Comparing spiral head cutters

I am looking at 2 different 6 in jointers and want a spiral cutter. One has a 4 row 28 cutters and the other has 6 rows with 38 cutters. The rest of the specs for both machines are comparable so it comes down to which one would do a better job. The 38 cutter one is a bit more expensive but I am happy to pay the extra if it delivers the goods. My thought process is the more cutters, the better the finish and the smaller the chip/shavings which would be better for me as I run a shop vac for dust control. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

More important than number of cutters will be whether the cutters are mounted at an angle so they shear cut (a true helical arrangement) or whether they hit the wood square on as often done in cheaper cutter heads. This YouTube video comparing two after market cutter heads might prove of interest to you. While one head has 24 cutters and the other has 38 cutters (both four rows), at the end of the day, the reviewer could not tell any difference in the quality of the cuts between them saying, "Honestly, I can't tell much difference in cut quality or any of the other things that caused me to fall in love with these helical heads... I honestly wouldn't hesitate to buy either..."

Game Changer? A new alternative to Byrd Shelix carbide jointer/planer heads! - YouTube

Interestingly, Felder's silent cutter head has three rows of only 22 cutters (for the 300mm /12" model), and is outstanding, so the number of cutters doesn't tell the whole story.

Based on AussiePhil's troubles with finding replacement cutters, I would decide between the two based on how common the cutter size is, so that you won't have issues sourcing replacements down the track should you need to.

One thing to consider - availability of spare cutter inserts, are they a "generic" and commonly available or are they "unique" to that manufacturer or even a specific model? Are they a true "carbide" or "HSS"?

Recent conversations on the WWF have discussed the geometry of the cutters as they vary considerably, size & thickness; "straight" or "R150"; square or radiused corners; insert cap screw size & head design.

One thing with the true spiral / helical cutter heads - huge reduction in noise when planing.

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Originally Posted by Mobyturns

... One thing with the true spiral / helical cutter heads - huge reduction in noise when planing.

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:2tsup:

The noise reduction is pretty much my sole reason for wanting to modify my machine. With the dust extractor my planer sounds pretty much like a WWII air raid siren. My ancient neighbour comes out and jumps behind the sandbags every time, scanning for Stukas.

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Originally Posted by LanceC

Interestingly, Felder's silent cutter head has three rows of only 22 cutters (for the 300mm /12" model), and is outstanding, so the number of cutters doesn't tell the whole story.

Based on AussiePhil's troubles with finding replacement cutters, I would decide between the two based on how common the cutter size is, so that you won't have issues sourcing replacements down the track should you need to.

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I think there are only 2 rows on Felder's Silent cutter block, and 3 rows on SCM's Xylent cutter block.

This is my Felder AD951

Attachment 501788

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Originally Posted by Greg Q

The noise reduction is pretty much my sole reason for wanting to modify my machine. With the dust extractor my planer sounds pretty much like a WWII air raid siren. My ancient neighbour comes out and jumps behind the sandbags every time, scanning for Stukas.

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Definitely a major motivation for me as well - keep the neighbours on side. Just have to sort out the jointer now.

I’m not so sure it makes much of a difference as to the orientation of the cutters.

I have a “Byrd “ head in my 200 jointer with skewed and radiused cutters. I also have a Chinese copy of an SCM combination machine. The cutters in that head are set parallel and are square edged 14 x 14 x 2. Be stuffed if I can see a difference in the quality of cut.

I have just purchased a Martin under and over. The cutters in that are 15 x 15 x 2.5, square edged and parallel. 3 rows for a total of 96 insert knives. The head will take either radiused or straight edge cutters.

then there is the 1973 SCM S50 that I arranged a spiral head for direct from CTS in China. Since sold that one to help finance the Martin. That head had 6 rows of 24 cutters for a total of 144.

i would challenge anyone to find a difference in the cut quality between any of the mentioned machines.

I would be looking at the overall build quality of the machines you are looking at purchasing. Buy the better machine. Buy the machine with 4 edges on the inserts. Buy the machine that uses off the shelf cutters.

Enfield Guy

Did you notice any difference in noise level ?

In my view the noise reduction is similar one to another.

with the rudimentary sound meter I have I note that the Martin is a little quieter and it has less cutters that are square to the table. Go figure.

I think the main advantage is the gap between to cutters allowing the air to move over the head rather than pushing a wall of air.