Byrd Shelix Head for DeWalt DW735 Planer OEM Diameter W/Bearings

Took a little over an hour to install, including removing and reinstalling all 40 carbide cutters. Well worth the time, effort and money! The cut is silky smooth, hardly need any sanding afterwards. Holbren customer service was superb! You guys have never let me down!

Took a little over an hour to install, including removing and reinstalling all 40 carbide cutters. Well worth the time, effort and money! The cut is silky smooth, hardly need any sanding afterwards. Holbren customer service was superb! You guys have never let me down!

It's pretty much a universally accepted belief that DeWalt planer blades for the DW735 are awful after the first few board feet of lumber pass under them. When brand new, they produce beautiful surfaces, but it doesn't last for long. After buying and changing many sets of blades for two years, I decided to "upgrade" to a Byrd Shelix cutter (OEM size). I have a Powermatic jointer with a segmented cutter, and It does a great job, so it seemed appropriate to expect similar performance from the Byrd cutter head in the DW735.
About four weeks after the order was placed, the cutter arrived. It came out of the box with rust spots on the body. The carbide cutters had to be removed for the installation, but none of them would budge. The cutter head had to be put in a fridge overnight before the screws could be loosened with a ratchet. The included driver just didn't provide enough leverage.
The installation was straightforward thanks to detailed instructions available online instructions. The carbide cutters were fastened in place in exactly the same place they had originally been using a calibrated torque wrench. The first pass of lumber revealed a very noticeable ridge in the board. After some examination, I discovered that the screw hole for the offending carbide chip was not tapped quite deep enough. This corrected, the line disappeared.
The Bryd cutter is now producing boards with light tear-out and a surface that does not compare favorably to a sharp set of DeWalt steel blades. It leaves very fine tracks in the wood surface. These can easily be sanded out.
I will leave the Byrd cutter in the planer for now to figure out if I want freedom from endless blade changes or a better surface. If I hadn't already spent the money for the Byrd, and knowing what I know now, I'd have stuck with the original DeWalt cutter and kept a healthy supply of blades on hand.

I purchased this item for my DeWalt 735. I watched a couple of you tube installation videos and I had no problems with the install. Since the head is a OEM size model, I had to remove all the cutters to do the install. The only problem that I had was lines in my wood that was caused by cutters that did not seat properly. I highlighted the lines on the wood, opened the cutter area, raised the planner and pushed the board back under the head. By manually rotating the head, I easily found the problem cutters and reseated them. I put the planner back together and ran the test again. No more lines.

I would recommend this upgrade for anyone that planes reclaimed lumber and is tired of changing blades because a knot came loose and ruined your blades.