Spiral Cutterheads

[tlooney]

Does anyone know the difference between the Shelix cutterhead and the Taiwan made cutterhead for a Grizzly planer. Is there a difference in the way they cut or are they the same? I am thinking about upgrading and I would like some feedback if anyone has any.

Thanks tlooney.

[Larry]

The Shelix inserts are on a spiral with a slight angle to the work.  Grizzly inserts are also on a spiral but not angled to the work.  I've read the Shelix also uses more inserts than Grizzly on the same size of head, but don't know this for fact.

I ran extremely knotty ERC through both style heads and compared results side by side. The Shelix had a slight edge...but the Shelix was new and the Grizzly had planed an unknown amount of wood.  That brought up another question...which head uses the best carbide for the inserts?  We were going to run some tests with figured hardwood but my buddy sold his Grizzly before I got the chance. 

[tlooney]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like there is just a little more sanding to do with the Grizzly cutter than the Shelix. Plus it is $150 cheaper. I am still trying to justify the price of the Grizzly cutter over regular hss blades.

[Don_Papenburg]

Don't spend the time trying to justify the upgrade .  spend the money .  less  viberation  noise  and effert to move the boards past the cutter.  You may have little tiny miniscual lines on the board after it has gone through the cutter  ,but it is a whole lot easier to sand than the ripples from a conventional  straight bladed cutter.   
  I just rebuilt my jointer and put in an aftermarket spiral cutter head .  I had to modify it just a bit  and do a lot of clearance work on the jointer body , but well worth the effort.

[Cedarman]

I wouldn't go back to straight knives for anything.  Some of the best money I ever spent.  The length of time between knife changes is worth it alone, let alone the quiet and smoothness of cut.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  If you ever encountered tearout, you know why you NEED the Spiral Cutter. We have Spanish Cedar, as brittle as ERC and tear out is a real problem. The spiral just about eliminated the problem. Quiet and no wavy boards is where it's at.  ;D ;D

[tlooney]

Thanks to all for the input. I now know what I am going to do and that is spend the money and change the cutter to the spiral head. I can see all the advantages to it.

[GF]

I had to revive this thread, I put a Shelix on my 20" planer and what a difference it makes over the conventional blades.  Its much more quiet, and when planing ERC I dont get the any tearout.  They are well worth the money.  ;)