Pros and cons of Byrd head on J/P

[jteneyck]

I may have a chance to buy a new Byrd head for my MiniMax J/P at a nice discount. A helical head makes all kinds of sense on a planer, but I've read some people think they are not a good option on a jointer. What say you all?

I'm getting tired of dealing with the little knicks I keep getting in my straight knives .

John

[JGrout]

I guess the trade off is worth the hassle 

so I really can only suggest that you do your level best to use the entire head for your work both jointer and planer work

[Rick F]

If you are going from old fashioned straight knives, then its a no brainer. If your gonna remove a Tersa head, eh.. up to you.

I don't see any downside on a jointer.

[CARYinWA]

  A helical head makes all kinds of sense on a planer, but I've read 2 people think they are not a good option on a jointer.  What say you all?  


John

Fixed for accuracy

[Sawdustd]

Buy it John.    I replaced the knives on my jointer with that type of head.  No more tear out.  Plus, no more sharpening/replacing knives.  When the head no longer cuts well,  rotate each little cutter.

[JGrout]

Fixed for accuracy

there are more than 2 they just do not visit these forums 

HTH

[Tony Z]

I'm in the middle of replacing a straight blade head on a Grizzly Parallelogram 6" jointer. Construction and following manual of jointer straightforward, but workmanship of the jointer was shoddy in several areas.

Fortunately, it will not be difficult at all to correct those areas, which are mainly in the blocks retaining to old head-basically I'll bore the blocks to accept top grade bearings, secured like the old Delta machines with a set screw.

[frigator]

The only small downside to having a byrd head on a joiner is it's harder to push the wood over the Cutter head. I had one on a 16 inch joiner before and have one on a 12 inch joiner now. With wide stock I just take smaller passes. I think it's worth the trade-off. If I was a professional doing it all day it might be another story and I would probably want a power feeder.

[fredhargis]

There's several arguments for not putting them on a jointer, none of them hold water for me. The inserts are easier to deal with than setting jointer knives, the sound level goes down (quite a bit if you have a strong DC), and the inserts last longer than HSS knives. I think that last point becomes more important if the cutters are doing double duty on a J/P. The only downside I can see with my jointer is that the head leaves lines running the length of the board...so faint that 2-3 passes (literally) with an ROS removes them. This is apparently no uncommon, and sometimes if you pull the inserts, clean the seats, and retorque them correctly, it solves the problem. That didn't work for me, so i live with it. My planer doesn't do this, but I also had to do the cleaning routine on it.

[Philip1231]

I have a Byrd head on my DJ20, stuck with straight knives on my DeWalt 13" planer.  Nothing but upside to having 
shelix head on the jointer:  grain direction almost doesn't matter: excellent finish and no more cursing the standard knife 
change-out.  On the other hand, my planer knives do such a good job and are so easy to change, I see no need for the 
Byrd head (but I don't work with exotic woods).  On a combination J/P I would not consider standard knives: kind of like 
putting Model T tires on a Maserati.