Byrd Shelix Head for Powermatic P160 16" Planer

Been dreaming of getting this cutter head and just recently put it in the planer. It is absolutely the best thing to happen to the planer. Pros and Cons are later in this review. It took a bit of time to get the cutter head as Byrd is backlogged and for good reason, everyone wants one and my jointer had received its Byrd head two years ago. I will avoid ever using a straight blade machine when possible. The first cut I made with it had me thinking I set the depth wrong and was not cutting any wood. I was WRONG, it is just that quiet! The dust collector is noisier. I just cant believe how quiet it really is. Those YouTube videos that show how much quieter the Byrd head is really understated when you see it in real cutting action, they are right, it is many dB quieter.

Installation was fairly straight forward but be aware the collars that hold the chip breaker and the pressure bar will NOT slide over the carbide teeth. You can follow the directions and slip them over the end, I chose to remove 4 rows of carbide inserts, yes it takes longer but I didnt mind. I suggest new bearings 5307-2RS are what I ordered and installed to replace the factory 462307. Great time to clean, grease and dial in the machine. Check the bed gibs and make sure they are adjusted per factory procedure. For mine the feed rollers are 1/16 below the cutting circle, then set the chipbreaker to 1/32 below the infeed roller, then set the pressure bar .002 to .004 ABOVE the cutting circle. I have my lower rollers set to .008 above the table as my unit does not have the quick adjust.

I went from a 3 knife head and added the grinding bar and started to grind in place. This was much improved over removing the blades, but both required re tweaking the pressure bar adjustment and it can be finicky. Now I can set all of the adjustments as the cutting circle will not change again, ever.

The pros:
fantastic cut smooth and clean and very little tear out in figured wood
extremely quiet, did I say how quiet it really is? yeah quiet
faster feed speed while cutting
snipe almost zero due to careful setting of the machine and leaving it alone
replace or rotate just a few inserts if you manage to damage any (foreign objects in wood, like screws, rocks (yes had a small stone in a stick of lumber once)
each carbide has 4 edges.

The cons:
investment $$ (but after you get one then this hardly seems important)
replace all carbides can be expensive but again they last so much longer ( I have yet to even need to rotate the ones on my jointer)

Really there are no cons outside of the decision to spend some money on the head, some bearings, and the time to get it installed. I should have done this long ago, and now I am wondering why I didnt just get it done sooner. I sure done miss the old knives and I sure dont miss the old cutter head howling when planing wood. Yeah, I do enjoy my quiet time with my planer.