# Shelix Head Ugrades the 735 Planer



## dczward (May 23, 2011)

That's an awesome upgrade. I still have straight knives on my 6" jointer and DW 734 planer. If the money truck ever crashes into my house, I'm tempted to go combo 12" jointer/plner with spiral segmented cutters. Thanks for the report!


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## Sigung (Nov 20, 2013)

Nice Willie, thanks for that!


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## Buckethead (Apr 14, 2013)

Nice review… Not full f hype. Realistic and objective. Hard to do after a considerable outlay of cash.


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## dustprocrastinator (Jan 17, 2011)

how straight forward is the installation? Did the Shelix come with a well thought out install manual?

Great post!


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

The Shelix / Holbren instructions are pretty basic.
Chris Wong of Flair Woodworks has a good instructional video.




If you have average mechanical skills and a pair of snap ring pliers you shouldn't have any trouble.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

This looks like a really great upgrade Jan. I have a 5 function Kitty combi machine from Belgium and the planer function has only two straight blades, but somehow it manages to do quite a good job on white oak, and everything else I have put through it. I'm a little amazed about that since this is not a professional machine. I guess I got lucky. I can see the value of those helical cutters though. They should last you for a good many years. In fact you will probably never have to replace them.


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Nice.
Good to hear it went OK. The quiet is a nice feature too.

I did this on my jointer and really love it. I had planned on changing my planer too, this post reinforces that.

Steve


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

I've had the shelix head in my 735 for about 6 months now would never go back. Much quieter. Yesterday I was planing some cherry and noticed one board had quite abit of tearout from the mill. One pass and it was just as smooth as the rest of the wood I was running thru. I've had no tearout in any figured wood I've put thru it.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

I put a Shelix head on my Ridgid planer a while ago and my results are kind of disappointing.
I have some tear out and the motor seems to work quite a bit harder and the surface is not absolutely flat, if you look closely there are some ridges.
Before that, I also put a shelix head on my jointer, on this one i have zero tear out.
I believe that the difference is due to the number of row of cutters, more row on the joiner head.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

I have the Jet JJP-12HH (jointer/planer combo with helical head), and it is significantly quieter. It's the blades that make the banshee howl on a planer. Helical or spiral heads reduce the noise to a bearable level. Of course, I still wear earmuffs.

One reason the helical or spiral heads cut more cleanly is the shear cut. I know many people advocate skewing the board before running it through a straight blade planer, but I'm not convinced that makes any difference (it might if your board has skewed, non-parallel grain). When you skew a handheld plane, the angled cutter is making a shearing cut along the grain of the board. When you skew the board in a straight blade planer, it's as if you were making diagonal cuts, not straight, grain-following shear cuts with a skewed plane.

I suppose somebody will insist I'm wrong abut this, but don't just tell me I'm wrong, convince me.


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## MrFid (Mar 9, 2013)

Nice review. I hope to do this one day to my machine.


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## bowtie (Dec 23, 2011)

Good review, I installed one in my 735 13 months ago and have been very pleased. I have a small sawmill and have run hundreds of cedar, red oak, cherry, blackwalnut, hickory, ash, elm, locust, pine and pressuretreated pine boards through with great results. I had a hard time spending almost as much for the Byrd cutterhead as the planer cost but I'm glad I did.
I have rotated my cutters once after about 10 months of using 5-6 days a week and rotated 2 cutters damaged by a nail
I only use my 15" planer when width forces me to.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Nice review. Thnx


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## playingwithmywood (Jan 10, 2014)

I recommend the 735 planner and the byrd upgrade for anyone that is like me and stuck with 110v and cannot upgrade for a 220v planner

I put the upgrade in my jointer and planner and have not looked back

never having to adjust blade height on the jointer and if the planer got nicked being able to rotate the knives

lifesaver


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## JM13644 (Jan 6, 2015)

I just installed a Byrd into my powermatic 60 a few days ago and I am extremely pleased with the almost glass like surface this cutter head leaves, the machine is quieter too I might add, When I get me a big old Iron PM planer I will look no further than Byrd. 
Joe M


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## RandyinFlorida (Sep 27, 2012)

Waiting for my 735 to arrive. I may upgrade in the coming months.


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## twong789 (Feb 7, 2015)

I had installed the Shelix cutterhead on my DeWalt 735 several years ago and haven't looked back. Installation was relatively straightforward and painless if you follow the instructions provided.

The cost of the Shelix head seems unreasonably high at first, but these carbide cutters last a very long time.

A note to users: some people have noticed scalloped marks on their wood. I have noticed milling marks after applying finish. So one should either hand plane and/or sand away the milling marks before applying finish.

Will never go back to straight blades. Shelix head is worth every penny!


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