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Need advises on planer upgrade (shelix)

914 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  wapakfred 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi all, Im looking for advises on the byrd shelix cutterhead.

Im starting to get a good cutting board business where I live and my biggest problem is "flatness" of the cut from the planer.

I bought new knifes, adjusted it to +/- .002
It still cuts a few thou more on the edges…

Where putting it on end grain, if I have a board that is 20+ inch long, the few thou makes the last few rows bend, I had to shorten 2 boards so far…

simple question, I would like to upgrade the cutterhead for a shelix for the ease of adjustment (more like plug and play)

All the other advantages are ok but my main concern is perfect flatness and not taking 4-5 hours to readjust every so often…
 
#2 ·
Are you talking about making the final product flat or the segments flat before glue up?

If you're wanting to flatten an end grain cutting board, I would use a drum sander instead. A planer will leave a lot of tear out on end grain and could break or chip knives. There is also a high risk of kickback as well.
 
#4 ·
Not sure the cutter head is the problem if you've tried using fresh knives. Have you checked to make sure the bed underneath is perfectly flat?

If the knives are flat now, then you would still have the same problem with a new cutter head.

As for other problems that can cause it, I will defer to others here that have more experience with trouble shooting these kind of things. I haven't had any problem like that before. You will find many here who have restored and fixed many machines.
 
#6 ·
Thanks :) Ill recheck the knifes tonight and let you guys know..

Its a fairly recent Genreral 15" planer maybe 5-6 years max… bed is 100% flat…

Knifes arent…

is the shelix head worth the 1000$ tho?

- BudhNop
I have a segmented cutter for my planer, which is 20" and haven't had any problems with tearout on anything I've run through it. I run woods that have all kinds of varying grain patterns and it leaves a smooth finish.

Almost to a point if I didn't want to sand it, I wouldn't have to. So yes, I recommend it just for the job it does.
 
#7 ·
The Shelix has a lot of advantages over knives (IMHO), but I'm doubtful it will solve your problem. Anyway, the inserts are going to last much longer than any HSS knives, and as you noted they are plug and play…no dinking aoruns trying to get your knives level. You will also have a big reduction in noise, more so if you have a strong DC hooked to your planer. In my case (15" Delta) I had to wear my shooting ear muffs while using the planer; after I installed the Shelix I switched over to just ear plugs as I use for all the other tools. You might find, though, the Shelix leaves lengthwise lines. I think Byrd has changed the design recently to eliminate that but be aware. These lines aren't a big deal, mine come off with 2 (literally) passes of the ROS so it's not much to deal with. Also, if you remove each insert, clean the seat, and properly re-torque, it also solves (or greatly reduces) the problem.
 
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