# Helical head upgrade for Delta 37-190 6" Jointer from Grizzly



## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

So I've been wanting to upgrade my trusty Delta 37-190 to a helical cutter head, but couldn't ever swallow the nearly $400 price tag for the Byrd head. Recently I saw that Grizzly has a helical cutter head that has a shear style set to the cutters and they were priced at $215.

I did a bunch of research including calling Grizzly and couldn't find any definitive info on the dimensions of the head other than the over all length and the cutterhead diameter. They had one model, the T27698, that seemed to fit the 'generic' 6" jointers.

At $215 and knowing I could just return it, I pulled the plug and just ordered one in early April. It finally arrived this week and I pulled the original Delta 3 knife head off to compare them. I can now confirm that the T27698 is a direct drop in fit for the 37-190 head. The shaft diameters are the same and the length is the same. The cutterhead diameter is also well within the min/max range you might set your knives at during normal knife installation.

Though my bearings are in good shape, I'm going to get a new set of bearings on Friday and finish the install. After I get a chance to joint some boards I'll post a review.

Mostly I just wanted to post this here for anybody else who might have a Delta 6" jointer of the same design as the 37-190. I couldn't find any definitive information about possible compatibility, so figured I'd share what I found. Even with the bearings, I should be able to get my upgrade done for $240 all up.

Grizzly T27698 diameters as measured diameters
short end bearing shaft: 0.590" 
pulley end bearing shaft: 0.665" 
pulley shaft: 0.620"

Hopefully this info will help someone else out trying to make a decision on what head might fit the 37-190 and it's clones.

Regards,
Mike


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## SJBerg (Oct 23, 2017)

Where did you get the bearings and is there a part number for them?

Thanks,
Steve


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

Specifically for the delta 37-190, the bearings were a 6202 and 6203. I got the 2RS rubber sealed.

I got them locally from a bearing supply house. But you can order them online from several places.


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## slopjock78 (Nov 16, 2011)

So i just picked up a Delta 37-190 at an auction this past weekend for $65. It was an absolute steal, and although I have not yet got to try it out yet, it is visually in excellent shape. I was planning on replacing the blades, but for the money you are talking here, and what I paid for the unit, it really makes sense to just upgrade to the helical head now.

How happy have you been with the grizzly head now that you've had it a few months? Worth the money?


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

I still think the head is a great bargain. I was jointing a bunch of cherry this weekend and it leaves a great surface. I did a review as well (here) and I found that the cut quality from the spiral is not necessarily better than cut quality from new knives in the regular head.

But after a couple of months of use, I would have expected straight knives to have had at least one little ding in them requiring me to slip them left or right to fix it. The spiral head is cutting as good as new with no adjustment and no cutter rotation so far.

The only caution is that the spiral head draws more power for the same depth of cut at the same feed than the straight knife head. If I want to take off 1/8 or 3/16 in one pass, I definitely have to reduce my feed rate a little to avoid bogging the head down. You can easily adjust by ear and the quality of the cut doesn't seem to be impacted much by the head slowing down a bit. I tend to prefer to do a few extra passes than try and hog a bunch off in one pass, so it doesn't really affect me much. Also, I could bog down the straight knife head as well by feeding fast, but it's just a little more noticeable with the spiral head.

So if you're a guy who routinely takes deep cuts with the jointer, you may find this to be a downside.

Overall I still think it's a great value.


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

One additional comment for those that question the "spiral heads draw more power", if you look at the Grizzly 6" jointers, I don't think it's an accident that the spiral machine is a 1.5 HP and the straight knife is 1 HP. I think this is a response to the different cutting action of the two heads.

Mike


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## Holbren (Aug 26, 2015)

The Delta 37-190 is a different head than the one Grizzly is selling, that is made for a host of Asian jointers but not the 37-190. Only machine that head is common with is the Yorkcraft YC-6J


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

> The Delta 37-190 is a different head than the one Grizzly is selling, that is made for a host of Asian jointers but not the 37-190. Only machine that head is common with is the Yorkcraft YC-6J
> 
> - Holbren


I'm not sure what you base this info on? I actually did the swap for the Grizzly head and both heads are essentially identical sizes. The effective cutting diameter may be a off a very small amount, but not by much. The rest of the measurements (cutterhead overall length, shaft diameters, etc) all match the stock Delta head.

I guess it's possible that maybe my Delta 37-190 is somehow unusual, but I'd be curious to know why you think it's not the same?


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## Holbren (Aug 26, 2015)

I looked at the drawings and they are close, I guess it's worth a try if you think it will fit. I'm just basing my knowledge on the fact that Byrd would not sell you a generic 6" head for the 37-190 and I've never known a customer to try.


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

Well at $215 and figuring I could return it, I didn't see much risk in trying it. Once I got the Grizzly head, it essentially measured the same as the Delta head and I got it installed and have been using it for a few months now.

Here's a pic of it installed in my 37-190.


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

I should have asked in the previous post, when you look at the Byrd drawings, where are the primary differences (shafts, body, etc)? It would be good to figure out where the discrepancy is.

Either I have a weird 37-190 and I don't want to steer people wrong or the drawings may not tell the whole story. I still have the original Delta head, so I can mic it out and we can compare the drawing versus one in the wild so to speak.

Thanks,
Mike


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## Holbren (Aug 26, 2015)

Send me an email to [email protected] and I'll reply with the drawings


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

Thanks to Brian, I was able to review the two drawings for the 'generic' 6" head and the Head that is supposedly specific to the Delta 37-190 (and Yorkcraft 6").

I measured the stock Delta 37-190 head that I had taken off and compared the measurements to the two drawings. Essentially my take away is that the heads are basically identical with a few exceptions:
1. Cutting diameters are different and range from 63 to 65 mm. These ranges are well within the adjustment range for the outfeed table on the 37-190, so other than making it harder to use the cut depth gauge, I don't think it's a real issue.
2. Bearing to bearing length. The heads have small shoulders for the bearing to seat on. For the 37-190 stock head, that bearing to bearing distance is about 0.08" longer than the 'generic' head drawing. I'm assuming this means its also longer than the Grizzly generic head as well. So what this means is that if you assume the bearing opposite the pulley is fully seated in the bearing holder, then when you bolt the head down, the bearing on the pulley end would be seated up to approx. 0.1" shallow in that bearing holder (or the reverse if you fully seated the pulley side bearing) and also assuming the mounting studs for the bearing holders don't have enough play in the through holes to absorb this length difference.

So the upshot for me after comparing all the heads is that while the Delta 37-190 head is probably not compatible with the 'generic' 6" jointers as it's longer and might bind, the generic head will probably work fine in the Delta 37-190. Yes the bearing could be seated a bit shallow in one of the holders, but my unit had mounting holes for the studs with quite a bit of play in them, so when I mounted the Grizzly generic 6" spiral head, it was just a drop in fit with the bearings bottomed out in the holders on both sides.

So I'll modify my recommendation a bit from an exact replacement to a "close enough" replacement. Even if the bearing is seated shallow a few mm, the worst thing you'll probably do is wear out the bearing early which is a cheap enough fix. Taking this position that most people interested in this upgrade are probably hobby guys like me, then wearing the bearing out "early" in this case may not happen before I wear out "early".

Mike


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## davidsmith6 (Oct 28, 2017)

Do I want to know the bearings feet with it properly?


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

@Davidsmith6,

Not sure if you had a little autocorrect going on or maybe I didn't understand the question, but the bearings for the 37-190 are a 6202 and 6203 if that's what you were asking. I got the 2RS rubber sealed.

Mike


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## Michaelfile23 (Aug 11, 2020)

Mike, 
I've been looking at the decision of buying new knives or helical cutter heads for both my Dewalt DW735 planer and my Delta 37-190. I can't hardly deal with $400 for each and was looking at the grizzly options and I believe I can handle that small tolerance difference for the jointer and will probably give a whirl for the 13" planet as well. I'm sick of sharpening blades that I'm "not supposed to sharpen." Good info. Appreciate your in depth descriptions. Cheers,
Mike F.


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

Glad you found it useful. The 37-190 is a little bit of an odd duck and it doesn't get talked about in the "generic 6" discussions a lot. But I've gotten good use out of mine and the helical cutter has been a nice add on.

Mike


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I think a insert head is a downgrade in a jointer since it's a hand feed machine. 
The money is better spent towards a planer with the insets.
Unless your into working with dirty barn wood then I can see a need.
I had one when they first came out I eventually sold it.


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## Newbie17 (Feb 20, 2017)

I have a 12" grizzly jointer with the helical cutterhead. It creates a nearly finished surface. I don't think it would be possible to make a smoother cutting blade. There is a noticeable difference in the quality of the Grizzly and Jet cutterheads with the Jet leaving a rougher surface.


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## Mike_D_S (May 3, 2012)

In my case, I just got tired of resetting nicked knives. I do a lot of work with white oak and even without nails, debris, etc you still get nicked blades sometimes.

While it may not be an upgrade, its definitely not any worse than straight knives. If I weigh maybe taking an extra pass versus the time to go back and plane or sand down the occasional raised lines due to small nicks, I feel like its a worthwhile investment at a certain price point.


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