minorhero Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Hello, I am looking into installing a spiral cutting head in my 8" Powermatic Jointer. Does anyone know if there is anyone out there making cutterheads other then Byrd? I have looked online and found references to sunhill and accuhead both of which seem to be out of business. Grizzly seems to have their own design for cutterheads (in addition to also selling byrd heads) but they 1) seem to be priced about the same as the byrd heads, and 2) they don't specifically offer one that will fit a PM60. So does anyone know of a cheaper alternative then Byrd? Thank you for any info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 I did some digging a while ago for my planer. All I could come up with is Byrd for a retro fit. Other companies offer segmented heads preinstalled in their machines, but the reviews are not nearly as positive as the byrd. I say do it once and be done. I have a shelix in my powermatic jointer, and love it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wdwerker Posted March 18, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 You bought a Powermatic not a Griz so why go cheap on a spiral head ? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 9 hours ago, minorhero said: Hello, I am looking into installing a spiral cutting head in my 8" Powermatic Jointer. Does anyone know if there is anyone out there making cutterheads other then Byrd? I have looked online and found references to sunhill and accuhead both of which seem to be out of business. Grizzly seems to have their own design for cutterheads (in addition to also selling byrd heads) but they 1) seem to be priced about the same as the byrd heads, and 2) they don't specifically offer one that will fit a PM60. So does anyone know of a cheaper alternative then Byrd? Thank you for any info. Try to dig up an HHH thread on this. He scratches the surface on the difference between some of the variants and how they may not be truly helical. It may not be about cost as much as quality of cut over the long haul. (Not an expert...just watched it come up a time or seven.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted March 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 9 hours ago, wdwerker said: You bought a Powermatic not a Griz so why go cheap on a spiral head ? I did cheap out actually. I bought a 1967 pm60 from a school auction for under 400$. I have been using it with straight blades for a few years but with recent upgrades to my shop I am recalibrating everything to significantly higher tolerances and I think it's time for a helical head and be done with it as it were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Older American made machines are usually made to pretty decent tolerances. Feed it a decent head and use it for a few more decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted March 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Oh the jointer is in great shape and other then helical heads this is one area where the tech being used 100 years ago is the same being used today. So I have no doubt the jointer will outlive me. I just don't want to keep up the jointer knife alignment game. I find that to be pretty finicky. Hence my desire for the helical head. I had hoped there was a cheaper option then shelix but it looks like the only 2 I can find went out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jussi Posted March 19, 2016 Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 I'm was in a similar position when I was looking for a segmented cutterhead for my jointer. I didn't find any alternatives that were significantly cheaper. I eventually ordered my byrd head from Brian at Holbren. He offers a discount to woodnet members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wareaglewoodworker Posted March 20, 2016 Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 Another alternative may be a disposable-a-blade setup. Like the ones over at dispozablade.com. It'll help with your alignment issues (after u set it once) and it's about $200 cheaper up front. At $36 a set, blade replacements aren't that bad either. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陈述 Posted March 22, 2016 Report Share Posted March 22, 2016 As a disposable-a-blade producer who know a lot about the cutter head , I suggest you buy the Byrd shelix cutter head , it use the radius carbide cutter and have angle with the cutter body , it is quieter than other helical cutter head and have longer blade life . You know if you buy a cheaper cutter head , use more money to replace the carbide cutter , that is ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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