Thread: Helix Cutter-Heads

I've spent the last few days installing the spiral/helical cutter heads in my Carbatec 6 inch long bed jointer and my 15 inch planer.
It was not nearly as straight forward as it was made out to be. With the jointer it required a complete strip down to allow the infeed and outfeed beds to be separated sufficiently to get the assembled cutter-head and bearing block to be installed and bolted in place. It was promoted as a job that could be done in two to three hours. It took me almost two days. The `15 inch planer had a good set of instructions, or so I thought, but then found out that there were some critical information that had been missed out. There was also a good video from the Canadian "Grizzly" company showing how to do the change but they made it look so simple that it was unreal. In the event it took me about 8 hours to change the cutter head in this machine. The main bearing on the cutter-head shaft would not move and I think that I have broken my pneumatic bearing puller. I went down to the local SKF bearing shop and replaced it for a mere $14.50.
One thing that was not stated in any instruction was that there should be a packet of Band-Aids handy at all times. Even though I had the cutters covered with cardboard until they were installed there were corners sticking out and the tips of just about every finger was nicked at some time.
The initial test results are that the cutters are certainly quieter than the straight blades and they do seem to limit the tear out on cross grained wood, (Tasmanian Blackwood). The surface is definitely smoother than the blades ever got it and it comes out the machine needing only limited sanding.
We shall see if this as a good move as time goes on.