SCM FS30C aftermarket spiral cutterhead

[wotaen]

Hi All,

I recently bought the combo machine. It was rather pricey, so at the time I opted for just a normal cutter head. SCM has their own alternatives - tersa and spiral heads. After about a year, I decided I'd go for an upgrade but to my surprise the price was about a double as compared to the price I'd have paid during purchase - before about $1K, now $2K.
I have a couple of questions:
1) Do you know if there are any aftermarket cutter heads for my planer? I googled a bit, but I was actually a bit confused with the US/EU machine versions.
2) My main reason for me wanting to upgrade is just a convenience - I work with ash a lot and often I get chipout - I thought that spiral head would remove this issues. Do you know if Tersa head leaves finish similar to spiral or similar to the traditional 3 knife head?

Thanks,

Michal

 

[ChrisK_UltimateTools.Ca]

Byrd makes a Shelix head which will drop in for you. The difference between the US and EU versions is that in North America, the machines are set up to run on 60Hz and in Europe 50Hz. This requires different pulleys and sometimes motors to achieve the same cutterhead speed despite the difference in motor speed between 50Hz and 60Hz. Contact Byrd, ask for drawings to match up 100% and you will be very happy with the Shelix. The Tersa head performs very well also with reduced chipout vs. a standard knife system, as the cutterblock supports the knives more to reduce any knife flex and has a great cutting arc.