Purchase a new planer

[treecyclers]

Helical cutter heads use a series of small, usually carbide cutters to surface lumber, while 3 or 4 knife heads use striaght blades to accomplish the same end result.
In my shop, I have a straight blade unit, while at my friend's shop, there's a helical head in hte same model machine in use.
For figured woods, and wood that likes to tear out when planed, a spiral head/helical head can't be beat. The cuts are fine, much better than a straight knife, and figured wood doesn't get munched no matter how hard I run it.
He also has a 32" Supermax drum sander that I use for finish work, as on his helical cutterhead, one blade is slightly off, and I plane just proud of finished thickness, and sand to final.
A helical/spiral head runs about 20% more than a straight knife unit, but it's well worth the investment if you're using lots of figured wood in what you do.
Shop around, get someone to demonstrate the units you're considering, and take your own lumber with you, so you understand how the unit will perform in real time using the same stock that you're using, so you get the best information necessary to make a sound decision that works best for you.
Superdave

[Larry]

kevjay, you can put UHMW poly or even better Delrin on the your planer bed to eliminate scratches.  As a side benefit both are extremely slippery and you will never have to wax the bed of your planer again.  Both are expensive but you can get scrap on Ebay reasonable. 

[TexasTimbers]

That's a great idea. I liked it so much I just ordered a 12" x 24" piece of it. Ordered the UHMW polyethylene based on the tech's statement that it was specifically designed for "slide resistance" and was cheaper than the del, but I bet it's 6 of 1   1/2doz of the other.

Thanks for the useful tip. This might get me by until I decide on a bigger planer (with feed rollers).

[DonE911]

I've run several end grain cutting boards thru my rigid...  everything went fine for a few passes .....  that last pass    well lets just say it didn't go "fine" ..... 

I'd love to have a true shop planner... so if anyone has good operational unit they'd like to send to me to try out for a while    I'll test that moulder out too

[beenthere]

What happened on the last pass? 

[DonE911]

Guess 

[treecyclers]

BOOM[/size][/font]

[jgoodhart]

I hate when that happens

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Kevjay, disadvantages of a Shelix Spiral head   Getting some nice wood down here, and need to know all I can. 

[treecyclers]

sometimes the cutters are a stinker to get aligned properly, and they're a little pricier than HSS knives, but worth every penny.
SD

[TexasTimbers]

 Kevjay, disadvantages of a Shelix Spiral head Getting some nice wood down here, and need to know all I can.

Not speaking from expereince just from recent research so take it with a grain of salt. Some claim to experience lines and less than glassy finish as with the HSS. Shelix seems less problematic of these lines because their knives don't hit the wood square with the cut like some other helical heads.
I've read some shelix owners swear they have no lines and others who swear they can't get rid of them.
I don't know if it's setup or what, but I wouldn't think it perception. Lines are lines.
Would be interested myself to see pictures from Shelix owners.
Terminus and Tersa are mentioned alot and one thing is for sure, when it comes to planers old iron sounds alot better to me than Grizzly. Old as in Whitney, Oliver, Powermatic, and a dozen other older (and even newer) American made.
Of course, a Shelix cutterhead alone can cost more for one of those older American made than the brand new Grizzly 20"

[Fla._Deadheader]

 The guys down here didn't know what to think when they saw the spiral head. One reached and touched the cutter and drew blood.    They turned the cutters just a few days ago, and I saw no lines that couldn't be sanded out with minimal effort. They didn't seem to have any trouble seating the cutters. This is a 15" head ??

  Maybe some folks expect too much ??  I always sand after planing, for that smooooooth finish    

[treecyclers]

My personal standard when planing stock is that I should be able to start sanding at 150 grit with my orbital sander to get the desired finish, removal all tool marks, and prep the piece for final finish.
When one tooth on the spiral head is off, I have to leave the board proud but 1/8", and finish it up on the drum sander. Not a big deal, but it eats time, and time is money in the shop when I am in production mode instead of play mode.
My underlying point is simply to ensure that your cutters are properly seated and aligned to get the best possible finish, whether they be HSS knives or spiral carbide cutters in your planer.
The savings in time and headaches alone is worth the investment in time to get perfect alignment the first go round.
SD

[DR_Buck]

I have an 18" 5HP Woodmaster that works great.   When I have extra cash in the future, I'm going to replace the knives with a spriral cutter head.

[jake12]

i would go with a 15" minimum . if you glue up your qwn panels  your going to need the extra width.and surely you will need the extra width  so i would consider the 20" as well ..IMHO

[TexasTimbers]

kevjay, you can put UHMW poly or even better Delrin on the your planer bed to eliminate scratches.  As a side benefit both are extremely slippery and you will never have to wax the bed of your planer again.  Both are expensive but you can get scrap on Ebay reasonable. 

i got my 12" x 24" x 1/8" piece Wednesday (from www.smallparts.com - $8.20) and cut it to fit. I have already ran enough through to know that it is like night and day. thanks for this tip Larry. Anyone else with a non-bottom roller unit I urge you to also take Larry's tip it's worth the effort to do it.

[Lud]

Seemed like such a good idea- and that's my kind of planer-and the web address was right there.......here's what I found:
12" × 24"
 
SDE-0125
 1/8"
 $12.60
 $21.00
 $33.75    12 x 24

So I guess that's the affect a posting on the Forum can do!!   Triple a company's profit!  Sheesh!  Are we OPEC?