Replies

1. 
   JMartinsky | Feb 13, 2004 01:27am | #1

   Hi Dave,

   I recently replaced the cutterhead in my jointer (6") with a "Shelix" head. I have to tell you that I was underwhelmed. I think that the finish in some ways is inferior to my old straight blades. The "Shelix" head seems to be well made and the blades are SHARP. the problem I am getting is a "railroad track" effect. Almost what you would expect from a nicked blade, except these are 3/8" wide. They are visible and I can feel them. To me that is unacceptable. Like you, I do all I can to avoid sanding, but I rareley had to sand after jointing with the straight blades, but now, I have no choice. I contacted Byrd, who makes the head, and they were very responsive and said that I must have a bad cutterhead, they would send me a new one in a couple of weeks. That was three weeks ago and nothing has shown yet. I was all set to do a planer with this cutterhead, now, there is no way. I almost think that you may be better off with a Woodmaster or similar, dedicated sander, I have even considerded the Woodmaster planer which has infinite feed control, that is you can dial it down to a creeping feed if you like and it will take a sanding drum. It's actually pretty nice. Let's hear what the others have to say.

   Good Luck!

   John

1. 
   Todd_from_San_Jose | Feb 14, 2004 07:46am | #7

   I've heard pretty good things so far, until now, so I hope that John's experience with the 6" head is unusual and soon remedied. 

   I asked Tom Byrd about the stripes left by the cutters, and he said that they should be very small.  Each cutter insert is curved slightly (about .003"), so each one would leave a .003" variation in planarity, except that they partially overlap eachother, so perhaps you should see stripes only about .001" high.  He said that all you need to do is a quick hand-sand (no power sanding required) to remove them because they are so shallow, rather than the aggressive sanding typically required of tradional straight knives.

   I'm thinking about buying one for a 15" planer.  The two big motivators for me are the promise of very little tearout, and that these inserts last a long time.  So, perhaps you would need to rotate the inserts every 5,000 board-feed, rather than replace traditional knives every 500 board-feet or so.  And because they can be rotated to 4 sides, this means you shouldn't have to worry about replacing them for a long time (maybe 20,000 board-feet).  I'm speculating on these numbers based on what I've read, so not sure how accurate my analogy is.

   -Todd

2. 
   daleduvall | Feb 13, 2004 05:30am | #2

   I too am considering the Shelix cutterhead. I understand that any spiral type cutterhead with small carbide blades will leave very small "lines" in the wood. If these are easily sanded out, that is not a problem for me. I'd rather sand for hours (I sand and or scrape anyway) than to align knives in my planer! I have friends that own a custom door and window shop (high dollar stuff) where they use helical cutters and they swear by them.

   dale

   Edited 2/12/2004 9:31:11 PM ET by drduvall

   
   

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   Edited 2/12/2004 9:31:53 PM ET by drduvall

1. 
   DaveBarker | Feb 13, 2004 06:06pm | #3

   I'm mostly concerned about tearout. I agree with you - small ridges left on the surface can be removed pretty quickly with a scraper, but tearout is a nightmare any way you look at it.

   Dave

   Edited 2/13/2004 10:07:03 AM ET by daveb

2. 
   Mackwood | Feb 13, 2004 06:37pm | #4

   Be careful not to equate "spiral" and "helical".  I understand there is a significant difference in the quality of cut between the two.

1. 
   PlaneWood | Feb 14, 2004 03:46am | #5

   Question about these types of knives - Can most sharpening shops sharpen them?

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

1. 
   JMartinsky | Feb 14, 2004 04:09am | #6

   I don't think that they are sharpenable, nor do I think that it is worth it. they are only about $3.00 each.

   John

2. 
   johnhardy | Feb 15, 2004 09:08am | #8

   Mike, my understanding is that these "knives" are really small square metal pieces that are sharp on all four sides. When one side dulls, you unscrew it, turn it 90 degrees, and you have a "new blade". When all four sides are dull, you simply replace them.

   John

1. 
   rslatm | Feb 15, 2004 03:49pm | #9

   You do not sharpen them. They are 4 sided disposable carbide inserts. This info is readily available on the site http://www.byrdtool.com

2. 
   PlaneWood | Feb 15, 2004 06:34pm | #10

   Is this what your talking about?

   View Image

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

3. 
   johnhardy | Feb 15, 2004 09:16pm | #11

   Yep. I don't have one, but talked with the Byrd folks at the AWFS show in Anaheim. Pricey, but if you do a lot of work this may actually be a more cost effective way to go in the long run. A chipped blade, for instance, only means changing out or rotating a few of the "teeth" on this puppy.

   John