Helical Spiral Cutter Head for Dewalt 735 Planer
bronxville
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I want to change my cutter head on my 13” Dewalt 735 planer to a helical cutter head and I see after market products at various prices but I have not seen a good discussion of the relative quality and value of one versus others. Any above on which are best? Best for the money?
Replies
I did this conversion with a Byrd Shelix about 10 years ago. I wasn't all that pleased -- the depth of cut on the Shelix in that machine was about 1/32". Slow when I had to take off 1/8" or more. I eventually ditched it for a Rikon 13" with its own carbide cutters. Two years ago I went full bore and got a Powermatic 15" floorstander. Personally, if the lunchbox planer is what you're up for, than I would invest in one built with carbide cutters from scratch. I don't think the price difference is that significant in the long run. Nor is the difference, IMO, between different carbide styles (straight v helical v how many inserts, etc.) -- the jump to carbide is the big deal, more so than the exact configuration.
I upgraded a 735 several years ago. The only benefit over cutter knives is there is less tear out on reversing grain directions, almost none). However you will find that the machine was not designed (and still isn’t for the constant contact that the helix head creates). Therefor the motor will overload on cuts that would be normal for straight knives and trip the circuit protector. Sooner or later the motor will fail due to the constant overload. It’s not worth the investment and I’m in the process of going back to the knives (carbide). I would get a very acceptable result running the machine on the high speed setting with the knives and make deeper cuts. It was disappointing to spend all that time and money only to slow down the overall process due to shallower cuts.
Thanks for the input. I like the idea of the carbide blades but also hear so much about the reduced chip out on the helical blades I am tempted to use. ANY OTHER INPUT FROM FOLKS?
I installed a Byrd Shelix on my Dewalt 735 five years ago and love it. . . .except for the shallower cuts, but I've gotten used to it. I've planed thousands of board feet and have only recently rotated the cutters. No chipping. You can feed in either direction. Sure I'd love a Powermatic 15" with a helical head, but that's not in my budget. I'm satisfied enough to spend my next trust fund on a second dedicated resaw bandsaw rather than upgrade my 735.
Interesting that the Dewalt 735 with Byrd shelix cutter head really limits the amount of material that can be removed. I have a Dewalt 735 and follow these posts. This is the first time I have seen that mentioned.
Myself, I have the feeling that despite its popularity, the 735 is just underpowered for a shelix head. Otherwise, I think Dewalt would offer it as a factory install.
It's sometimes better to sell the old machine and buy one designed to take the helical head.
I bought a big machine with the spiral head installed after using a deWalt knife head machine for many years. It's a massive upgrade with much quieter and noticeably smoother cuts, plus not having to change blades with all the hassle that entails.
I've had similar experiences. Upgraded with the byrd, I would attempt to plane 100bf of 4/4 stock at a time. Invariably, the fuse would trip on the machine and I'd have to let it rest and resume the task. I took it as a sign and upgraded to a Minimax combo machine.
@bronxville Your comment about helical v carbide is a little jumbled. Carbide is the insert material, a sintered metal that is extremely hard and keeps a sharp edge for a long time. In most designs, the inserts can be rotated when it gets dull, giving at least 2 (if not 4) edges per insert -- years of use. The inserts can be arranged in a helix (with anywhwere from 40 or so to 90 or so inserts) or straight rows, or staggered straight rows. While the helix is probably the best, any kind of carbide is a big step up, IMO. In theory, plain steel blades should cut better, but they get dull so quickly that I think you get less tear out with the carbide than with the old-style three blade steel cutters.
I have purchased 3 cutters from CSP tooling over the past year. Excellent value and quality.
I've thought about this for so long, but finally made a decision a while ago. The appealing part of getting one was the not-as-sharp-as-steel-at-1st-but-stays-sharp-longer aspect, along with the less tearout part. But after hearing so many stories of the even shallower than now cuts needed, I decided to keep the 3 knife setup and get carbide knives. I also bought, although not part of my segmented cutterhead decision, a 25-50 Supermax drum sander, which works great as a final few passes rather than risking tearout on the last pass of the planer. Another option I considered, close to my ultimate decision, was to stick with steel knives, but not the subpar DeWalt brand, better quality, and change them out regularly. I'm terrible at that, but the 735 makes it so easy.
What brand do you use?
Not sure if you're asking me, but I use Infinity carbide knives.
I was. Thanks. I've used the HSS, but never carbide. I'll check them out next time.
Although I usually do more research than I did for them, I've had good luck with Infinity's quality, so I just ordered them. They work fine, but at $250 there may be others that also work fine for less, not sure.
Back in November, I was about to purchase a planer. I was debating to get the DeWalt 735 or the Oliver model. There wasn't much in terms of reviews out there about the Oliver so I got the DeWalt with straight knives. For my needs, it's been fine. Until the warranty expires on the DeWalt, I will keep the straight knives. When the warranty expires, I will then debate if I want to put a shelix head in it. In all likelyhood, I would sell the DeWalt and but the Oliver with the pre-installed shelix head. Or, I may just say with the straigh knives.
I look at it as a thicknesser and flattener. I'm not looking for a finished, or even nearly finished surface. I think a lot of people are. Everything I can see on a finished piece was last touched with hand tools. I don't want planer tear out, as that's harder to remove. But I'm not chasing a perfect surface from a thickness planer.
I am with john_c2, I don't think of a planer as providing a "ready for finish surface". For that use hand tools or a drum sander.
Having said that, I upgraded my 735 many years ago with a Byrd Shelix head and have been extremely satisfied. Interesting people talk about limited capacity - I just ran about 100 feet of 6" wide cherry and it easily took 1/16" per pass. You can definitely press it too hard and flip the internal breaker which is my only complaint but that is really only when running a LOT of material through in short order.
Hi John, with the exception of the first two projects I did 7 years ago when I was starting, all surfaces get hand planed. I see a planer as saving me from drudgery if I have a lot of boards I need to take from 7/8 to 5/8 and/or 1/2 as my current project requires. The reason I didn't hand plane those two projects was I didn't know how to use a hand plane and was intimidated by it. Took a bit to learn how but not horribly so.
( 100feet being twelve 8+ foot long boards!)
I’m a firm believer that tools are designed with parts based on engineering specs.of Dewalt felt they could equip the 735 with a helical head I think they would offer it as an option. It would be popular I’m sure. I have used my 735 as purchased for 10-15 years without problem. It’s a benctop planer and isn’t really designed to remove 1/8” each pass or for production work. There are a number of bench top planets with spiral type heads right now. For example the newer Oliver 13” has a Byrd head which is a truly helical head. The cost would be somewhat higher than buying and installing one in the 735 but you’d then have a planer which is as designed. Do some research kn what’s out there before making the change on the 735. In the meantime I’d say the 735 is a great planer. I have found a jig to hone the blades at least once and for figures wood taking a fed final light passes can remove some tearout. Just my opinion.
I bought a 735 and ordered the Shelix head same day. Have run several hundred feet of white oak, walnut, cherry, maple, and curly cherry and maple. Have run them through with and against the grain with no tear out. I’ve been extremely happy with it. In fairness, I don’t believe I have ever taken a full 1/16” cut, probably 3/64” is the max. Liked it so much I got one for the 8” jointer. Haven’t had to rotate the cutters yet.
Just my two cents for what it’s worth.
Many thanks for all of the commentary on my questions - definitely a few points of view on the topic out there. Looks like I will do a bit more research before reaching a decision.