Is an upgrade to a helical cutter head on your planer really worth the money? Short story is ABSOLUTELY, you will notice immediate improvements in audible levels, chip size and amazing finish quality. BIG thanks to for sponsoring this video, be sure to check them out if you want to upgrade your planer/jointer or even if you just need new or custom blades...they have it all!
Long story for a planer or jointer upgrade to a helix head is really dependent on things like what you do with your planer/jointer, what woods you typically work with and what kind of knives you already use. All that said it different for everyone and the decision is really up to you, in this video I hope to make that decision easier for you by present data that I think is important.
In this video I run several different species of wood though my planer with it's original straight knives, check the audible level, current draw, chip size and finish quality. I than change out the portable planer cutter head and put in the new shelix head, made by Byrd tool, from MyWoodCutters.com. I breeze over the head change as this is not a video showing you how to change out the planer head, there are instructions on over at MyWoodCutters.com for most machines and I have taken pictures so that Steffen and I can update the RIDGID planer instructions to be very detailed.
Once the cutterhead had been changed over to the shelix head, a relatively easy process, I ran the same boards though and collected the same data so that I could compare it for you guys.
I summary:
*The audible level is WAY, WAY down compared to the straight blades...it's incredible how different it is.
*Chip size is much smaller, no long gangly strips to jam up your dust collection system.
*Current level is up with the helical head. Was a bit worried about the machine popping breakers with the higher current draw but I have not had any issues yet and I have ran it pretty hard with lots of cherry recently.
* Finish quality of the milled wood is AMAZINGLY different. Not even in the same category. It is almost as if you have already ran a card scraper over your material. This will really cut down on a lot of sanding time.
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Get your Shirt on! We finally have some of our own branded shirts and hats and they are great! Get yours today and me sure to send me a pic so I can see this stuff in the wild!
www.DIYTyler.com/Merch
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Some tools I used (affiliate links):
Katz-Moses Dovetail Jig:
Nerax Chisels:
Pull Saw:
Coping Saw:
Marking Knife:
Marking Gauge:
Layout Calipers:
Diamond Sharpening Stones:
12000 Grit Wetstone:
Flattening Stone:
Honing Stop:
Glue Bot:
1/8" Chisel:
Titebond TiteWrap:
Tool Belt:
IsoTunes Xtra:
Mirka 6" ROS Sander:
SuperMax 16|32 Drum Sander:
10 Million Dollar Stick:
Moisture Meter:
Mirka 6" ROS Sander:
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