Thread: Helical head for thicknesser

Done and Dusted

new head is ordered and paid for and should hopefully be in my hand early next week.

Apparently the Carbatec spiral cutters arent as good as the Byrd and Cts.

Appears the way to go is the buy the standard model and then buy the cutter elsewhere.

at the very least it works out a lot cheaper that way

I'm sitting in this very boat. I am considering a new thicknesser. The one I really like is the 16" TH 410, and I cannot find any useful information on what helical cutter head might go into these.
They're mainly sold by Machineryhouse, and Axminster in Britain. The consensus seems to be that they're a very nice machine. There is only one outfit in Queensland that sells a version with a spiral cutter head called Gregory Machinery, but that's as much use to me as tits on a bull, because I can't just put my trailer behind a boat and cross the Tasman. Nobody, and I mean nobody else even offers that option and I haven't found a similar machine from another reseller in the US, say, that would supply a spiral head to suit these.

Yes, there's Rob. He may get the job. But ... well for instance: I can get a shellix head for my 8" carbatec jointer for 330ish US, and our NZ Youpost has a forwarding centre in the US, they will charge me 15 NZ bucks for postage plus 5 bucks for every extra 500g (where Grizzly would charge me US$180) - so I could land it for around 550 NZ, whereas Rob charges way over 600 $AU and ALSO wants 170 postage on top. I'd end up paying more than half as much again if I got it from him. It won't work out much better for the 16" cutter head.

It's a bit frustrating, t.b.h.

I might as well spring for a 15" Powermatic with the shellix head, but they are not only very expensive, but they got some AWFUL reviews on Amazon recently.

I'd really appreciate any pertinent input at this juncture.

What about the CTS branded heads (basically Chinese Shelix)? Don't know how they stack up against the Shelix, but I can't imagine they'd be too different. Rob sells both so might be worth asking him. I will say that his markup on Shelix is quite high but he's gotta earn a living too and, as they say in the movies, "watcha gonna do?" At the very least he's a nice guy to deal with.

I'm sure Gregory will put it on a ship for you, just depends how much it'll cost.

I know the AUD has gone down the gurgler but this mob are very good for supplying Shelix/Byrd heads https://www.routerbits.com/

I bought one from them for a Powermatic and had no issues. I used them on recommendation form many users in the US and they are very competitive on price providing you can stomach the conversion rate.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

I'm sure Gregory will put it on a ship for you, just depends how much it'll cost.

I actually queried Gregory and they let me know that the head in their machine is fitted at the factory and has '4 wings'.
That sounds possibly a bit sparse to me. I guess it's still much better than 2 or 3 hss knives though.

Anyway, I've spent a lot more time on researching this, and I've not found any shellix head listed for the TH 410
(also sold as the Rikon 23-400 by the looks of it - that's one discovery I've made)

So I've run the numbers on the 3 machines I can get from CarbaTec in New Zealand:

CTJ-381 is NZ$ 2225
spiral head from Grizzly (their equivalent machine appears to be the G0453) for US$ 725 on special == NZ$ 1095
this head is not a shellix, it also appears to have 4 wings and Grizzly say it's got 74 German carbide inserts.
They also look like they do not do a shear cut. 74 inserts, same as CarbaTec's spiral cutter head.
http://grizzly.com/products/15-Spira...r-G0453/T10128
total cost including NZ Posts's shipping service somewhere around 3375.

Carbatec's own 15" with spiral head is NZ$ 3600

Jet JWP 16 NZ$ 2299
Shellix head US$ 1167 == NZ$ 1765
total cost around NZ$ 4200

Powermatic 15" with a genuine Shellix head: NZ$ 4700

So, from a financial point of view, the case for the Carbatec 15" machine is very strong indeed.
Also, since it's nearly identical to the Grizzly, I'm pretty confident that it'll be a decent machine.
I may yet get back to Gregory and ask them how much the damage would be if they sent me
one of their cutter heads over. MachieryHouse NZ want NZ$ 2350 for the TH410.

What amazes me is that the TH 410 is listed as weighing 170 kg whereas the Carbatec machines weigh in at 260 kg. -- 90 kg difference ?!?

I'm going to hold off doing anything rash and let this sink in for a bit.

And now I am baffled: Grizzly also sell a Shellix cutter head for the 0453, 75 cutters +10 spares and
all for US$ 539 on a special.

That option would bring the price of the refitted CTJ down by another NZ$ 280. Ye gods. Now that sounds good.

Originally Posted by P.W.H.

So, from a financial point of view, the case for the Carbatec 15" machine is very strong indeed.

Be careful to get the "right" Carbatec15" thicknesser. It doesn't make a great deal of difference for most work but when thicknessing long pieces you would go crazy adjusting your infeed and outfeed support when the tables move far enough.. I have been told that they made the one where the tables move because that allowed them to put the motor underneath, allowing easier access to the cutterhead, which is rarely needed, and still not difficult on the model where the cutterhead moves.

Fortunately I have the one where the cutterhead moves, and am very pleased with it. I have been trying to get my CTS cutterhead into it for a couple of weeks now but back problems etc have been holding me up.

Cheers

Doug