Older jet 20" planer

[Florida boy]

I picked up a used 20" jet planer over the weekend. It has very little use on it. It has the blue green color and the seller said it was an 89'. It's a jwp-208-1. I would like to install a Shelix  head but just got off the phone with jet and they said it needs a different head than the current one. Told me to call Byrd and they would have me take some measurements and build one to fit.

Called Byrd and they said they never changed the way they make them for that planer and that no measurements were needed and told me a price or the one they say will fit.
  Has anyone swapped to shelix head on a planer of the blue green color/ late 80's jet planer. I kinda hesitant  to buy a 1200 dollar (more than i payed for yhe planer) head that may not fit. Hope fully some one has done it and can put my fear to rest.

[ladylake]

 
I think if Byrd told you it will fit, it will fit and the Byrd head is worth $1200 easy.  The only down side to the Byrd head is that if you put a loose knot through the planer it can and will break some of the cutters  They cost around $3+ each.  The spiral  head does a lot better job on tough wood like white ash, white oak and red cedar plus lasts around 10 to 15 times longer between sharpening's or in the case of the Byrd head turning the cutters 90° which for me on a 20 inch planer take about 90 minutes.   One other thing it took me about 2 hours + to swap out the head.  Steve

[Larry]

Some of the Byrd dealers can provide better service, price, and advice than the factory.  Most of the time its the owner that answers the phone.  Some know the insides outs of the machine and the tooling side.  Helps when one hits a little problem.

I've had good luck with holbren.com and oellasawandtool.com

Larry, expecting a new Byrd Shelix tomorrow for shaper pattern work.  Dave, at Oella treated me just fine yesterday.

[redbeard]

For those interested in spiral Byrd heads planners, One feature to look at is adjustable (bed) rollers works great when a board has a wave or thick to thin problems. Basically the bed rollers have ability to raise slightly and put extra pressure on the upper feed rollers it's a great feature for rough sawn boards.

[Florida boy]

Yes yhis one has the bed rollers thanks for the tip. I've looked up how to joint with thef planer have any of you used a planer this way?