SHELIX Cutterhead Installed On DJ-20 Jointer

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patriot

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Apr 15, 2015
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Well, I finally did it. And, I love this cutterhead upgrade.

All the details are on this webpage.

The page is somewhat long, but my sincere hope is that it will help someone down the road who is contemplating this upgrade.

If I made any mistakes please feel free to let me know.  The webpage took much time to complete and proofread, but I could have overlooked something.

I will provide a link for the table alignment procedure I used to get the jointer in sync with the new cutterhead when I have it completed.

Thanks!
 
That was a very nicely done review.  [big grin]

Very thorough, yet easily understood.

Just curious, you mentioned that the bearings were made in Turkey. Was the manufacturer's name also on the bearings, such as SKF or NTN?
 
[member=44099]Cheese[/member]

Thanks for your kind comments. 

As to the bearing, sorry, but that's all I recall.  I usually cannot help myself from 'documenting' everything with my iPhone camera, but I failed to take a shot of it. I just hope the bearings hold up.  Time will tell.

Thanks again.
 
patriot said:
As to the bearing, sorry, but that's all I recall.  I usually cannot help myself from 'documenting' everything with my iPhone camera, but I failed to take a shot of it. I just hope the bearings hold up.  Time will tell.
Click to expand...

Well, my thought was that if a well known manufacturer's name was on the bearing, then it being manufactured in Turkey didn't make much difference because the manufacturing practices/standards would still be controlled by corporate headquarters.

If there wasn't a name or if it was not generally recognizable, then it could turn out to be catch-as catch-can. [eek]

I was curious because I've been thinking of installing a Shelix in my Dewalt 735 planer and ordering it with new bearings attached.
 

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Thanks for the info...

That's interesting because I believe AST also distributes Fafnir bearings. That's a good sign.

Pictures, that's funny...the things we all keep on our phones and forget to delete. [tongue]
 
ORS makes good bearings. I don't really see setting knives in a jointer as an arduous task, especially a 8" machine.
I can set the knives in my 30" jointer in about 20 minutes with just a stick of wood and two pencil marks.
 
WarnerConstCo. said:
I don't really see setting knives in a jointer as an arduous task, especially a 8" machine.
I can set the knives in my 30" jointer in about 20 minutes with just a stick of wood and two pencil marks.
Click to expand...

For me it isn't so much how long it takes to set knives, with the Shelix the whole knife maintenance chore basically disappears.  I redid my Jet jointer and DeWalt DW735 planer 3 years ago with Shelix heads.  I have run a lot of stock since including a considerable amount of ipe for 2 deck projects.  I have not needed to rotate any inserts and I replaced exactly one (cracked) since I installed the 2 heads.  The surface finish looks as good as the day I installed them and there are no ridges from nicks in the blades.  The improvement in surface finish was great enough that my drum sander sits basically unused since I installed the Shelix as it takes much less coarse sanding to get from machined surfaces with a few thousandths of scallop to ready to move to finer grits.

Think about it this way...how many out there are still using HSS blades in their saws, routers or other power tools?  Drills are about the only corner of hobby power tools that have not moved to carbide.  You can take my Shelix heads when you pry them from my cold dead hands!
 
[member=9555]Chris Wong[/member]

I was sitting on the fence for months trying to decide which was best: the Hammer A3 or upgrading my DJ-20 with the SHELIX. My DW735 sits on an 8-ft bed. So replacing my DJ-20 and my DW735 with the A3 would have freed up a ton of shop space. But - my DW735 produces boards with zero snipe and the long infeed/outfeed tables of my jointer are preferred to the A3's short table. I know this is debateable, but these two machines just work for me and I couldn't be happier.

I probably do not run as many board-feet through my jointer as you do, so my planar is holding up quite well even without a SHELIX cutterhead.

Chris, your webpage on your DJ-20 SHELIX upgrage has been a great guide for me.  Thank you for sharing your experience with the woodworking community.
 
kevinculle said:
For me it isn't so much how long it takes to set knives, with the Shelix the whole knife maintenance chore basically disappears.
Click to expand...

Amen!  That's the bottom line.
 
The only insert style head I run is on the first bottom head of my moulders.

I don't see the point in a jointer, it's not a finished surface.
I will not put one in a planer either, especially one with a 4 knife cutter head and a grinding rig.  I had a kolle planer that put the nicest finish I have ever seen on a board, 4 knife head.  I have a two head wide belt, sanding is a boring task. There will never be a payback on a 2500 to 3500 dollar cutter head on a jointer or planer.

I would never want a Bryd style head either, those perched cutters don't sit well with me.

I am installing a couple hermance heads for a customer, but they have money to burn.

 
Bookmarked your page if I ever need to do any serious DJ-20 service.

My best Craigslist find of all time: a DJ-20 with Shelix head for $500. I borrowed a friend and his truck, took a ferry, got it the same night - knew it wouldn't last. Carbides had never been rotated.
 
ryanjg117 said:
My best Craigslist find of all time: a DJ-20 with Shelix head for $500. I borrowed a friend and his truck, took a ferry, got it the same night - knew it wouldn't last. Carbides had never been rotated.
Click to expand...

Forgive me, but if all you had to do was rotate the cutters you still got a great deal.  Right?  Or did I misunderstand?
 
WarnerConstCo. said:
The only insert style head I run is on the first bottom head of my moulders.

I don't see the point in a jointer, it's not a finished surface.
I will not put one in a planer either, especially one with a 4 knife cutter head and a grinding rig.  I had a kolle planer that put the nicest finish I have ever seen on a board, 4 knife head.  I have a two head wide belt, sanding is a boring task. There will never be a payback on a 2500 to 3500 dollar cutter head on a jointer or planer.

I would never want a Bryd style head either, those perched cutters don't sit well with me.

I am installing a couple hermance heads for a customer, but they have money to burn.
Click to expand...

K
 
patriot said:
Forgive me, but if all you had to do was rotate the cutters you still got a great deal.  Right?  Or did I misunderstand?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The shelix cutters can be rotated four times before they need to be resharpened. The fact they had never been rotated also gave me a pretty good idea of how much use the machine got (little to none).
 
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