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15" planers

#7
Yeah Tom, I have the green version G0453, I didn't get the byrd shellix head, as I have the drum sander, and with the planer trails the shellix head leaves and it doesn't do that much better of job, better than the straight blades, but the work after is very similar. There are some really good articles on Lumberjocks and Sawmill creek, the spiral heads are very popular, some love em, some not so much, so it all about what you want Tom.
 
#9
No Tom, it does do a better job, but not enough for me to justify the extra $500, the figured woods I use I just plane to 1/16 before final, and take it down with a few passes in the sander. It removes any chipout, and I am in the same place, but this is me. I also take the extra time with figured woods to not take heavy cuts with the planer. I take very light cuts, it takes a little more time, but less chipout. It's all about how you work the wood as to the convenience of the spiral head, but if it's something you always wanted, I'd say go for it, if you decide on a standard later, you can always sell the byrd head. LOL
 
#10
Spiral head planers vary, but spiral head versus straight knife is no comparison. Spiral head>straight knife................I tell you what, buy them both to compare with a piece of expensive flamed maple ;)......you will definitely see the extra price for the spiral head will cover your cost difference.
 
#12
I would get the 15" Grizzly....nice spiral head, inexpensive, and basically the same as many of the oversea brand planers on the market.

Many of the high end old brands were purchased for there name(Powermatic...Delta...etc). The extreme high end quality of there older equipment went down and they now purchase the "standard oversea equipment", do slight modification to it, paint it a different color and put their name on it and charge tons for them. They are nice, but not like their originals. Those companies still have some of their original pieces, but they are EXTREMELY expensive.....took the price way up...changed their quality, too.

For what you need it for the new Grizzly 15" spiral head would cover perfectly.......not their older 15", we had (2) of those!


I still stand for what was said here.....:D:D:D:hiding: :........... http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/spiral-planers-562100/
 
#14
As I stated in that same thread, I loved mine when I first got it, but after actually doing the comparison on that machine with both heads, I found the results less dramatic, of course, I do not run metallics through my planer, and the blades on the byrd shellix hed DO NOT last 7 times longer than a set of straight blades, 3 times maybe, but as I said, it's all conjecture. There are as many detractors as there are supporters these days, and the drawbacks to each style of head become evident the more you use them, and you will learn to adapt to whichever you choose.
 
#15
Main point I was trying to make, about 7 times longer, is that if anything hard is hit with the blades, you would truly need to replace the entire blade. With the bits all that would need done is the rotate 1 or 2 individual bits. On planers with the bits, the bits actually have a slight. turn to them, so they will actually shave the thickness at an angle...that will not create a grain separation. There are several different types of bits that have there own sttengths and weaknesses, but all are better for smooth clean cuts and not nearly as the loud.
 
#16
I agree completely on the loudness, when I removed the Byrd shellix head from mine, it was considerably louder, I was just relaying my experience from starting with the Spiral head, and switching to the standard. I think you have given Tom some excellent points, he'll be in good shape when he buys his new planer. ;)
 
#17
I don't have a planer with either type of head :) (I don't have a planer ... yet!)
However, I have subcontracted some planing to a guy locally who has a Byrd head in his 13" Delta. My father has straight blades in his 13" Rigid so I'm a little familiar with both.
While the wood comes out a lot smoother with the Byrd cutters, in my case, it didn't come out as flat (across the width) as with the straight blades. Upon close inspection, you could see groves in the surface. They were small, but they were there. The straight blades seemed to leave the surface more flat, but it was rougher in appearance (and to the touch). In both cases the boards had to be run through a drum sander to make them smooth and flat (at which point they look the same which I think was one of Musiclogic's points).
 
#18
OK, so it's not quite a full 15" in cutting width ... but it serves all of my jointing and planing needs in a single unit

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I just scored a brand spankin' new Jet 12" Jointer/Planer flip-top at the local dent/scratch outlet for less than half of what these are on sale for right now in the Jet Winter sale flyer. why was thin at the dent/scratch you ask ... the shipping container was damaged. outside of a couple peek-a-boo holes in the cardboard cover, this unit is spotless!

it's 230v, so I need to wire a new circuit into the shop. once that's done I'll be offering up my 110v Inca 10" J/P on the local Craigslist (since there's no easy way to offer wood working tools here on TB)

all the best,

R
 
#20
tjclem said:
Forgot all about that thread. :rollno: Thanks I may give them a call I need to make sure they will back the truck right up to my shop and get it in the door. With my back there is no way I am messing with that.
Click to expand...

If you go with Grizzly, I highly recommend paying extra for the tailgate service. Well, you have to if you don't have a dock or a forklift to unload the truck... I recently purchased a bandsaw from Grizzly and I paid the extra for the service and the driver actually placed the unit in my shop. My wife told me that he was very nice and was more than willing to move it to where it needed to be. I would not hesitate to order anything else from Grizzly.
 

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