Standard 3-knife planer cutter head compared to helical head

straight knives will always give a better "finish" but helix cutterheads are usually quieter on wider boards because they shear smaller sections of wood fiber, thus creating a cross grain cutting action vs. a with the grain cut.

I also have a Delta DC-380 and was considering upgrading to the Byrd cutterhead. You mentioned in another post that you were going to put together a narrated slide show on how you upgraded your planer. If that is available, how can I get it? Thanks!

How much difference was there in the db between the cutterheads, then?

I have a type of this planer - but it has a Jet logo on it - looks identical. Have dreamed of switching to a Byrd cutterhead.

Did you ever make a video or slideshow of how that all came apart and went back together? I'd find that very informative! :-)
Thank You, Dave

Your workspace is too cramped. It's dangerous. I hope you just have it like that for the video.

That dude Seth, needs to take a chill pill.  Seriously though, do you have or have you had any problems with snipe on your machine?  I just bought one and am trying to get the snipe out of it or at least minimized.  I set all the adjustments to factory (feed roller, pressure roller, chip breaker) but I am still getting more snipe than is acceptable (to me)  I am going to play around with the rollers (table and wing) and see if my problem lays there.  Id appreciate any tips you may have

I am wondering if this delta 3knife planer is for sale if it is please let me know

I am wondering if this delta 3knife planer is for sale if it is please let me know

I am wondering if this delta knife i for sale if it is please let me know

I am wondering if this delta knife i for sale if it is please let me know

Very interesting.  Were there any differences in the quality of the finished surface?  Some helical cutter heads leave very small ridges where the individual knives do not overlap.  Supposedly, these ridges sand away easily, but their existence would be something to consider in comparing the two types of cutter heads.

On my 13" bench-top planer, the helical head's primary advantages are that its quieter, is less apt to trip a breaker, and it gives the ability to simply rotate a knife if one of them is chipped.  I've not noticed any difference in quality of cut.  With my unit's head, the individual knives are oriented the same as the 3 knives in the standard head -- at 90 degrees to the rotation.  I think it would have been easy to improve the cutting action by skewing each knife slightly, but that would have required another knife or two in each bank to fully cover the width.

Are you going to do a video on the helical head installation? I just picked one of these planers up and am interested in where you got the head and how the install was. How much was the head?