# Byrd shelix cutterhead



## Ottis

Holy crap eastsdie !!!! Thats just not right…we have the same planers, but mine has the Grizzly cutter head. When mine comes out it almost seems finish ready it is so smooth, When I finish my last pass through the planer many times depending on the wood….I am able to go straight to 220 grit sand paper.

While I have not had mine that long…A1Jim has had his (Same as ours but a 20" with a grizzly head) for two years, use's the heck out of it and has yet to even rotate the blades once yet.


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## longgone

It definitely sounds like a problem with the byrd shelix cutterhead. I have the Grizzly Extrema 15" planer with the carbide heads and like Don, I always get excellent results when plaining all types of wood. I have plained oak, walnut, teak, cumaru, cocobolo, leopardwood, cypress, pine, iroko and several other woods. Results have been exceptional with all and I have yet to rotate the carbide cutters.
If I were you I would call Byrd Shelix and become the squeaky wheel.


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## BTKS

Good to know, thanks for the heads up. BTKS


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## a1Jim

Hey Mike 
I have the grizzly 20" planner and 12" jointer both with Grizzlys spiral cutters and like Don my wood comes out glassie smooth.


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## Dusty56

*O M G !!!* How the heck could that happen with a spiral cutter head ? Is that what they consider "slightly scalloped "?


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## Julian

Did you contact customer service BEFORE posting this? I would assume that you should be able to get this resolved if you email them the pictures and state the problem.


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## eastside

Yes I contacted Byrd this morning and asked for tech support. She asked what the problem was and took my name and number. I was told the guy to talk to was busy and would call me back today or tomorrow!!! Still hadn't heard from them yet.


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## bigk

I recently purchased the Powermatic 20" planer with the Byrd cutterhead. I have not had that problem at all. Have run a ton of 1/4-sawn red oak, some hard maple, and some fir timbers through it and have had only excellent results. I wish Eastside the best of luck getting his problem resolved.


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## eastside

Bigk welcome to lumberjocks. As you can imagine I'm trying to resolve this with Byrd going on the second day now. In my situation I hope you can understand it looks a little suspicious that you have been with lumberjocks for 6 hours and made only this one statement. I do apologize if I stepped out of line here but I think it had to be said.


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## MikeandBart

I live within a half-hour of the Springfield, Mo. Grizzly outlet. I had them convert my planer to the Grizzly spiral cutterhead. Glass smooth results on Oak and Walnut-no problems.


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## eastside

I have an update, I talked to tech support and they are also concerned about the quality of this particular head and are willing to take it back and refund me all my money. They seemed to be truly concerned about customer satisfaction and are paying for the return shipping. At this point I couldn't ask for more. I guess I'll plan on breaking this machine down again this week.


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## Ottis

Glad to hear they are standing behind their product Ken….are you going to go with another of the same, or get a Grizzly ??


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## farmboy

I have a 20" inch jointer with a bird head. It has about 170 cuters almost twice per inch of cut and boards are very smooth. The fuzz that everyone talks about comes out with 150 grit sandpaper.
Sorry about your problems. I am sure bird has a better cutterhead for your machine. Do not give up Hope.
sam


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## stairdoc

Mike,
I'm also having challenges with a Byrd cutterhead I recently installed on my Powermatic 209 4 post planer(same machine as the grizzly and others). I bought the Byrd cutter almost 3 years ago from Grizzly but only recently installed it. My challenge is tiny cuts the length and width of planed boards; they appear to be knife knicks from not just one but many of the inserts. I too have spoken to Byrd who sound sincere about solving my problem. In the end, did they help you, and what was your final solution? Thanks.

Stairdoc, WA State


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## eastside

Stairdoc, I called Byrd and informed them of the problem. They said that slight lines were normal and should be easily sanded out. Mine as you can see were not slight and could not be sanded out. My situation is going to be different that yours because I called them within days of delivery. They agreed to take the head back and refund me all my money. I then installed a grizzly head and the difference was great. A nice smooth finish with only a quick finish sanding needed.


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## Dustin

So so glad I caught this review, just about to order the Byrd, going to go with the Grizz now.


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## SawdustJunky

Man am I glad I caught this conversation. I was about to order a Byrd Shelix Head for my DeWalt 734? Anyone tried that?


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## farmboy

I am just marking 2 years of use with a 20-inch byrd cutter head. I still get smooth results with microscopic fuzz from very curly maple and cherry. The inserts are cutting and not glossing over the wood. Tear outs are very minimal in the wildest grain. For fun I ran a few boards with big knots against the grain and still no tearout.

The only way I can see the poor results occuring is with loose cutters. If they are not torqued down to the specified inch-pounds and properly seated on the shaft, they might be able to flutter.


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## markplusone

This is what happens with the spiral cutterheads because the teeth alternate width wise from row to row. So lets say you have three teeth "rows". Call em a b and c. A and C get cut frist and then the next row of teeth come around and B gets cut. This back and forth alternating teeth is what creates the pattern. And no there is now way around it. If you have a toothed spiral head your head will do this. That all being said, I have the G0453Z stock spiral head and it never seemed that bad as in the photo. For a table that is 4'x32" it takes me about 7-10 min with 220 to get it just right. I did notice it doesnt show up in my curly maple as much though.


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