Dewalt spiral cutter head upgrade

[Duane N]

The factory cutter head with steel knives was OK but I've been wanting to upgrade the cutter head.  Did some on line searching and came across this spiral cutter head, read the reviews, watched some video's on how well it works and pulled the trigger and ordered a new head.

Hopefully I can get it installed this evening and tested.

   

   

   

   

[Bill Holt]

Did that several months ago.  CAUTION:  Make sure you get the cutters back on correctly!!!!!!  I was certain I did...but...on the second pass I heard something.  Four cutters had shattered; all were in the same area so I assume one took out the others.

[FS7]

Not the easiest install, for what it's worth. I did it about a year ago and I can say that the cut quality is fantastic, the noise is substantially reduced (also different), and the cutter life is great. The carbide cutters aren't immune to chipping, but they are easy to turn. If I remember correctly my Shelix came with a Torx driver for the bits. 

Watch some Youtube videos (or a video series, as it is) to make sure you get everything installed correctly. I remember hammering out the old head was something of a pain and you need to be careful with the belt, especially the part you can't see. It would be easy for that to slip off. Other than that, if you have the larger head, you will need to install the cutters after. It adds to the install time, but you shouldn't need to change your depth gauge. I didn't do this, because I don't care about an exact depth reading since I do all matching pieces at once. If I ever need to I'll use the Wixey digital gauge.

I will say that despite its cost, this thing will save you money in the long run. I would go through three sets of knives a year, At $40 a set, that head pays for itself in four years given the cutters last longer and you can rotate them three times anyway. 

The only other thing to add is that if you make cutting boards, you may have been told that you can plane end grain cutting boards with a helical head whereas you can't safely with knives. In my experience, it is nearly impossible to effectively plane end grain cutting boards, helical or otherwise.

[MarkSingleton]

Hmmm.

I just got a DeWalt planer just like that.  My first project, after the test piece of course, was an end
grain cutting board. Walnut and Maple. Worked just fine.

Maybe I was lucky. But, I figured the best course of action was to take very small cuts but more of
them. The large hand wheel makes this very easy to do.

I will probably upgrade to the helix head some day. But for now, I am very happy as is.

   

[Duane N]

Not the easiest install, for what it's worth. I did it about a year ago and I can say that the cut quality is fantastic, the noise is substantially reduced (also different), and the cutter life is great. The carbide cutters aren't immune to chipping, but they are easy to turn. If I remember correctly my Shelix came with a Torx driver for the bits. 

Watch some Youtube videos (or a video series, as it is) to make sure you get everything installed correctly. I remember hammering out the old head was something of a pain and you need to be careful with the belt, especially the part you can't see. It would be easy for that to slip off. Other than that, if you have the larger head, you will need to install the cutters after. It adds to the install time, but you shouldn't need to change your depth gauge. I didn't do this, because I don't care about an exact depth reading since I do all matching pieces at once. If I ever need to I'll use the Wixey digital gauge.

I will say that despite its cost, this thing will save you money in the long run. I would go through three sets of knives a year, At $40 a set, that head pays for itself in four years given the cutters last longer and you can rotate them three times anyway. 

The only other thing to add is that if you make cutting boards, you may have been told that you can plane end grain cutting boards with a helical head whereas you can't safely with knives. In my experience, it is nearly impossible to effectively plane end grain cutting boards, helical or otherwise.

I watched a Youtube video at 4am this morning on how to replace the head and it went fairly easy (I just finished the change out and tested it 5 minutes ago)...I had to search for a 6mm or 8mm socket and that took some time digging around in my shed for one.  I noticed the different sound it made so I'll have to pay attention if I take too much off at once (I try to do small passes anyway).  It seems it works less with this head on it.

I've made 6 end grain cutting boards using the steel knives.  I just made sure to take very small passes, have boards glued at the end to prevent chip out and made sure the knives were new when doing an end grain cutting board.  Other than that....slow and easy.

Thanks for the advice by the way.

Hmmm.

I just got a DeWalt planer just like that.  My first project, after the test piece of course, was an end
grain cutting board. Walnut and Maple. Worked just fine.

Maybe I was lucky. But, I figured the best course of action was to take very small cuts but more of
them. The large hand wheel makes this very easy to do.

I will probably upgrade to the helix head some day. But for now, I am very happy as is.

What I didn't like about the steel knives was one set would last a good while where-as another set would leave a bur after a few boards passed through the planer.  I haven't ran a whole lot through it yet but after the quick test I did this evening I think I'm going to be very pleased with this new head especially in the long run cost wise.

[Duane N]

Did that several months ago.  CAUTION:  Make sure you get the cutters back on correctly!!!!!!  I was certain I did...but...on the second pass I heard something.  Four cutters had shattered; all were in the same area so I assume one took out the others.

I check them from the factory and all were tight and in place.  I bought the smaller head where you don't have to remove the cutters inserting the new head into the planer but after a few passes I will double check everything.

[Duane N]

I got to use the new spiral cutter head for a few hours milling down some spalted oak, hickory, hard maple and ambrosia maple.  I should have upgraded a while ago.  What a difference in the cut and how easy it seems the planer works now. 

[Stwood_]

Sounds good on the upgrade.
Did you ck with Bryan here on a head also? He sells heads for those.
Holbren Tools, and gives a WN discount.

Just curious

[Duane N]

Sounds good on the upgrade.
Did you ck with Bryan here on a head also? He sells heads for those.
Holbren Tools, and gives a WN discount.

Just curious

No, I didn't know I could have gotten it through someone on here. 

[Stwood_]

Yes. Bryan is a member here.