Byrd Shelix for Dewalt 735

3051 Views 9 Replies 9 Participants Last post by gdonham1, Feb 8, 2019

gdonham1

Discussion Starter · Feb 7, 2019

I have a Dewalt 735 planner and it is a work horse. I have planned thousands of feet of domestic hardwood since 2011 and the machine is rock solid. My only complaint is the knives get nicked and you have to run your piece through twice to get rid of the little ridges. I do not run glue lines through the planner so the nicks are just a by product of using the machine.

The knives are about $54.00 US to buy and last a good long while but always get the nicks.

I can replace the cutter head with a Byrd Shelix Carbide Cutter Head for $360.00 from Amazon with Prime, which I already have.

I have read that the Byrd head leaves very small ridges and valleys due to the way the cutters slice the wood. Most say that a pass through a drum sander removes the small waves created by the cutter head. I have a Jet 16/32 Drum Sander and usually run wood through after planning any way.

So a new Dewalt 735 is about $564.00 on Amazon. My planner is in good shape but may require some maintenance in the future.

The Byrd Head is $360 and that would buy about 6 sets of the HHS Dewalt knives at Lowes at $54.00 a set.

What would you do, buy more HHS steel knives, replace with a Byrd head or buy carbide tipped knives for $161.00 a set which would be about two sets instead of the Byrd.

The Byrd has its plus and minus and if you nick a blade you can replace one or two and really you turn the cutter not replace. The carbide tipped knives may have the same issues ad the HHS knives which are very easy to nick.

What would you do to fix the nicking issue, replace the head with Byrd, replace with carbide tipped knives, or just keep using the HHS OEM knives?

Let me know what you think. I could buy a new planner with the Byrd Head but that would be rather expensive and the 12.5" planner is really big enough for what I do. A larger planner is nice but not a necessity for me.

Thanks.

See less See more

Save

1 - 10 of 10 Posts

sreilly

· #2 · Feb 7, 2019

Morning Guy,

I've seen people go both ways and it is more a preference than anything else. The advantage of the helix cutterhead is as you said having 4 cutting surfaces so if you damage a cutter you simply loosen, turn, and tighten. Once you've used the 4 sides it's time to replace. The down side is the expense and work involved if you're replacing the cutterhead in an existing planer. I'm not aware of the Dewalt planer being available with the helix cutter but maybe it is these days. From what I've seen of the videos posted of installing one it seems straight forward but I've not done one myself. On the other hand if carbide steel planer blades are available for the Dewalt it is easier to replace the blades than a whole cutterhead replacement and costs less. Those blades as you know can be sharpened many times as can be the HHS. The resulting cut was never intended to be the "finished" surface just as the surface from the 16-32 isn't usually either. Usually a random orbital sander with finer grits are used but not always. Regardless, sanding is usually the last process before finishing.

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 1

hawkeye10

· #3 · Feb 7, 2019

gdonham1 said:
I have a Dewalt 735 planner and it is a work horse. I have planned thousands of feet of domestic hardwood since 2011 and the machine is rock solid. My only complaint is the knives get nicked and you have to run your piece through twice to get rid of the little ridges. I do not run glue lines through the planner so the nicks are just a by product of using the machine.

The knives are about $54.00 US to buy and last a good long while but always get the nicks.

I can replace the cutter head with a Byrd Shelix Carbide Cutter Head for $360.00 from Amazon with Prime, which I already have.

I have read that the Byrd head leaves very small ridges and valleys due to the way the cutters slice the wood. Most say that a pass through a drum sander removes the small waves created by the cutter head. I have a Jet 16/32 Drum Sander and usually run wood through after planning any way.

So a new Dewalt 735 is about $564.00 on Amazon. My planner is in good shape but may require some maintenance in the future.

The Byrd Head is $360 and that would buy about 6 sets of the HHS Dewalt knives at Lowes at $54.00 a set.

What would you do, buy more HHS steel knives, replace with a Byrd head or buy carbide tipped knives for $161.00 a set which would be about two sets instead of the Byrd.

The Byrd has its plus and minus and if you nick a blade you can replace one or two and really you turn the cutter not replace. The carbide tipped knives may have the same issues ad the HHS knives which are very easy to nick.

What would you do to fix the nicking issue, replace the head with Byrd, replace with carbide tipped knives, or just keep using the HHS OEM knives?

Let me know what you think. I could buy a new planner with the Byrd Head but that would be rather expensive and the 12.5" planner is really big enough for what I do. A larger planner is nice but not a necessity for me.

Thanks.

I bought my Byrd cutter head and installed it. There is a video on how to install it on YouTube and it's not bad. "You can do it" The link below is where I bought my cutter head. I have not regretted buying this for my DW735.

https://www.holbren.com/byrd-shelix-for-dewalt-planers/

Save

difalkner

· #4 · Feb 7, 2019

One advantage you'll gain in changing to the Byrd cutterhead is the ability to plane figured wood, something you can't really do well with a straight blade. But if you're only planing domestic non-figured woods then that's sort of a toss up.

A second advantage is the Byrd head is much quieter than the straight blade. We've only had our 735 a year and I'm still on the blades that came in the machine so my decision will be much later after these and the replacement set that came with it wear out.

David

Save

Gene Howe

· #5 · Feb 7, 2019

Replaced mine with the Shelix OEM sized head last month. It runs much quieter, the planed surface is just as good as before. I went through several sets of the HSS blades and figure that the time and $$ saved will more than pay for the Shelix.
A tip for those doing the RandR...Byrd engraves their logo on each cutter. So, orient each cutter with the logo in the same place. That way, when you turn one, you'll know which and how many turns you have left.

Save

Reactions: 1

mgmine

· #6 · Feb 7, 2019

I took a chance on these blades for 25 dollars on ebay but haven't used them yet, since they are double sided blades that comes out to $12.50 so I don't really have much to lose. They look great and if they work as good as the original ones I'll be happy. I'm guessing that DeWalt gets their blades from China. Once I have had some time with them I'll let the forum know what I think. The first use of them while they are still super sharp will be on some tiger maple.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dewalt-13-...h=item2a83e99179:g:T4kAAOSwJDVbKhmp:rk:7:pf:0

Save

Bob Adams

· #7 · Feb 7, 2019

I bought my 735 in 2010 and added the shelix head about 4 years ago. My decision was based on poor quality of the OEM blades. They just didn't last. I have not had to rotate the cutters. The cut quality is amazing, and does not require any additional sanding. While the planer makes less noise you still have to wear ear protection. I was so impressed with the cut quality, that I spent the extra money for a shelix head when I replaced my jointer. The jointer gives the same results and I am extremely pleased with my decision.

Save

kywoodchopper

· #8 · Feb 7, 2019

I have a 735 with the Byrd cutter head for the past 5-years. I plane a lot of figured wood so the regular blades didn't work. Occasionally I have had ridges in the wood. I would notate on the board approximately where the cutter was and take several of the knives out and check for dust under them. That generally fixed the problem. After I run boards through the planer I use 100 grit, 120 grit then 180 grit paper on a random orbital sander. After I apply the first coat of finish I hold the board up to the light to make sure no defect or planer marks are showing. I couldn't run my shop with regular straight cutter heads.

I have gone through two sets of the cutters. Like I said, I plane a lot of wood.

Malcolm / Kentucky USA

Save

Reactions: 2

Cherryville Chuck

· #9 · Feb 7, 2019

I was thinking about switching to the Byrd head for my planer but a 16" head is worth as much as my planer. I have a lot of white birch, the only locally available hardwood, and it's bad for tear out. The Byrd is supposed to improve that as others have said.

Regarding knives. I bought a set of 8" for my jointer at a woodworking show 15-20 years ago. They had high cobalt content and were supposed to be much better than standard. I was thinking the other day after reading some posts about home made honing jigs that I should probably take them out and do that. Surely they should be due by now. I checked them with a finger and they are still razor sharp even after all that time. I can't be sure after this many years who made them but I think it might be Dimar.

Save

Reactions: 1

gdonham1

Discussion Starter · #10 · Feb 8, 2019

Everyone, Thanks,

The remarks from the actual users of the Byrd have helped me decide to upgrade. The HHS knives will always nick even without hitting something they are not supposed to. The comments about figured wood was what helped me decide.

I will order most likely from Amazon. I went to the Byrd site but they want shipping on top of the price. Amazon will ship for free and 2 days (Really 3 days).

Just to clarify I thought about replacing the Dewalt with a bigger planner but after really looking at what I use it for the 12.5" works well and I already own one of those.

I will update after replacement of the cutter head and let you know how it worked.

Save

Reactions: 1

1 - 10 of 10 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month