Replies

1. 
   hammer1 | Nov 20, 2004 06:07pm | #1

   If you are in a high production shop using figured wood, the spiral may be the way to go. Otherwise a sharp set of knives with the appropriate feed rate will handle most needs.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

2. 
   BarryO | Nov 21, 2004 07:40am | #2

   From the installation instructions I've seen, spirals are alot less fussy to install than most standard knives.  You just install them and that's it:  no tediuos adjusting to get them perfect, etc.  They're also alot more expensive.

3. 
   JMartinsky | Nov 21, 2004 09:49pm | #3

   Barryo hit the nail on the head. Spirals are "set up and go". Or even "set it and forget it". They are more expensive though. I swapped out the cutterhead on my jointer for a "Shelix" cutterhead because I want to use the jointer. I don't want to spend hours fussing with the jointer. The indexed cutters are great, I get four cutting edges per knife and then I can swap them out quickly without any further adjustments to the machine. Clearly superior. Some claim that one gets a better cut with spirals, I can't really speak to that, but I can say that I am extremely happy that I spent the $ for the spiral cutterhead and would never return to straight knives again.

   Good Luck!

   John

1. 
   BarryO | Nov 21, 2004 10:43pm | #4

   I swapped out the cutterhead on my jointer for a "Shelix" cutterhead because I want to use the jointer. I don't want to spend hours fussing with the jointer.

   I hear ya.  I hate spending time sharpening blades, and fussy adjustments.  I just don't enjoy it; perhaps some do enjoy "fine tuning" their machines, but  I like to do as little as possible.  My Makita planer has disposible, "set and forget" knives.  Bandsaw blades are cheap and get thrown out when dull; carbide table saw blades stay sharp a long time and can be sent out for sharpening.

   That leaves the jointer.  the blades on it must be very sharp and precisely aligned if it is to do its job, so I'm thinking about going the spiral route (if I can stop thinking about the $$$).

   I'd like to leave sharpening to the chisels and planes.

4. 
   joelc | Nov 28, 2004 11:57am | #5

   I was fortunate enough to pick up a slightly used ShopFox 8" jointer with the spiral cutterhead at the the Grizzly tent sale.  I understand it isn't a 'true' spiral cutterhead.  Regardless, I am extremely pleased with its performance.  The quality of the cuts puts my planer to shame.  I am very glad I paid a few extra bucks to have a machine with such a good cutterhead.

   FYI: to date I've been working exclusively with hard maple.  I've had some funny grain since I'm using utility grade maple, but nothing I would consider very figured.