Got lucky this time and didn't pay retail.

I have some maple and apple that has been giving me fits in the planer.  I got fed up with tear out and was Jonsing for the new Felder spiral cutter-block.   It's supposed to be the bees knees.

But they won't sell 'em as a retro fit. Something about different machining specifications.

I was on the FOG forum crying and whining about how Felder wouldn't sell me a Felder brand spiral cutter block which they now make for their new Hammer machines when I decided to bite the bullet and just order one of the Byrd Shelix cutterblocks. 

So I did.  It was $920 shipped and bearings pressed on were $44.

Then, the evening I made the order, Carl Knapp, who posts on the FOG, told me they had a couple of  left over Byrds from the days when they  were putting them on the Hammer machines. and he'd sell it to me for a little more than half the one I ordered.

So I took them up on it and cancelled the one I ordered and I'll even get it a whole lot sooner.

Whoopeee.

Can't wait to see if it's all the popcorn and grits the magazine articles say it is.

That's a great deal, Cliff. Happy for you. You're gonna love it.

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I've read  that they are great for hardwoods and less so for soft.

Something about the less sharp carbide compressing the softer wood fibers.

Dunno about that, but it's always the hardwood that gives me tear out fits.