DW735 with shelix

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hamsey

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Mar 7, 2008
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Purchased a DW735 planer a couple of months ago and need to replace the stock HSS blades. Contemplating installing a shelix head until I saw this video (2 minute mark): I have never seen any mention about this issue before.  Could this be an issue with his setup? Do others that have this setup have this issue? No sure about the upgrade at this moment because of the added work to get the wood flat. Certainly, not going to be hand planing to get it completely flat.

Thanks, Norm
 
Could be caused by some of the cutting plates not seated 100% in place - but as the guy said: quick to clean up with a handplane or a sander, with overall better quality than one blade.

Sadly the DW735 is NICE (Not available In Central Europe).
 

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I installed a shelix cutter head on my DeWalt 733 planer a few years back. It can leave some undulations or very small ridges. It's very easy to clean up with a handplane or sander. In my view, the lack of tear-out and longer life of the cutting edges easily outweighs some of the superficial marks left on the surface.
 
As noted a Shelix head (I have them on my DW735 and Jet jointer) leaves a subtly scalloped surface that can be seen if a freshly faced workpiece is held at a steep angel to a bright overhead light.  In my experience it cleans up to dead flat with about 4 passes of a good RO sander and 120 grit abrasive and much more quickly than the surface left by straight knives in typical (not perfectly just sharpened) working conditions.
 
I have jointer with a similar cutterhead and there are very slight "scallops" on the face or edge being jointer. I have found that the slower the wood passes through the lesser the ridges (obviously can't really control that with a planer). Also, I've found that the taking less off on each pass lessens them to some degree. Regardless, a hand plane or thickness sander is NOT needed to eliminate them. They come off with sanding during the sanding and finishing process.
 
grbmds said:
I have jointer with a similar cutterhead and there are very slight "scallops" on the face or edge being jointer. I have found that the slower the wood passes through the lesser the ridges (obviously can't really control that with a planer). Also, I've found that the taking less off on each pass lessens them to some degree. Regardless, a hand plane or thickness sander is NOT needed to eliminate them. They come off with sanding during the sanding and finishing process.
Click to expand...

Decades ago, when Makita delivered the first lunchbox planer to North America, one of the early double page ad buyers in the new WWing magazine (Fine Woodworking) offered a smaller sprocket so the wood would pass through the planer more slowly, and produce finer results than you could get from the most expensive planer. [Except for the fixed knife machine (also Makita) that shoved the wood past the blade producing zero scallops.

Stretched that out hoping to remember the name of the seller. Seems like the name Don is relevant? The showroom/warehouse was is the lower Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
 
kevinculle said:
As noted a Shelix head (I have them on my DW735 and Jet jointer) leaves a subtly scalloped surface that can be seen if a freshly faced workpiece is held at a steep angel to a bright overhead light. 
Click to expand...

Here's another photo I took when I first converted my Dewalt. Again, Ambrosia maple.

[attachimg=1]
 

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It’s the nature of the beast.  Be it straight knives or a segmented cutter, marks will be left on the surface.  I remember my dad’s old Craftsman Jointer would leave ridges.  So would his DeWalt planer (first model).  My segmented head on my Hammer J/P leaves slight scallops.  When I get close to the desired final dimension, I have found if I make fine cuts (1/4mm or less).  They are not as noticeable.  When jointing, the slower the feed rate, the less noticeable.  Regardless, they clean up quick with whatever method you prefer (sanding, scraping, or hand plane).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Another potential help with this issue is to just run the board through the planer several times without changing the setting once you’ve arrived at the desired material thickness. If you change the direction of the board or skew it a few degrees, it will remove material in different locations which may eliminate some of the surface inconsistencies.

I've done that in the past when the straight knives got dinged and they left a continuous nib that was proud of the surface.
 
Finally got around to using the DW735 with shelix the other night. I am getting an area that is not being planed down. About a 1/32" wide running the length of the board. Took a look at the cutters figuring that maybe one got chipped during install but I am not seeing it. Anyone have a suggestion on what I should look for?

Thanks, Norm
 
It sounds like you have a gap in the coverage of your inserts as though one isn't seated properly.  I would look at all the inserts on your cutterhead closely to make sure they are tight to the cutterhead recess and don't have any sawdust lodged in between.
 
[member=297]Michael Kellough[/member] - I think that the woodworking store you were referring to was toolsforworkingwood.com. They used to be in Chelsea years ago before they moved to Brooklyn. I think that the owners name is Joel but I’m not sure he is the guy that mans the store. They are a terrific high end woodworking tool and supply house.
 
[member=3521]hamsey[/member] - it sounds to me like you might have a tiny knick in one or two of your inserts. Sometime you can’t see the knick but you can feel it if you carefully (and gently) run a fingernail along the cutting edges. If you take note of where the workpiece is as it runs through and exactly where the raised line is you will be able to hone in on the location of the potential issue rather easily. In my experience it only takes the smallest little thing imbedded in the wood to Knick a few knives. The good news is that it is super easy to fix.
 
Alanbach said:
[member=297]Michael Kellough[/member] - I think that the woodworking store you were referring to was toolsforworkingwood.com. They used to be in Chelsea years ago before they moved to Brooklyn. I think that the owners name is Joel but I’m not sure he is the guy that mans the store. They are a terrific high end woodworking tool and supply house.
Click to expand...

This was about two decades before Joel set up shop, ~1980, even before Garrett Wade opened on Spring St. I’ve been to both all of Joel’s locations (the Manhattan shop closed/moved to Brooklyn and the Brooklyn shop moved from the first place to a better one). I think Joel is usually there, somewhere.
 
Steven Owen said:
They actually review better than the Shelix blades and are easy to re-sharpen.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but this misses the whole point of a Shelix head...no sharpening whatsoever and much quieter operation.  A freshly sharpened straight knife is hard to beat for surface quality, but it loses that edge very quickly.  The Shelix heads on my jointer and planer have been doing their thing for years now and I have replaced one insert that cracked and rotated perhaps 2 or 3 other nicked inserts.  The surface quality is indistinguishable from the day I installed the heads.  They have worked on hard maple, white oak, and quite a bit of Ipe without breaking a sweat.  I wouldn't trade them for any knives needing sharpening, no matter how easily they sharpen.
 
kevinculle said:
Steven Owen said:
They actually review better than the Shelix blades and are easy to re-sharpen.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but this misses the whole point of a Shelix head...no sharpening whatsoever and much quieter operation.  A freshly sharpened straight knife is hard to beat for surface quality, but it loses that edge very quickly.  The Shelix heads on my jointer and planer have been doing their thing for years now and I have replaced one insert that cracked and rotated perhaps 2 or 3 other nicked inserts.  The surface quality is indistinguishable from the day I installed the heads.  They have worked on hard maple, white oak, and quite a bit of Ipe without breaking a sweat.  I wouldn't trade them for any knives needing sharpening, no matter how easily they sharpen.
Click to expand...

The Infinity blades will make more noticeable noise but they will last 10-12 times longer than the OEM without sharping.  There’s trades offs in everything.  The biggest advantage they have super clean cutting.  It’s a nick picky thing depending on your preference.
 
Just the reduction of noise level alone justifies the Shelix conversion. The dB level went down 10 points after the conversion...that's huge.
Then throw in never having to remove blades, taking them to someone for sharpening, then picking them back up, storing them in a place where they won't get dinged...yada yada yada.

It's literally a 5 minute job to rotate an insert and I'm working again.

I looked at the Infinity knives and did the math. A set of 3 knives for $250 plus an extra set of them or some other knives for when they get dinged and the Infinity knives can only be "lightly sharpened" 1 time.

Or spend $375 for a Shelix and keep a small box of 10 inserts for $35 on hand. For me it was a no brainer.  [smile]
 
I noticed that Byrd makes two Shelix cutterheads for the DW735.  One is the same size as the OEM, but I understand it requires that the cutters be removed prior to installation to be able to fit during installation.  The other is a reduced diameter model that allows for installation with the cutterheads already installed.  I've read that the smaller version has a reduced cutting depth, but that either Shelix has an increased power draw so you still have to take lighter passes or the motor will bog down. 

Does anyone have any comments on how these two might differ in terms of operation and results?  Or should they work the same?

Thanks, Mike A.
 
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