sure, you get great traction and control, but there's nothing to back them up. Upgrading the entire machine solves the power issue as it will be designed for the helical head and the noise issue as it won't be a benchtop with a universal motor. IMO the combo machine is a great option as you're only paying for one cutterhead and one motor. Even in a production shop I don't find the changeover to be a problem. Just plan your work flow and you won't be making that many changeovers anyway.
I changed both my cutterheads on my planer and jointer as well and can happily say that I haven't even rotated my jointer teeth in 10 years, and 2 years on my planer. I have never rotated the teeth and both cut just as good as the first time I put them in.
What you didn't mention is the reduced sanding time and discs being used. The finish on the wood is so good that I often don't have to go below 220 grit.
It is a truth! I am sanding every single board that comes out of my planer. When you put time/sand paper and the cost of helical head on a scale.... Well, I am ordering helical heads.
Oh yes....good point
Totally agree with the review. I'm one year in and so glad I made the jump.
i did to and went back to the straight knives
Totally agree, I'm a huge fan of the helical heads ... that said, as you stated in your original video, not all helical cutter heads are equal. To me shelix is the only way to go. I bought them as original equipment on my Powermatic jointer and thickness planer. Yes, they are more expensive at time of purchase but that pain will quickly subside as soon as you start to use them. I'll never go back to the HSS cutters that I had on some of my old tools. Great review.
Thank you! You have me sold. I’ve had a love hate relationship with my jointer for the same reasons you mentioned.
Hey James, thanks for the follow up. You are so right about the timing of reviews. I also by waiting an up grade comes out and the price sometime drops a little.
I can tell you, the prices on these things will never drop, only rise. They can barely keep up with demand, sometimes there's even a waiting list.
I don’t have yet. I’m inclined to do my Delta jointer first as that seems to have higher wear plus the blades are harder to align than my 735.
Great to hear how it's worked for you long term, thanks for the review.
Nice update.
What a great idea--FOLLOW-UP. I did it in medicine why not in tools!! Thanks Stumpy!!
I couldn't agree more. I changed both my jointer and planer a couple years ago and love the performance. I've found that I don't use my drum sander as often after planing.
Follow up revive is great. Could you talk about the difference between helical cutter heads . some manufactures are now having these type heads but most are straight not spiral.
I would never buy a straight head. I want my cutters to shear the fibers at an angle so they produce a smooth surface with no tear-out. That's also how a hand plane is often used, turned to a slight angle during the cut. I can't imagine why they would make them straight. It defeats the whole purpose.
I up graded mine right away I was lucky enough to to get my Dewalt 735 planer and 6 inch delta jointer used and cheap so I stuck the money into the helical cutter heads. Love them and I did buy them from your supporter
Nice update. Looked up my Delta 12.5” planner, the new blades out cost the machine. Unless I go pro, I’ll keep what I have but thanks again.
Thanks for your update Stumpy! I have been on the fence to upgrade & more than once, I have had the info filled out to order a Byrd head, but the $1264 for my General 130 14” planer is tough to swallow 😳. I went ahead & ordered it this time though. Thanks for your quality reviews.
My terribly noisy Delta 8” jointer upgrade will have to wait though.
Keep up your reviews!
I’m glad to hear this. I went with Rikon recently because they offer helix heads on their benchtop planer and jointer standard.
I looked up my planer on woodcutters site. I had no idea these were that expensive! Almost $700!! From your review, I'd love to upgrade but unfortunately, not in the cards right now.
Regardless, I love your videos. Based on one, I upgraded my dust collector with a Wynn filter, moved the motor/impeller close, and added a trash can Thien filter. The result is AWESOME!!
Yeah, same here, they cost more than my planner cost new. Maybe I need to get a more expensive planner to justify the cost.
I looked mine up as well. Mine was $855! My Planer was $500. For all of that, I should have bought a Grizzly with a helix head already installed.
Phil Earnshaw hg
Thx for the information... I was thinking of switching over.... I while definitely make the switch after ur videos... once again thank you and enjoy ur videos very much
Great video Thanks for doing one after you've actually been using it. Just one question does it help with any snipe?
Seriously considering getting a helical cutter for my General Model 130. Due to operator error I failed to correctly tighten one of my blades recently after a sharpening. The blade blew out (in too many pieces to count) and basically destroyed the chip breaker at the same time. I can't find a replacement chip breaker anywhere, so I have a nice boat anchor sitting in my wood shop. Just need to convince my wife that the price is worth it for a nice planer I got out of a high school woodshop for less than $200!
Nice follow up. I watched your other Video about the Helical heads and this follow up helped me make up my mind to replace an older joiner/planer instead of replacing / sharpening the Knives all the time. I am eyeing a new planer with the Helical heads as standard.
It is nice to see an update after a couple years. I don't see one for my planer but holy crap are they expensive. Cheapest cutter was double the cost of what the planer cost me originally. They may be worth it but it will take some time to wrap my head around the price as there is some real sticker shock there.
The DeWalt model is over $400 and the set for my planer is almost $900, quite pricey, but there is a lot of precision work that went into designing and manufacturing them.
I’m glad you did the fallow up it helps on my future plans
I upgraded my jointer to a helical head six years ago. I've never regretted it for a second. I'm looking for a new planer, and you can bet it will have a helical head in it. Good review. I concur with your findings.
If your HSS planer blades don't have a single snips that would mean that these blades were installed 30-40 mins ago! I am planning to install helical heads on my planer and jointer next week or so and I've heard a lot of positive feedbacks from several woodworkers that have switched from HSS to helical heads.
Thanks for this very valuable information. I am shopping for a planer for the first time. Can you recommend a good benchtop planer that comes standard with a helical cutter?
I put Shilex cutter heads on my 8" jointer and 13" planer in 2014. I had the same experience as you except that the power was not an issue for me because my machines have powerful induction motors of 2HP on the jointer and 3HP on the planer. The big issue I have had is that every time I use the machines I have 3 to 7 of the cutters snap in half. I lost seven of them the very first time I used the jointer. I replaced the cutters with the spares that came with the cutter head and removed and replaced all of the cutters and torqued them to specs using a calibrated torque screwdriver. Still I have cutters snap in half every time I use the machines. As I said power is not an issue for my machines but I still only take 1/32" cuts to lessen the chance of breaking cutters. I think the reason I have this problem is that I live on the Gulf Coast and the steel cutterheads tend to rust which results in the cutter mounting screws loosing torque. If the cutterheads had been cad plated this would likely not be a problem. I did call the manufacturer in 2014 and they sent me 20 spare cutters. My experience is that instead of the cutters lasting for a very long time they last for a very short time and at $3.50 each it costs me $10.50 to $24.50 every time I use one of these machines. I kept the old cutterheads and will be putting them back in the machines this year. I am surprised that this has not been a problem for more users. I love the way the spiral cutter heads perform but the cost is out of this world and my budget. For the same reason I would rate the reliability as 0 out of 10 and could not recommend them. One good thing for me is that since it is too expensive to use the jointer and planer I get a lot more exercise using hand planes which helps keep me fit at the age of 77.
You should have sent that cutterhead back immediately. That's not acceptable. While I have never heard of a case like yours, I have heard some stories about rust in very damp shops. And the result can be as you said. LuxCut heads have a more-rust resistant alloy. But I doubt you want to buy another expensive head. I'd still try to get in touch with Byrd and see what they will do for you.
@@StumpyNubs No need to contact them. I bought these several years ago. Any warranty is long since expired. I really wanted these things to work as the surface they produce is so good even with some missing cutters. Actually in looking at the way the cutting forces act on the inserts on small diameter cutter heads it surprises me that everyone does not have this problem. You would ideally want the cutter to enter the work piece parallel to the surface of the board but the smaller the cutter head diameter the more the cut wants to lift the cutter. There is little material on either side of the insert next to the mounting screw and given that carbide is brittle it seems to me to be inevitable that the inserts will break. The first time I used the jointer after installing the cutter head I was very impressed with how it performed. I did not have it hooked up to the dust collector and when I was cleaning up I kept finding halves of the carbide inserts and that prompted me to check the cutter head. I noticed that there was a little rust under the sites where the broken inserts were. I cleaned the rust away and used the spare inserts to replaced the broken inserts. I also removed all of the insets, removed any rust, and replaced and torqued the screws according to the instructions provided with the cutter head. I contacted the company and the sent me another 10 spare inserts. Note that when these first inserts broke the cutter head was brand new and had not been in my shop but a few days so the rust did not occur here. I assumed and still do that the formation of the rust under the inserts caused them to become slightly loose and more likely to break. That implies that using them in a humid environment would make them much less reliable. Since I have had the cutter heads I have not used them a lot but every time I have I have had more inserts break. I used them in the last month to surface a mesquite board. I checked the jointer afterwards and it had one missing insert. In this case I passed the board over the planer 4 times making 1/32" cuts. I did not check the planer cutter head because it is not as easy to access. The diameter of this cutterhead is larger than the jointer's so according to my theory on why the inserts break It should be less likely to break the inserts. Since I have not done a failure analysis experiment to determine the cause of the failure it is possible that I just had a bad batch of carbide inserts. Since I don't have the resources to do such an experiment I cannot blame anyone for this problem but I offer it for your information and suggest that you check for broken inserts on a regular basis since when a cutter breaks the other cutters on the same diameter of the cutterhead will be taking more of load increasing the likelihood that they will break.
Thanks for sharing. I really like to see updates on tools, but nobody ever really does them. I appreciate you taking the time to do this
I'd sure love to but the lead time at BT is 10 to 12 months . I really don't understand that with a product that will sell easily. . I'm hoping to get my hands on one quicker through Canada...
Thanks for that information. I’m still on my first set of knives on both my jointer and planer without any sharpening. When my jointer needs new knives I plan to upgrade it. My planer knives have a second side I haven’ used yet. When I bought this planer it came with an extra set of knives so it will be a while before I upgrade it. In some ways that’s good because I won’t have the expense at the same time.
The “nicks” drive me absolutely crazy. Time to upgrade. Thanks for the advice. Never miss your videos....the garage amateurs also drive me nuts.
Thanks Stumpy, I am still saving my money for a set for my planer and jointer. This is great news!
Amen to that, brother! There's no way my wife would let me drop 650 clams on a PART for a tool. I paid $325 for my 8-inch jointer and I was just about moved into the doghouse. The only thing that saved me was showing her that a 6 incher can sell for twice that. But dropping 550 for the head, 150 for the shipping and then another 100 for the tax man... That's going to take a while to save up for...
I have a 500mm wide 400kg thicknesser with a 3hp induction motor and it is super quiet. It is much quieter than my old bench top machine with brushed motor. So much so that it makes less noise whilst cutting than the old one did whilst running without any timber going through it.
Any advice / comments on helical vs spiral cutter heads ?
Great video. You sold me when you said the dust collector didn't clog up. Thanks!
Byrd makes two cutter heads for the Dewalt 735, one that is the same cutting diameter as the original and a second that is 1/16" smaller in diameter. The larger one requires taking all the inserts off to install. Can you comment on removing and reinstalling the inserts? Potential for stripped screws or other issues? I lean towards the larger diameter one, just a little leery of the potential for issues with that many inserts to R&R.. Great videos BTW!
Jason, any chance you could do a comparison to the lux cut III helical cutter head??? I’m on the fence between it and the shelix.
We already did- ruclips.net/video/3WAy8YweIJA/видео.html
Stumpy Nubs thank you!!! I missed that one.
I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment. I upgraded my Dewalt 735 a couple years ago. I've not even had to rotate a single cutter. One day I'd like to do my jointer but I think I'd rather upgrade from a 6" to an 8" and put a shelix on that. Have to see how the budget goes. At least I can dream!
How hard was it for you to change out the cutter on your 735? That's the only reason I haven't done it yet. Just nervous at the prospect of getting it apart only to not be able to get it back together again.
@cajunfid - It wasn't too bad. There are excellent instructions on line as well as several videos that demonstrate what to do. Should you order the Shelix, be sure to order the OEM size. This means you WILL have to remove all the cutters before inserting the "roller" back into the machine. Having the OEM size your DRO (should you have one) will remain accurate as calibrated.
Thanks!
Got mind from My Wood Cutters and so far very impressed with the quality
Where can I buy one of those saw blades that leaves your logo imprinted on end of the log? I want one of those! (BTW: I really enjoy our videos.)
Ordered one for my jointer this past weekend
Thanks for doing a review on this. You're right, people normally leave reviews right after they buy it which I can't stand.
They also save you time on sanding so the extra time it takes because you can't take as deep of a cut is made up for because less sanding
Hi, I'm in the UK, but I'm struggling to find the answer to this. Can you upgrade any normal straight knife cutter block with a helical one on any machine, well at least the trade machines. Great videos btw.
Good info on the helix cutters, but I have a pressing question I just have to ask. Do you use all of the items on the wall behind you? I have entered many contests where you guess how many marbles are in a jar and closest to the correct number gets a complimentary Saw Stop cabinet saw from the great guy putting on the contest. Just a thought you may want to give consideration to!
I agree with everything you said except the noise reduction - my noise reduction has been one of my favorite things about the helical cutter heads! For me the noise reduction seems like at least half of what it used to be. Granted - I didn't replace the cutter head, I went from one planer to another, so some of that could have been the older motor being louder... but still.
I have pondered switching my 15" stationary planer to these type cutters but do not put a lot of weight into the reasoning of getting a nick in my planer knife. These machines are "thickness planers", not machines to present a finished surface. Sanding is always going to be the next step after the planer and I have never seen an instance where normal sanding did not eliminate the high spots created by the nicks. It is a non issue.
I do appreciate your comments and views, I would like to get more mileage from my cutters however.
While my old bench top planer was not a problem or hassle at all to change the knives, less that spinning all of the carbide cutters. The jointer would clearly be another situation. Is there a reason that you show regular knives on the jointer and carbide inserts on the bench top planer?
Just a note if you miss cut off at the manufacturer you may wait a long time. I ordered my set in March a the vendor was repeatedly promised delivery dates that weren't met. It wasn't the distributors fault. I waited 90 days pass the original promise date. The product is good but manufacturers ability to predict delivery sucked.
Hi James. Really enjoying these tis videos. Could you elaborate on the difference between helical and spiral head cutters?
Same thing, just different ways of saying it. :)
There's another kind we have here in Australia (not sure if they have it over there). It's slightly different to the true helical head that you're showing. It has less teeth and they're not at an angle, but they still follow a similar pattern. If you look up the "Hafco ts-13" (scroll through the pics on their website, to the cutter head) you'll see what I mean.
I have an older Craftsman 40 jointer. Will my machine handle these cutter heads or am I better off sticking with the traditional knives?
I installed a Shelix cutterhead on my DW 735 one year ago. Overall I think it has been a great investment, however, the power demands on my machine are significant. I have been through 3 circuit breakers before finally bypassing the breaker because it pops after 6-8 passes or less taking 1/32 off of a 6" board. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue. I have contacted Byrd but they have not commented if this is a common issue.
Received my cutter head today after a three-week wait. Apparently they are selling so many that the cutters themselves are a supply problem. They did offer to refund all but a small deposit until the head shipped, which is good customer relations.
I tried it out on pine, black walnut, white oak, bubinga and padouk. It seems to work exceptionally well leaving a smooth finish with no ripples. Also, no snipe. I had my planer set up pretty well to begin with, but you can't see or measure any snipe on either end of the workpieces.
A note of caution, though. I am very experienced working on mechanical stuff and it took me two solid hours to install on my Ridgid TP1300. I had to use a small gear puller to get the drive pulley off the original head. And they really should include torque recommendations in their instructions. Again, I'm experienced enough to know how hard (and how NOT hard) to tighten nuts and bolts.
I'm confused. Where's the difference from the original verdict? Or did I hear wrong?
Just to add another data point to this video - I have the OEM Felder/Hammer helical cutterhead in a Hammer A3/31 planer/thicknesser, been running it for about 3 years now. They brand it "Silent Power", and is a added-cost option when you spec the machine. If you take a look online at the design and geometry of this head vs the Byrd type, you will see that the Felder design is much more advanced. It still uses the staggered rows of shear-cutting inserts, but they are pocketed into the surface of a nearly-full cylindrical head, instead of sticking out of a small-diameter core. Obvious advantage of this is the aerodynamic noise reduction, and the protection of the blade edges that are not in use. The chips exit in a smooth channel in front of the blade rows. Felder have side-by-side noise measurements (on youtube) showing about a 10dB reduction planing the same board on the two machines. I can confirm that the planer is very quiet - you can almost have a normal conversation with someone as you plane a board! Surface finish is very good, just as reported here, and I am just about to rotate the set of knives after several thousand feet of planing mixed timbers; it's still perfectly usable but a bit more pressure is needed and I'm about to process some rather (very) difficult elm burl, so it's time to freshen up. The thicknesser also works beautifully, with the "digital" thickness setting that is actually clockwork but works perfectly and allows me to set thickness to 0.1mm with good confidence.
I have no commercial interest, I'm just a private customer who has found this machine to be an extremely good purchase, even though it is more expensive than some others. I'm a scientist/product developer by profession, and I think they have done a really nice job on the essentials on this machine, even if it does not have all the heavy duty extras that the production Felder ones enjoy (e.g. the fence mounting is relatively poor). In the context of this video, I would encourage Stumpy and others to look at this cutterhead as a state of the art example - and yes it is better than the US-sourced ones at present. :-)
Felder's head isn't unique. Lux Cut makes after market heads that are pocketed ruclips.net/video/3WAy8YweIJA/видео.html
Please please please tell me where to find a video on how to replace my knives on my Delta X5 15" planer.!!
Is this a comparison to straight or spiral blades? Entry grade woodworker here so curious since helical blades are about the price of the planar alone.
Yep, yep, yep. Went with a Byrd at work a bajjillion years ago in a 20" planer at a University lab for convenience and noise reduction. It cut the noise way down. I continued to swap knives on my 15" planer until about a year ago when I bought a Byrd head. My shop is drastically quieter and not fidgeting with 3 15" knives makes my life easier. I'm still in a love affair with an old Wallace 4 knife shortbed 8" jointer. When that wears off Ill find a longbed 8" longbed jointer and it's not getting used until it has a Byrd head in it.
I've really debated over this for quite a while, wondering if it would be worth it for my Rigid planer from HD. I don't have space for a larger planer, so I need to make the most out of what I have. I have a good source for rough-sawn lumber, which means I can spend quite a bit of time getting it to the dimensions I need. Add in that a lot of this lumber is sourced from urban loggers, and you just never know what you're going to hit. I'm constantly dealing with nicks in the blades, and I've just come to accept that I'll have to spend more time sanding with 80 grit. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on one of these really soon.
If you have the Dewalt dw735 we are making a video soon about the upgrade
sold!! I need to pick up x2; for my jointer/planer!
What minimum horsepower do you suggest in order to not sacrifice depth of cut or speed?
I'm interested in switching to the helical blades. My jointer I believe is straightforward. My delta 22-580 might be more problematic. For the brief shots you show of your planer it's either a Delta or very similar. Could you point me to a vid on swapping cutters? Thanks!
Do they make these for ShopSmith?
In this video, you have what seems to be, a cutter head with 40 inserts. A Crafttech CX13HC planar helical head from BUSYBEE TOOLS has 26 14.3 X 14.3 X 2mm cutters. The cutters are staggered on parallel planes to the rotational axis. They do not look like the flutes of a drill bit. Is this type of planer worth buying?😁 It might be a generic brand of KING CANADA
James, It was suggested that when I purchased mt 3 hp grizzly planer that I get a helical cutter. I would if I could justify the expense. Maybe after Ifinish paying for the planer? You are a guy who makes it plain. Thamks
I’ve been seeing a couple of these videos about helical head blades and im convinced this will be worth the change. I hope I will be able to get them in México.
Grizzly sells both helical an spiral head planers. What is the difference between a helical and spiral?
It appears that the new bench top jointers and planers come from the same factory. This leads me to two question ? Are all the helical heads universal and the same
to all machines ? If so what is there a better quality of blades ? Best Regards Dirk
No, the heads are not universal. They have to make one for each machine and you have to order the one for yours.
Thank You
I'm considering getting a shelix cutterhead for my planer .... which happens to be a Delta 22-560, the same model you show in the video when doing the install. I notice that mywoodcutters has fairly generic installation guides; was there anything tricky or not-so-obvious that needs to be done when installing on the Delta? Or, even better, an installation video that you're aware of? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
By the way, I very much appreciate videos like this that update your thoughts on a tool after you've used it for a while. Too may reviews are "unboxing" or "installation" videos giving first impressions. This is something I'm going to live with for a while (and spend $$ upgrading) so reviews after a period of time are much more valuable to me. Thanks!
I remember a lot of the Delta had to be disassembled to get the head out. And I needed a pulling tool to remove the pulley and bearings. I got one from Harbor Freight. This model is a pain, but not difficult to figure out on your own. Just keep track of your screws and if you think you may forget how to put it back together, take some photos along the way with your phone
@@StumpyNubs Thanks for the quick reply. A few months ago, I did an overhaul of the planer, replacing belts, cleaning and greasing the pillars, but stopped when I got to the cutterhead. The tip of using the puller will be really helpful. Thanks.
I'm curious to know how many cutters you've rotated due to nicks and what method you use to keep track of rotated heads.
A couple. I don't bother keeping track. When it's time to rotate them all, they will all get rotated. If, on the fourth rotation the nicked edges come back around, I'll just give those cutters a quarter turn again and use the dull edges since they are only a small part of the overall row of cutters.
Just bought a Dewalt 735x and wish I had known about helical cutter heads. The cost of upgrading plus the planer, would've been better off buying one that came with helical cutters from factory.
Just about to buy the same...735x, upgrading from a delta 580. But first step will be to buy a lux helical and install into the 735. Many review the dewalt with machines with helical pre-installed and always comes back that dewalt in general is better built. For tiny bit more, some elbo grease, few bandaids, and you will end up with a better unit.
Interesting. Most reviews of helical cutters I've seen say that they do not leave as clean a surface.
Hmmmm, don't know why they would say that. They can still leave some "wash-boarding" machine marks that can be seen if the light hits the work piece just right, but those come out when you do your regular sanding.
They are probably trying to feed the board too fast. You have to reduce your feed rate with these.
I saw a Rockwell Blade Runner in the background of one shot. Thoughts? I have had one for a year now and am still deciding whether it's really a useful tool. I have the circle cutter accessory and did find that helpful for one project. Otherwise, it doesn't really get much use.
I rarely use it, but when I need it it is very handy to have. I only use it to make cutouts in the center of a piece when I can't cut in from the outside with a bandsaw.
When I get a nick in a blade I loosen the screws and shift 2 of the blades a bit sideways in opposite directions. Nick gone.
That doesn't work on most planers with indexed knives.
I don't have a problem with dust collection from my planer. In fact, I like the massive amount of dust. I have a wheelbarrow at the end of my table. When it fills up, I just take it to a tree or other area that needs landscaping fill. No pine.
I think that spiral cutter heads and saw stop technology are the two biggest advances in woodworking tech in the past decade or more.
Except saw stop hasn't actually done anything to improve the quality or efficiency of woodworking.
I don't know. I think working with all ten fingers greatly improves the speed of one's woodworking.
@tyvek05 A lot of people beg to differ. People who still have intact hands. Yep, Sawstop products are expensive. So is getting a finger reattached. And the reattached finger won't even work very well.
I love my SawStop table saw. The funny thing that I don't have to use my measuring tape anymore when I work on my SawStop saw! I used to have a Delta table saw and I would have to use measuring tape every time before I do a cut. With SawStop..... my measuring tape stays in my pocket. The safety option that comes with SawStop table saw is a great-great addition.
cnc software
OK! Helical blades or Drum Sander what next? (Have a std thicknesser with usual straight blade minor chip out etc)
Helical heads are way more useful than a drum sander.
@@StumpyNubs Woodworker Source uses their drum sander far more. I would think that a commercial store like that would be a better source for such a comparison. For a hobby shop, people get by using less because they have more free time than money. But a store that sells thousands of board feet of wood daily will use the best tool that is the most time efficient, and they use drum sanders. Also, if you nick a sanding belt, the change is quick and easy.
I saw one video of a guy on youtube that really hated these things. Dunno if he did something wrong. Seems like half the screws got stuck and he snapped off screw heads and had all sort of problems, perhaps he tightened them too much or something.
A comical amount of comments summed: "WHAT?!?! You mean to tell me that I should invest in a quality set of cutter heads that costs more than my dirt cheap, 90% plastic and chewing gum planer/jointer but will provide immense conveniences? Nah. I'd rather continue causing myself frustration, hassle, and lower quality production to save money I'm ultimately gonna burn on far less consequential, frivolous things that provide me little to no benefit. Now hand me that chest drill and 5/8" straight flute bit. I got six holes to drill and only a week to do it. I don't like new things. Change is scary."
Your work is only as good as your tools, but I would not put a high dollar helical head on a cheap tool either
@@copedog101 It won't be cheap once you put the shelix on it.
Hey there, sorry to ask a question on a really old video, but I have a feeling you still check these out.
Can you tell us about the finish quality of the boards you've run through? I've read various reports regarding snipe, but the consistent feedback is that the cut finish is similar to a hand plane and feels around 220 grit.
In your opinion, does having a high quality helical cut reduce some secondary sanding processes? Maybe it skips right over 80 and 120 grit?
A helical head does not cause or eliminate snipe. Snipe comes from the way the machine is set up, not the cutters themselves, and can usually be corrected by adjusting the infeed/outfeed tables, or by making extensions to better support the workpiece as it exits the machine. I do not think a helical head creates a smoother finish than sharp, straight knives as respects the grits of sandpaper you may have to use, but it does eliminate tear-out in most cases, which makes a big difference in the quality of the cut, and the cutters do stay sharper a lot longer, which makes a big difference too.
Thank you, that is a really good report.
I wish we could get these for our planer/thicknesser, its a beast at nearly 600mm wide blades and tear out is always an issue especially with Sapele cause the grain can go in multiple directions, that would be a great test. Was that Meranti you had? Nice stuff to machine.
OH can I relate I have a very old Delta Home craft 4 inch plane that I rebuilt the bottom up but those damn knifes are just a real challenge let me tell you . If i lived on a mountain top it would be at the bottom of the mountain, but love it is was nice to BRING IT BACK TO LIFE BUT THOSE KNIVES GURRRRRR. Happy Trails