Shelix Helical Cutter Head

Re: Shelix Helical Cutter Head

Barry Irby

Yes, I put one on my 50 year old Rockwell/Delta jointer several years ago.

I like it a lot and would not hesitate to do it again. I am still on the first side of the cutters. Always found installing a sharp set of knives to be a Pain.

Yes

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

YES YES YES!!!!!!

Whole new machine

Put one in my JPM-13 Jet Planer . . fanTASTIC!

You can see two threads on this page titled "Wowzers" and "Wowzers2"

http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/messages.pl/page/7/md/read/id/538869/sbj/wowzers/

things to consider

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Whether it makes any economic sense depends on what the jointer will be used for and what price you put on changing knives. Lessening torn grain when used on a planer could be compelling if lumber prone to torn grain is often used. Personally, I have planed tens of thousand bdft of common domestic hardwoods on an 18" Powermatic and I have not seen a need for this feature to avoid torn grain. I have an onboard sharpener on this machine and if I did not I would seriously consider changing to the insert head to lessen the total expense of knife sharping/installation.

This head seems less compelling on a jointer. By controlling depth of cut and feed it is exceedingly rare that I get torn grain jointing domestic hardwoods. The ease of changing knives varies greatly among machines. I only need to do it on my jointer every few years. If I charged myself $100 to change knives I would never get a pay back going to an insert head. Occasionally resetting knives does not go well and if the insert head salesman showed up at one of these times I would write a check at once.

Your results will differ.

Re: Shelix Helical Cutter Head

Dave Bair

The noise reduction and vibration reduction are amazing.

Re: Shelix Helical Cutter Head

kkruizen

I love mine.

I put one in my dewalt planer and tried running a piece of curly maple thru it. Got ZERO chip out with the shelix. I had new blades in my delta, tried running curly maple thru that and I have never seen tear out that bad before. So I don't know if it was the machine or the cutter head; but, I assume that it was the cutter head that mad the difference. I have since put one in my jointer. As soon as I have some extra money I am going to put one in my large planer.

I have also had success on end grain when making cutting boards, need to take light cuts.

One more minor advantage is chip collection seems to be more efficient, both in evacuation and bulk.

I recommend getting a SHELIX type with the canted inserts and not just a helical cutter head.

Re: Shelix Helical Cutter Head

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

I have a Byrd head in my 20" planer. I have an 8" Grizzly joiner with their carbide inserted head. To be truthful, I cannot tell the difference in results using either head. They both are VERY well worth the money in my opinion.

I can't remember having any tearout with either head even with wild grain. The life of the inserts is great. I have rotated the inserts 1 time on the planer after 3 or 4 years use, took a couple hours total and worked like new! The only times I have damaged any was when I hit a loose knot, then I replace them (2) in a very few minutes with zero setup or adjustment.

I used to be very careful about what direction I fed boards through the machines. Even wet them down to reduce tearout. Don't even look any more and have no issues!

Even if I had a setup like Bill Tindall I think I would have purchased the inserted spiral heads.