Spiral Cutterhead for jointer

Scott Turner

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I just ordered a new spiral cutterhead from Grizzly for my 6 inch Ridgid jointer (610). The salesman told me that it is easiest to get new bearings, because the cutterhead does not come with them. He says it is easier to use new bearings instead of trying to remove the old bearings and installing them. I found the part number for the bearings ( 820722-5 and 820722-6). I don't know about cost or if I can buy these at my local Ace Hardware.

Has anyone else done this? Can you give me any tips or suggestions?
 
Scott
You need to look for an Industrial supply co. in your area I don't think you will find a good bearing at a Hardware store you might even try Auto Parts stores. Look in yellow pages under Bearings. Don't forget to take one of the old bearing with you and when you get them out look on the side of the bearing and there should be the more standard # there.
Jay
 
The part number would be on the bearing not a parts breakdown. Industrial suppliers or better yet would be under beariings or power transmission in your yellow pages. Definitely not Ace or your hardware store. You can also measure the bearings with a caliper. They will be in metric measurements. www.mcmaster.com You willl end up with better bearings than the stock ones and go with rubber seals. Many tools come with shielded bearings which are metal covers instead of rubber seals. I get my bearingss from www.bearingbrokersinc.com Unisaw bearings run about $1.50 for Japanese Nachi bearings.
 
Getting bearigns today

The bearings are 15mm X 35mm and 17mm X 40mm. The local bearing distributor has prices of $5.06 and $3.78. I think that is cheap. I plan to ask them for a better bearing than the standard 6203NSE and 6202NSE. Sounds like I want the rubber seal bearings. I get the cutterhead today so I plan to install this tonight. I sure hope the shaft on the new cutterhead is the same as the old cutterhead. I am taking the old head and bearings with me so hopefully I get the right ones.
 
Cutterhead

I got the cutterhead installed last night. The bearings I went with are NTN bearings 6203LLBC3/L627 and 6202LLBC3/L627. The bearing sizes are 15mm X 35mm and 17mm X 40mm.

The spiral cutterhead (part # 7764 ) arrived from Grizzly in a wooden box inside a cardboard box. I was impressed with the packaging. It also came with a torx bit and driver to change out the replacement tips, with instructions. It also came with extra replacement tips. By the way this thing is very sharp. Might want to use gloves when handling it.

I pressed the new bearings on the cutterhead with a makeshift press. You could also pay a machine shop $20 to press them on for you. I don't recommend that you try and remove the old bearings and reuse them. Unless you have the correct tools I doubt you will be able to get them off the old cutterhead with out damaging them. After the bearings are on in place I pressed the bearing supports on both ends. This is not a big deal. If you have a socket or piece of pipe that fits the inside bearing case and shaft good you can do this with a hydraulic jack or even a good wood clamp.

To remove the old cutterhead from the jointer you will need to remove the fence assembly. This is as simple as unscrewing the large knob on top. Next loosen the two allen screws that hold the slide fence on the outfeed table. The slide fence is the cast iron piece that the fence slides back and forth on. You don't have to take the allen screws completely out. Just loosen them until you are able to lift the piece off. Next lift the cutter guard up and off. It helps if you hold the spring retainer knob to release the tension. Next take the pulley guard off. It has 4 phillips head screws holding it in place. Loosen the 2 allen screws holding the pulley on the cutterhead. I was able to wiggle the pulley enough to get it to slide off with the belt still on. Don't loose the key that keeps the pulley from spinning on the shaft. Now there are 2 bolts that hold the cutterhead in place. You can loosen the bolt located between the jointer stand and the cast iron base with a 14 mm wrench. This blot does not need to come out. It can stay in place and you will still be able to lift the cutterhead out. Loosen the back bolt. When I final got this bolt out it fall down the chip shot and into the dust collection hose. The cutterhead will now slip out the back of the table.

Put the new cutterhead in place using the same way the old cutterhead came out. In order to avoid having to take the jointer off the stand. I decided to put the back bolt back in by pushing my arm up the chip shot. I could barley reach the hole for the bolt. The smaller your arm the easier this will be. The front bolt is still sitting in the hole so it was just a matter of lining it up and tighten it down.

The cutterhead can be slide back and forth, front to back. The only thing that gets it in the right place is the alignment of the two bolt holes. I thought I would be nice if the two support bearings were keyed so they would sit in the bearing saddle in a certain position. It doesn't appear to be a big deal though. If you get the bolts in and tightened the head is positioned correctly. I was able to get the pulley back on the shaft of the cutterhead before working the belt around the pulley. You may want to loosen the motor mounts to tighten the belt.

At this point I noticed the outfeed table was about 1/8 too low with the new cutterhead in place. I used a steel straight edge to get the outfeed table level with the top of the cutter bits. This was a task. The most time consuming part of this job. The adjustment knob on this part is not very good, in my opinion. The table drops very easily when the allen screws and thumb nut are loosened. I want this as perfect as my vision and tools will make it. It took me about 30 mins. Another note, when I loosened the allen screws and thumb screw on the back of the outfeed table I noticed that the table twisted (slide sideways) in it's position. This made the table higher at the back of the cutterhead then it was at the front. It was only about 1/32 of an inch but that is too much for me and I am sure most of you. Once I got the back aligned with the cutter bit I tightened the thumb nut and measured the cutter bits towards the front of the table. They were much closer but still not where I wanted them. I loosened the thumb nut a little and adjusted the table again. This took me several try's but I finial got it so I could not feel or see any difference. My vision is not all that so I hope I got it.

I put the slide table back on. Don't tighten it down yet. Attach the fence assemble. Tighten it with the knob. This brings the slide table flush with the fence assemble and outfeed table. Now you can tighten the two allen bolts on the back of the outfeed table. This gets the slider table even with the outfeed table.

To reinstall the cutter guard, spray some WD40 on the shaft before pushing it about half way in position. Turn the spring retainer knob to add tension and then push the guard the rest of the way in. The WD40 makes this a lot easier.

When I started the jointer I was not impressed with the sound level. I have heard others talk about how quit this thing is. I discovered what they meant when I ran a piece of wood through. This cutterhead is about twice as quiet as the original. That's sweet. I imagine it has something to do with how sharp it is right now. My fence is a tiny bit off after all this so I will adjust it before using it on my next jewelry box project.

So for everyone who has read this to this point. Could you recommend a good 4 or 6 inch square for aligning the table and fence. I want one of those squares that has the wooden handle and perfectly straight steel edge. Not one of the bent Home Depot brands... or maybe you have had good luck with them. Any suggestions?

Hope this info helps someone if they decide to make the cutterhead change.
 
...So for everyone who has read this to this point. Could you recommend a good 4 or 6 inch square for aligning the table and fence. I want one of those squares that has the wooden handle and perfectly straight steel edge. Not one of the bent Home Depot brands... or maybe you have had good luck with them. Any suggestions?...
It's not the type you're asking about, but I use plastic drafting triangles for setting my fences and table saw blades square. Both of mine (a 30º / 60º and a 45º / 90º) are leftovers from my high school days, but they are both still dead on accurate.
 
Vaughn's right. The plastic drafting squares are inexpensive and accurate. One note - I always had trouble setting up my jointer until I picked up the Wixey digital angle guage. It showed me that my outfeed was out of whack and that's why I had so much trouble getting the fence lined up.
 
Thanks for writing this up, Scott - I'm just going through this same process, so this is very helpful.

Did you have trouble separating the bearing supports from the bearings on the original cutterhead? I've been hesitant to apply too much force to them as I don't want to hurt the bearings, but they're sure on there pretty tight. I tried heating one of them up gently with a heat gun to nudge it in the direction of expansion, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

I'm also anticipating trouble with the outfeed table adjustment - I can't get the outfeed table mobilized. According to the manual, you just have to "loosen [the] wing screw table locks". Note that it's plural, but I see only one wing screw on the outfeed side of the table, and loosening that one screw evidently isn't enough to release the outfeed table. In your writeup, you mention loosening "the allen screws and thumb nut". I'm guessing the "thumb nut" is the thing the manual refers to as a "wing screw" (a screw with a pivoting thumb flange on the end instead of a head), but which allen screws need to be loosened?

For anyone else going through this process, it looks like you can reach down through the hole where the cutterhead goes to reinsert the rear bearing support bolt. Insert with your left hand, then hold it loosely in place with your right hand from the outside as you slide in the cutterhead assembly. This way you can avoid having to reach all the way up the chip exhaust to reinsert the bolt. But I'm just guessing, since I haven't actually reached that stage yet. :)

I have the CenTech digital angle gauge, and it works pretty well. As others say about the Wixey, the display can be hard to read. And the reading is only stable to plus or minus 2 tenths of a degree - the tenths position does tend to wander slightly. There is actually a hundredths digit position on the display, but it never shows anything but 0.
 
Cutterhead install

I was able to pry off the bearing supports with a screw driver. They are on there pretty good but if you take your time you can get them off without damaging them. You may want to spray some WD-40 around the edge.

The directions in the manual for the outfeed table alignment are not very good. I know what you are saying about the wing screw. There are actually three allen bolts (these are small) with lock nuts on them, both on the front side and back side of the outfeed table. When you are looking at the wing screw (on the back) you will see two of the allen bolts just above and to the right of the wing screw. Then check the front. If I remember correctly there is only one allen bolt on the front. Loosen the locking nut on the allen screw and then loosen the allen screw. Once you get your outfeed table aligned with the new cutter head, you tighten the wing screw to hold the table in place until you can tighten the allen screws and lock nuts. Make sense? Keep in mind this thing is heavy. When you get all the allen screws loose the table will slide to the bottom quickly. Hang on to it or it may end up on the floor.

Thanks for writing this up, Scott - I'm just going through this same process, so this is very helpful.

Did you have trouble separating the bearing supports from the bearings on the original cutterhead? I've been hesitant to apply too much force to them as I don't want to hurt the bearings, but they're sure on there pretty tight. I tried heating one of them up gently with a heat gun to nudge it in the direction of expansion, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

I'm also anticipating trouble with the outfeed table adjustment - I can't get the outfeed table mobilized. According to the manual, you just have to "loosen [the] wing screw table locks". Note that it's plural, but I see only one wing screw on the outfeed side of the table, and loosening that one screw evidently isn't enough to release the outfeed table. In your writeup, you mention loosening "the allen screws and thumb nut". I'm guessing the "thumb nut" is the thing the manual refers to as a "wing screw" (a screw with a pivoting thumb flange on the end instead of a head), but which allen screws need to be loosened?

For anyone else going through this process, it looks like you can reach down through the hole where the cutterhead goes to reinsert the rear bearing support bolt. Insert with your left hand, then hold it loosely in place with your right hand from the outside as you slide in the cutterhead assembly. This way you can avoid having to reach all the way up the chip exhaust to reinsert the bolt. But I'm just guessing, since I haven't actually reached that stage yet. :)

I have the CenTech digital angle gauge, and it works pretty well. As others say about the Wixey, the display can be hard to read. And the reading is only stable to plus or minus 2 tenths of a degree - the tenths position does tend to wander slightly. There is actually a hundredths digit position on the display, but it never shows anything but 0.
 
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By the way this is the best improvement I have made to any tool I have. I can even plane ASH without chipping it. Nice and smooth.
 
Great write up Scott. I use a Wixey or a Beall gauge to setup. I have one of each and generally use the Wixey on the jointer due to magnet placement.
 
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Byrd Shelix head, why must you taunt me?

Thanks for the extra info, Scott.

It's taken me the better part of a week to get the cutterheads swapped out, mostly because the bearings were tricky to deal with.

I purchased a replacement set of bearings from a local industrial supply place - SKF 6202 2RSJEM and SKF 6203 2RSJEM, total of about $24. The original bearings are marked Nachi 6202NSE and 6203NSE. I've seen the 6202 and 6203 numbers in other suggested replacements (e.g., NTN 6203LLBC3/L627 and NTN 6202LLBC3/L627), so I would guess that they're probably a dimensional standard for the industry. The dimensions are 15mm X 35mm and 17mm X 40mm; not sure which of these is a 6202 and which is a 6203.

I originally tried to get the bearings on with a set of custom-drilled 2x4s that the new cutterhead could mount between and 4 pipe clamps that would squeeze the boards together (2 on top and 2 on the bottom). The bearings didn't want to go on, so I tried freezing the cutterhead and trying again the next day. I didn't notice any difference, though, and the freezing created a big mess as water condensed on the head.

After letting the head warm up for a day I tuned up the jig a bit more and was able to get both bearings on to within 1/8" - 1/4" of their final resting places, but they just didn't want to go on any further. I cranked the clamping pressure up and banged on the outside of the jig with another block of wood, but nothing worked. I thought I'd better try to get the bearings off, reclean the mating surfaces, and maybe apply a little bit of teflon dry-lube to help the bearings slide on. But now the problem was how to get the bearings off again...

I ended up with this puller set from Harbor Freight. It worked fine on the larger bearing, but the smaller bearing on the short end of the cutterhead didn't allow for enough clearance to get the jaws of the puller between the head and the bearing. I spent a couple of hours modifying the puller with a Dremel tool, but it never really worked right and I ended up cutting the bearing off the shaft. Interestingly, the original bearings and bearing supports on the HSS cutterhead came off pretty easily with the puller.

By this time I was despairing of ever getting the bearings right, so I threw myself on the mercy of a local (independent) auto parts store with a machine shop in the back. I was suspicious of the new bearings after all the abuse I had put them through, so I just had them install the original bearings on the new head. They charged $20.

Everything went pretty smoothly after that. With the help of Scott's description, I was able to get the outfeed table moving correctly. It turns out this is actually covered in the manual after all, but it's under "gib adjustment". Both infeed and outfeed tables should be held by a single wing screw on each side. The allen screws with lock nuts are there to adjust the "gibs" which control the mating pressure on the table dovetails. Too tight and the tables won't move when the wing screw is loosened (as in my case). Too loose and the tables have some horizontal play in them. So if there are problems, first adjust the gibs so the table adjustment works correctly, then set the height of the outfeed table and tighten the wing screw only.

Unfortunately, the cutters on the Byrd Shelix head seem to protrude more than the knives on the original head. I was able to raise the outfeed table sufficiently to accomodate them, but the infeed table just doesn't go up high enough to come even with the outfeed table. My minimum depth of cut is currently 0.05", or the better part of 1/16", which seems excessive. I'm going to have to take apart the whole base assembly and see if there's some kind of stop that limits the motion of the infeed table. Hopefully I can adjust that to free up a bit more adjustment room. There's an exploded view in the parts section of the manual that shows the dovetails, but it's not clear from that information alone exactly what the limitation on motion is. And since the infeed table comes mated to the base from the factory, there's no manual section for putting this part of the device together.

My first impressions of the Shelix head in action are that it seems to work OK. I haven't tried any hardwood yet, but I replaned some framing lumber scraps I had done with the HSS head to see if I could see a difference in the finish. It comes out about the same. There's slightly less tearout, but overall the finish is rough/fuzzy and there is some evidence of scalloping. I don't notice a difference in noise level or feed effort. It could be that it wants a shallower cut, but I'll have to get my infeed table in order before I can test that.

Yann, you asked about planer heads. Byrd has started making a head for the DeWalt DW735; they are rumored to be working on a couple of other lunchbox planer heads, but nothing's available yet. I had actually preordered a DW735 head to take advantge of the live.com eBay sale ($411.98 delivered with bearings minus 25%; write to routerbitman on eBay and he'll put one up for you), but now I'm having second thoughts. If the results are similar to the jointer head, it's going to be a step down in finish quality. The Shelix cutters should last a lot longer, which seems to be a huge issue with planers, but it seems to be something of a tradeoff.
 
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