Spiral Head Planer Maintenance

[firefighter ontheside]

Grizzly used to sell spiral cutterhead planers that had long blades that wrapped around the head.  These were totally different than the helical heads.  It seems now that they only sell the helical heads with the carbide inserts and that they use the terms spiral and helical interchangeably.  

[metalspinner]

Hmmm..
Maybe this is just some old marketing in my head??
But I thought the difference between the two insert heads was that one had the cutting edges "inline" and the other was "skewed" in some manor?

[Larry]

is there a difference between helical and spiral?

Yes, I think so.  In the spiral head the inserts are at 90 degrees to the feed direction.  In the helical head the inserts are at a slight angle to the feed direction.  The cut is a shearing cut which is more efficient and smoother according to the people who sell them.

I cannot see any difference between how the heads cut in real life.  When Grizzly got the spiral head cloned in China the inserts were all 90 degrees to the feed.  Now they offer both styles.  I've had two Byrd Shelix heads for 20 years now and can see no difference in cuts between my heads and Hermance or Grizzly.

Bryd and Hermance are both made in the USA!!!

[firefighter ontheside]

I ordered a byrd head for my jointer about 6 weeks ago from Holbren.  Of course they took my money, but have no idea when my helical head will ship.  I guess I was naive when I ordered it, but their site said it would typically ship in 5 days.  They need to change their site.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Had all sorts of trouble the first time I tried to rotate about 15 yrs ago.
the T handle wrench that came with the machine (Bridgewood) lasted about 25 cutters and twisted and broke.
couldnt get a bunch out, so stupidly just broke the carbides with a punch the removed the screws.
Big mistake as I deformed some of the seats.
Took a lot of work to correct this.
called Byrd and the fellow told me to seat to up to 55 inch pounds.
I now run in very lightly with a cordless set on the lowest torque setting and then torque  according to fellows specs.
the newest inserts I bought are numbered for turning.
I think mine has 128 of these buggers.
My belief is as stated above that spiral is 90 degrees and helical at a slight angle.

[YellowHammer]

Rotating cutters is a methodical process.

I take all the cutters off and put them and the screws into a solvent bath.  Then I spray WD40 on the head, get a wire wheel in a drill and clean all the sap and gum off the head, the seats, everything. WD40 seems to cut the crud pretty easy.

Then I take a pice of sandpaper, lay it on the bed abrasive side up and get a cutter and put the back on the sandpaper and go scrub it around a couple quick swipes and the solvent softened sap wipes right off.  Then take a screw and put that cutter back on the head, and snug up the bolt.

Then repeat a few hundred times.  

When they are all in, then use a dedicated T handle torque wrench and set them.  I use a 50 inch-'ipound dedicated T handled torque wrench.  Go row by row and it goes easy.

Then run some wood though the planer and look for any high or low teeth, mark the position on the bed with a pencil, open the cover and adjust that cutter.

It's pretty easy but it takes a little time.  

[kantuckid]

I ordered a byrd head for my jointer about 6 weeks ago from Holbren.  Of course they took my money, but have no idea when my helical head will ship.  I guess I was naive when I ordered it, but their site said it would typically ship in 5 days.  They need to change their site.

Just to play devils advocate, and learn something->why use helical?
 I've had my 8" jointer for over 35 years and just changed conventional blade set a couple years back for the first time. I compared buying a new set of blades to sharpening the old set along with my conventional planer blades and bought an ebay set, made in USA, was cheaper than sharpening them. 
I guess what I don't understand is at what point in cost does a helical type cutterhead machine make sense in a solo home shop senario? 
My 20" Taiwan planer uses regular blades too and just ran several MBF of pine 2x6's through it, still sharp enough for framing lbr., maybe not for the best cabinet woods I'd change them out.   

[metalspinner]

Interestingly, I started this thread over 10 years ago with the first rotation of the inserts. Today, I am still on the third edge.  So, every 5-6 years I am rotating the inserts. Not bad mileage.

On the other hand, I have a 6" jointer with straight knives and I can't ever seem to keep an edge sharp for more than just a few months.

[SwampDonkey]

You get less tear out in the funky grain areas, so smoother finish. I've only just run the straight blades, all my machine tools are bought on budget, no fancy high priced machines. But I don't skimp on hand tools. ;D  It would be different if I was building to sell, I ain't. What I make is mine. ;)

[farmfromkansas]

I clean my cutterhead occasionally, just use some ammonia detergent in a spray bottle, after putting cardboard on the table.  Then take a tooth brush after the detergent soaks up the pitch.  After using the brush to scrub all the teeth,  Then use plain water in a spray bottle to remove all the ammonia detergent.  Then use the air compressor to spray off the water, finally turn on the machine to throw off all the water in the cracks. Takes a while, but the machine works better with clean cutters.  I have the Grizzly polar bear 15". 

[kantuckid]

Interestingly, I started this thread over 10 years ago with the first rotation of the inserts. Today, I am still on the third edge.  So, every 5-6 years I am rotating the inserts. Not bad mileage.

On the other hand, I have a 6" jointer with straight knives and I can't ever seem to keep an edge sharp for more than just a few months.

Note my comment that my Sprunger 8" jointer has only had one blade replacement, zero times that I sharpened either set off the machine, maybe a stone job only. Believe me when I say it's had lots of wood run over it! 

[SwampDonkey]

I've never sharpened my Delta jointer in 30 years. :D