Replies

1. 
   JMartinsky | Jun 12, 2007 01:44pm | #1

   Dear Harley,
   I put a Byrd head on my jointer four or so years ago, and I have nothing but raves. I work commercially, so i have little patience for something that is fussy. I don't know who told you that you need to take lighter cuts, but they are wrong. I have made cuts consistently at 5/16 on the jointer with no problems. I have made a couple of cuts as deep as 1/2", but that was a bit scary. You will be please with the Byrd, hardwoods, softwoods, it is quiet and efficient. The blades never seem to wear, no blade setting, it's great! The only thing that you should consider, is that Byrd tends to leave very light parallel marks, almost a burnish on the material. Perhaps this effect is unique to the jointer, but I don't think so. The "tracks" can't be felt, but they can be seen. Other than that, I thin that they are terrific.

   Best,

   John

1. 
   harleyguy | Jun 12, 2007 04:21pm | #3

   Thanks John. There's nothing better than a testimonial from someone who's used the product. I'm an amateur turned pro as of this year and anything that cuts downtime on the planer makes sense to me. Byrd even has a thorough set of instructions, with pictures, on their website that shows the installation of their Shelix cutterhead on the 15 inch Asian planers like the Powermatic Model 15. Thanks again. Max

2. 
   RickL | Jun 12, 2007 02:19pm | #2

   Your info is wrong. Standard helical heads are old news in the industry for many years now. It's new to the hobby folks as prices have gotten very low. Less power will give bigger cuts than with  straight knives.

1. 
   harleyguy | Jun 12, 2007 04:26pm | #4

   Thanks Rick. Grizzly has a sale on for the 15 inch Shelix cutterhead for $595 which makes it attractive, but their technical support guys gave me the advice on lighter cuts.