Benefits of spiral cutters over standard blades

[city17]

Hi all, while looking at some planer thicknessers I was getting a bit confused by the terminology around spiral cutterheads. Now I knew what spiral cutters are, but especially Americans also often use the terms shelix and helical head, and I never really knew what the difference was.

Turned out that the difference is actually not that complicated, but still the terms are a bit confusing. So I decided to write a short article about the main differences between spiral cutterheads and straight blades, as well as shelix/helical heads. Thought some people might find it useful.

Link to the spiral cutter article. (Don't mind the MS paint style graphic illustration, it's the best I could do) Let me know if you have any extra info I should add!

 

[sirocosm]

Great article, although just convinces me even more that I need a thickness planar with a spiral cutterhead. In Canada I had a 15" Delta, one of the 4 poster types that is thicknesser only. I bought carbide knives for it, and they stayed sharp so much longer. They were expensive, but it really was worth it. It is too bad that style of machine is uncommon here, because I don't really need the jointer option, but the extra width was great.

There is no way I can afford something like the Axminster P310 with the spiral cutterhead, and it is unlikely to find anything like that used, so I was thinking to buy a second hand machine and update the cutterhead. The question is which one? For some the cutters are much more expensive than others. Would be interested to hear from anyone that has gone that route.

 

[Ollie78]

Isn't Shelix just a brand name ?
I think the heads with the cutters running straight are missing part of the advantage. The shearing action of "helical" heads is one of the reasons they reduce tearout.
I have a silent power head and I really like it so far. They really are much quieter.
I have seen that you can get replacement tips from 3rd party sellers a bit cheaper than the Felder ones but not tried them.

Ollie

 

[city17]

Isn't Shelix just a brand name ?
I think the heads with the cutters running straight are missing part of the advantage. The shearing action of "helical" heads is one of the reasons they reduce tearout.
I have a silent power head and I really like it so far. They really are much quieter.
I have seen that you can get replacement tips from 3rd party sellers a bit cheaper than the Felder ones but not tried them.

Ollie

Yes, if I understood it correctly Shelix is just a brand of helical head cutters. But in America the term seems to be used so commonly that it is used as a synonym for helical cutterheads rather than just a brand name.