In the February 2011 issue of Magazine (PWM), we discuss differences in carbide cutterheads some shear as they cut, and some have carbide knives that meet the wood straight on. Although there are only a few options, there are many. While researching this article, I learned a lot.
While I was at the PWM shop this past week, I had some free time. It was the weeks between Christmas and New Years. Because we promised a video of a change to a three-knive cutterhead (a Byrd cutterhead made by Byrd Tool Corporation) I set up the camera and pulled out mechanic-type tools from my tool chest in order to swap the cutterheads.
The process was much easier than I had anticipated the change was quick and without problems.
The results are astounding to say the least. There is a dramatic reduction in noise and the surfaces left on boards straight from our planer are killer. While the video is about 12 minutes in length, the change-out time was just more than three hours. It might just be the most productive three hours I spent during 2010, with dividends reaped for many years to come.
Take a seat and enjoy the video. You’ll likely want to spend a few more hours in the new year making your shop more productive.
Heres a book and an article that provide additional planer and cutterhead information:
Woodworking Machinery Basics Jointers and Planers (click here) demonstrates how to adjust knives to compensate for small nicks, discusses table parallelism adjustments and much more.
Robert W. Lang’s article Setting Jointer and planer Knives is available for download. This article will help you install your blades correctly and get you back to milling woods quickly.
Product Recommendations
These are the tools and supplies we use every day in the shop. Although we may be compensated for sales made through our links, these products have been carefully chosen for their utility and quality.
