After market spriral cutter head

D._Frederick · December 19, 2011, 01:10:48 AM

Was wondering if anybody installed an after market indexable carbite spiral cutter head in a jointer. I have a 8 inch Powermatic jointer that I would like to install a new cutterhead, but was wondering if it is worthwhile spending $500 on a 30 year old equipment.

T Welsh · December 19, 2011, 05:21:09 AM

I have not,but have used them and they are nice heads and make great cuts and are easy to remove one or two bits vs, whole blade changes. but the draw back is the price! they do not do the job any better or worse than blades,I guess it all depends on how much use the machine gets and is it worth your money to switch it over. as for a 30 year old machine,I would take a 30 year old over these newer Chinese made machines any day of the week.You mentioned you have a Powermatic it must be the green colored ones being that old vs. the newer gold color. they are better. Like I said,it all depends on the use of the machine and how much money you are willing to spend or is it cutting bad and leaving ripples in the wood after passing it through. if so it needs sharpened and tuned up. I have a older Rockwell/Delta 8" its build like a battleship,1950,s era its not perfect but it does its job well, and will last my life time and some! Tim

SwampDonkey · December 19, 2011, 07:09:14 AM

I do a fare amount of jointing in the winter and I just use a regular old blade that's been on there for 20 years. The only thing about jointing I pay attention to is grain direction. You go against the grain and you'll have a sloppy job. I can turn a piece pretty cheeply. ;)

Ironwood · December 19, 2011, 07:13:20 AM

If you "marry" the best of both worlds, old machine GREAT cast iron and new head technology it is THE best combo and the WAY to go, no arguing that one. I have a 20" American jointer here waiting for a customer to invest in one of the Byrd heads, Cat's meow. Only worth doing on a ball bearing machine (obviously), and EVEN better if it is single phase as the used market for that is better, if you ever sell it.

Ironwood (American Arn expert ;))

WDH · December 19, 2011, 07:18:08 AM

My spiralhead 8" jointer does a superior job as compared to the 6" Delta with blades. I believe that is because the carbide inserts actually stay sharper much longer. If the blades on the jointer were always kept perfectly sharp, there would not be much difference as long as you follow the grain direction like SD said. Problem is, you cannot always do that with swirly grain and figured wood. That is no problem with the carbide inserts. Also, that would require much more frequent jointer blade sharpening to compare to the spiralhead, and that was always a pain.

I believe that the old machine with its old iron and likely superior motor would be a perfect candidate for conversion to the indexable spiralhead.

SwampDonkey · December 19, 2011, 07:51:54 AM

Quote from: WDH on December 19, 2011, 07:18:08 AMyou cannot always do that with swirly grain and figured wood.

That is very true to even around knot wood. The knot may be gone in the cut lumber, but there is some curly growth where it grew from the stem. Most of the time the sanding stage hides those imperfections. ;)

Don_Papenburg · December 19, 2011, 11:39:19 PM

The spiral insert head is much better . The force needed to push a board through is very noticably reduced . and the music is a lot quieter. Knarly wood comes out much nicer.