Any opinions on Steelex? 12" Jointer?

[Tapper]

I live about 20 minutes from Byrd Tools so a few years ago I went by to get a head for an 8" vintage jointer; I forget exactly how much it was but it was affordable for both head and bearings.

I love my Shelix heads -  fast, quiet and if something nicks one insert it's a quick and easy fix.  Also chips are easier to handle.

Dittos! Huge difference in performance, noise reduction and maintenance; no comparison to knives IMO.

Doug

Byrd on Shop Fox 8" jointer
Griz on Shop Fox 15" planer

[Bit_Fiddler]

Hello Everyone - Just an update on the Jointer questions...

First off, thanks to Wild Turkey for keeping me in mind and making what I think was a very generous offer.  This community is amazing.  

I just finished setting up a Shop Fox 1744S 12" jointer in my shop tonight.  Grizzly delayed the delivery of the Steelex unit I had on order several times and then cancelled the order, but did not notify me.   I found out by calling in after the latest delivery date was missed and I had not heard anything.   Seems they can't get anything (jointer wise at least) out of China anymore.  The new units are coming from Taiwan but are also almost a grand more expensive.   I stumbled onto some new, old stock of the 1744S's on EBay and jumped on one of those.  It's a beast and I am quite satisfied with the fit and finish.

Regarding the cutter segment count, I have a Byrd head on my 8" Grizzly jointer and the Shop Fox has what is called a spiral head.  Basically a lower cost segmented cutter head with 4 rows of 15 square carbide cutters wrapped in a fairly tight spiral around the head.   From the initial testing tonight, there is *very* little difference in the cut quality compared to the Byrd head. If I push the board across the head fast, I can see the cutter impressions made by the shop fox head, but I can't feel any roughness.  It's a bit of a surprise to not see a difference, but time will tell if any difference develops over time.

Thanks for the interest and responses here.   I will shortly have the 8" Grizzly G0500 with a Byrd head for sale if anyone is interested....

Dave