You asked. We sourced it -The Sherwood Spiral Cutter Head upgrade for DeWalt
Please note: The DeWalt benchtop thicknesser pictured is not included, this offer is for the Sherwood Spiral Head only. This offer does not include installation, installation must be arranged or completed by the purchaser.
The Sherwood Spiral Cutter Head upgrade for your DeWalt DW735-XE is now supplied as complete kit that includes the required bearings to complete the installation. Watch the video and see how easy it is to complete this fantastic upgrade for your DeWalt.
What is the Spiral Helical Cutter Upgrade Head?
Unlike the traditional straight blade cutter heads, a spiral helical cutter head features individual carbide knives set into rows along the length of the cutter head. The Sherwood Spiral Cutter Head for DeWalt features thirty 15mm x 15mm carbide knives set and indexed into two spiral rows wrapped around the cutter head.
The carbide knives are not set at 90 degrees to the push direction. Each knife is skewed slightly so rather than chopping the wood, the knives shear across the grain. This action is like skewing a hand plane when planing difficult timber. The knives are also specially ground with a slight radius to each of their cutting edges. Because each knife is slightly skewed, the slight radius prevents gouging by the leading corner of the knife. Each knife is sharpened on four sides and may be rotated when blunt or damaged to expose a new fresh cutting edge.
Why Upgrade your DeWalt Cutter Head
Your standard DeWalt thicknesser comes with straight blade cutter head with steel knives. These knives are set 90 degrees to the push direction, chopping the wood when operating. This means the DeWalt thicknesser tends to be very loud, and unable to cut figured and difficult timbers effectively. Straight blade knives also need to be removed from the machine regularly to be sharpened or to remove chips in the blade.
Sherwood Spiral Cutter Head Upgrade for the DeWalt has four key advantages over the straight blade cutter head.
Advantage number 1 – Reduced tear-out
Sherwood spiral cutterheads are designed to produce a true shear cut. This means that the knife slices away the material rather than chopping at the material like the standard DeWalt straight knives. This slicing produces a very smooth cut and minimises the chance of tear-out in the materials surface. This is especially useful when using figured woods, burls and angry grain Australian hardwoods. The surface is often so smooth it only requires minimal sanding to finish.
Advantage number 2 – The knives are carbide
Carbide knives do not require sharpening. There is no need ever to remove the blades from the machine and send away for sharpening. When a blade is dull or shipped, you simply turn it to the next cutting edge and get straight back to work. A common question that we are asked is how long do these knives last? When router bits changed from high-speed steel to carbide, they revolutionised the router bit industry. The lifespan of router bits increased eight to ten-fold. With correct care, expect to rotate the knives once for every eight to ten blade sharpens on straight HSS blades. And rotate four times before ever replacing them.
Advantage number 3 – The head is Indexed
The spiral cutter head is indexed meaning the carbide knives fit perfectly in position. This is a foolproof system for carbide knife placement. When you change the knife, you are guaranteed correct placement of the cutter in the head every time. This means the process of rotating the blades or changing them is very easy and straightforward.
Advantage number 4 – They are quiet
Straight knife cutters chop the material three or four times per rotation of the head, this is a loud process. Spiral Helical Cutter heads have the inserts staggered around the circumference of the head meaning that only one or two knives are in contact with the material at any time. The result is amazing, the machines noise is greatly reduced making the spiral cutter head perfect for every backyard workshop.
Why Sherwood?
Sherwood's Spiral Helical Cutterheads is unique within the Australian woodworking industry. While lots of competitors brands flaunt 'spiral helical cutterheads' they are not true helical cutter heads. They are segmented cutter blocks where the cutter knives are set at 90 degrees to the push direction. This means these cutter heads operate in the same way as old school straight blade cutter heads - chopping the material and not shearing across it.
What’s in the box
- 1 x Sherwood's Spiral Helical Cutterheads with 30 carbide knives
- 1 x carbide knife spanner
- 4 x spare carbide knife fixing screws
- 5 x spare carbide knives
- 1 x FAG Bearing 6202-2RSR
- 1 x FAG Bearing 6204-2RSR
Installing the Sherwood Spiral Helical Cutterhead
Installing the Sherwood Spiral Cutterhead into your DeWalt DW735-XE Benchtop Thicknesser is a straightforward process for people with some mechanical knowledge. Timbecon recommends people without mechanical experience to seek guidance.
Timbecon has prepared a thorough step by step set of instructions to assist you installing your Sherwood Spiral Cutterhead. Also provided is a list of recommended tools required. Simply click the link and download the Installation Instructions.
Please note: This Spiral head diameter is slightly smaller than the factory fitted cutter head to allow for easier installation.
Download Instructions