Helicalcutterhead Planer

HSS bits can drill plastic, hardwood, and some metals. They have excellent heat resistance and retain their hardness at high temperatures.

All in all, I think spiral cutterheads are an extremely attractive upgrade. If you’ve got the budget for it, it’s almost a no brainer. Straight blades will perform quite well too – they have done for the past 100 years. But the benefits are many, and there are practically no downsides, so upgrading to a spiral cutterhead deserves a strong recommendation.

This brings me to the third benefit, which is blade life. Each spiral cutter insert has four sharp edges, carbide tipped. Carbide tipped blades stay sharp for much longer than ‘normal’ HSS blades. And when they get dull, you can simply rotate them a quarter turn, and use the next sharp side. So you get longer lasting blades and they can be used four times. This leads to a way longer blade life overall.

Helical heads and spiral cutterheads are almost exactly the same thing, except that in the case of helical heads, the blades are positioned at an angle. On ‘normal’ spiral cutterheads, the blades are positioned perpendicular to the workpiece. I’ve made an illustration to show the difference, which you can see below.

The twist bit is the most-used drill bit and is versatile for various applications. It features a spiral-shaped flute that helps remove debris quickly.

Twist bits are suitable for drilling holes in wood, plastic, and metal materials. They are available in various sizes and can be used with handheld drills or drill presses.

Helical vs spiralcutterhead planer

Finally, TiAlN coatings consist of titanium, aluminum, and nitrogen and can extend tool life 4 to 10 times. Titanium aluminum nitride coating is an excellent choice for drilling when high heat is generated.

Hi, I'm Rob and I started Machine Atlas to help people more easily find info about woodworking machines. In my small workshop I currently have an Elektra Beckum HC 260, Inca Euro 260, and Metabo TS 254 M. If you have any questions about machines or the site, you can reach me via info [at] machineatlas.com.

A selection of high-quality drill bits will make it easier to perform various drilling jobs well. At Drill Bit Warehouse, we carry durable drill bits for general-purpose and specialty work.

The new spiral cutterheads have many small, individual blades that are positioned in a spiral shape around the cutterhead. This type of cutterhead is sometimes also referred to as an helical cutterhead (or helical head for short), especially in North America. Helical heads are also referred to as shelix cutterheads, which is actually a specific brand by Byrd tool, but which is often used interchangeably with the term helical head.

Cobalt drill bits are known for their excellent heat resistance and durability. They are made from a steel blend and contain five to eight percent cobalt, making them suitable for drilling in hard metals such as stainless steel and cast iron.

Coatings are another available feature of drill bits, and they help extend each tool’s service life. The three most common drill bit coatings are titanium nitride coating (TiN), titanium carbon nitride coating (TiCN), and titanium aluminum nitride coating (TiAlN).

HelicalJointer

A second benefit is that it is much easier to set up your blades correctly. Setting up traditional planer blades is a very fiddly process. Spiral cutters cannot be resharpened and cannot be adjusted. They are simply screwed tight, and automatically stay in the correct position. This means that replacing a blade is as simple as removing and tightening a single screw.

Two other minor advantages are (potential) reduced power consumption due to the blades moving more easily through the material, and smaller shavings which are easier to extract for your dust extraction system.

Helical vs spiral head

If the price increase is so steep, the upgrade better be worth it. But what benefits do spiral cutterheads actually have over standard straight blades? In this article I’ll explain what makes spiral cutters special, and try to help you decide if they’re worth the upgrade.

Ultimately I’d say there are only two downsides to spiral cutterheads. The first is that the blades cannot be resharpened, and if they’re dull you’ll have to buy new ones. But I think the longer blade life more than makes up for this.

Drill bits can also be categorized based on their composition. Each material affects how brittle, hard, and durable the bit is.

If you’ve been following the evolution of jointers and planers, you might have noticed that there are more and more machines available nowadays with spiral cutters. These machines are often significantly more expensive. On the low side, spiral cutter upgrades will cost you at least $300 more, and often way more than that.

Step bits are commonly used in metalworking and electrical projects that require precise hole sizes. They are ideal for drilling holes in materials like sheet metal, plastic, and aluminum.

In addition to these quality of life benefits, spiral cutters also deliver better planing results. They are better at dealing with difficult grains, reduce chance of tearout, and generally leave a better finish. This is because the blades are continuously in contact with the wood in rapid succession, rather than there being a gap between the time each blade hits the wood.

TiCN coatings consist of titanium, carbon, and nitrogen, and they can extend tool life by 4 to 5 times. You can apply coolant to control the temperature, then use titanium carbon nitride coated bits to drill abrasive materials, cast iron, copper, and more.

Core bits are commonly used in construction and plumbing projects when installing pipes or conduits, or creating holes for ventilation systems. Core drilling requires a tool called a core drill or coring tool.

One way to categorize drill bits is based on their shape. Each bit’s geometry affects how it cuts, the holes it creates, and the techniques you must use to drill safely and efficiently.

You can confidently choose the correct drill bit for your project by carefully considering each factor. You can also ask your supplier for more insight into how different drill bits can help you produce quality work.

Shop our selection of carbide drill bits for sale for tools that cut through extremely hard ferrous materials, cast iron, brass, and more. While carbide drill bits are the hardest on the market, ours are also cryogenically treated to create an even harder tool. Contact us today for more information about any of our drill bits.

There are also several companies that offer aftermarket spiral cutterheads that you can fit to your machines yourself. I’ve listed a few of the major players below:

There are several benefits to this spiral design. For starters, spiral cutterheads are noticeably quieter than normal blades. For example, Felder claims a 10 decibel (50%) reduction in noise with their spiral blades (that’s why they call them Silent Power blades), while SCM claims a 13 dB reduction with their Xylent cutters. Check out the video below for a detailed noise comparison test by Felder.

Step bits are unique drill bits that feature a stepped, conical design. They are primarily used for enlarging existing holes or creating multiple hole sizes with a single bit.

Carbide bits are designed for drilling into hard materials, such as cast iron and non-ferrous alloys. Carbide drill bits cut precisely and efficiently, excelling in demanding applications.

This article is very informative and useful. I am getting ready to purchase a planer and this article helped me decide to invest in a spiral cutting planer. As a new user, I greatly appreciate the information.

Spiralcutterheadvsstraight knives

High-speed steel drill bits are the most-used type because they are durable, versatile, and cost-effective. They are made from a combination of steel and other elements, like tungsten.

Spade bits, also known as paddle bits, are made for drilling larger holes in wood and other soft materials, like plastic. They have a flat, paddle-shaped head with a pointy tip and two cutting spurs. Because of this geometry, the bottom of the hole the spade bit creates is not smooth.

Long story short: In general, you can treat the terms helical head, helical cutterhead, shelix cutterhead, and spiral cutterhead or cutterblock all as identical. They all have specific individual cutters, laid out in a spiral pattern over the cutterblock.

Hole saws are commonly used in woodworking and construction projects for tasks like installing doorknobs, cutting holes for pipes, and creating openings for electrical wiring. They are available in various sizes to create different hole diameters.

When you’re new to drilling, determining the right drill bit for your project can seem overwhelming. Use our beginner’s guide to essential drill bit types to compare shapes and material compositions, and find the right bit for your needs.

Carbide drill bits are the hardest, most brittle drill bits. They are made from tungsten carbide and often contain other materials, like cobalt. You can choose between solid carbide bits and carbide-tipped drill bits.

In our database you can search for machines that offer spiral cutterhead upgrades. Click here to browse them. This list includes benchtop planers, jointers, jointer planer combos, and large combination machines.

An additional benefit is that if you damage a blade, for example by hitting a nail in the wood, you only have to remove one cutter instead of the entire blade. This is a significant cost saving.

HelicalBenchtop planer

Helical vs spiral cutter headreddit

The hole saw drill bit is designed to create large-diameter holes. It consists of a cylindrical attachment with sharp teeth on the rim.

Spade bits are suitable for creating holes for wiring, drilling large-diameter holes for plumbing, and installing door locks. They are generally used in handheld drills and come in different sizes to create different hole diameters.

While other drill bits cost less, the remarkable performance and exceptional durability of carbide bits make them a worthwhile investment in industrial settings. Save time, reduce the cost per drilled hole, and get a burr-free finish with carbide drill bits.

Core bits are cylindrical bits that drill large, deep holes in masonry, concrete, and stone. Like hole saws, core bits have a hollow center that allows them to remove a cylindrically shaped core from the drilled material.

Let me first try to get the terminology straight. There’s several terms that are used interchangeably, but are not 100% the same thing. The cutterhead or cutterblock is the rotating metal cilinder in which the blades (also called knives) are placed. Traditional jointers and planers have a set of straight blades, usually two or three. These blades are similar to the blades you find in hand planes, except much wider and shorter.

This beginner’s guide to essential drill bit types demonstrates that the geometry, composition, and added coatings or treatments will affect each bit’s suitability for a particular project. When shopping for drill bits, consider the following factors:

You can compare this to how you can position a hand plane in a skew position, which sometimes helps overcome resistance in the wood.

Helicalplanerheadfor Dewalt 735

Cobalt bits retain their sharpness for longer and can withstand high drilling temperatures. They offer greater durability and performance than standard HSS bits.

In practice this doesn’t make a huge difference, and to confuse things even more, some manufacturers use the term spiral, when they actually have a helical head, like Felder’s Silent Power cutterhead.

Each step is about a quarter of an inch thick. If you drill past this depth, you will start cutting with the next step and create a larger hole diameter.

TiN coatings are made with a compound consisting of titanium and nitrogen. This is a great general-purpose coating that extends tool life by 2 to 4 times when compared to non-coated drill bits.

The other downside is the price. Spiral cutterheads are simply much more expensive than normal blades. However, if you add up the costs of replacing and resharpening blades, and the time spent on fiddling with blade adjustment, I think spiral cutterheads are actually cheaper in the long term. So if you’re planning to use your jointer, planer, or combo for many years, getting a spiral cutterhead might not just be the better option in terms of quality and convenience, but also in terms of price.