I bought this cutter head to replace the segmented head in my King 8in jointer. First, the appearance of the Sheartak helical head is impressive, even my neighbor, who was present during installation, was impressed by the build quality. Installation is relatively straight forward and proceeded well, except. The bearing, on the belt drive side of the jointer, was extremely difficult to remove from the bearing retainer, no fault to Sheartak. Once that issue resolved, the rest was smooth sailing. Talking about smooth. The "Sheartak Helical Cutter Head w Carbide Cutters" is an absolute dream come true. The cut is quieter, cleaner and the jointer sounds as though it is not working as hard. I am so impressed with this product, I will be imstalling one in my King KC-13HPC thickness planer as soon as I have saved the money. Onyone that tries to convince you or sell you on the segmented head is wrong. The difference in all aspects of perfomance are greatly improved with a true helical cutter head, period. Thank you Sheartak. Dave & The Girls

Excellent quality overall. Installation was straightforward, and I strongly suggest using new bearings for the best results. The bearings aren’t installed out of the box, but having a machine shop press them in is quick and inexpensive. Delivers a major performance upgrade compared to straight knives.

Thank you Mike and team, for excellent technical assistance during the purchasing phase. The old cutter head removal and new installation took 1.5hrs stat to finish, including testing and bed calibration. The quality is excellent, reduction in noise considerably noticeable, using a 180mm wide piece of hardwood, 2mm pass was quieter than the sound of the motor. Finish quality as close to perfect as one can get.

Upgrading the cutterhead on this planer has been a huge upgrade to this machine in our school shop. The noise level is significantly reduced and the surface finish is fantastic. Highly recommend this upgrade to anyone considering. Sheartak were great to deal with, very helpful support and the replacement went smoothly. I would recommend replacing bearings with any cutterhead too.

I shape surfboards everyday with this barrel in my Skil 100 planer. I actually have three Skils in my shop, all with this exact barrel in them. They are smooth cutting, anccurate and with the four way carbide cutting heads they will far outlast me and very likely be handed down to the next generation of surfboard shapers.

If you value a true quality cut in your Skil 100 machines that will last a lifetime then you need this Sheartak barrel. Get one and thank me later!

Clint Runyon
Owner/Head Shaper
Runyon Surfboards

Amazing upgrade. Cuts foam like butter. Very smooth. Easy installation and ordering. Sheartak was great with questions and answers. Recommend highly.

Chris

This cutterhead fit my Rexcut Model B087 Jointer perfectly. I love how cuts. The original cutter head needed new gib screws i could not find any bolts that would work. By installing this cutter head made my jointer like new.

Purchased the Spiral Cutterhead for my Delta 8” jointer. I am very impressed with the cutterhead and the quality of the cut. I’m saving up to convert my planer next.

Flawless in every way
disassembly instructions outstanding, as well as assembly instructions
bearings pressed on both cutters from Sheartak, definitely a plus
2 hours to remove and replace both cutters
Machine runs very quiet and the chips are uniform

I bolted this six-spiral beast into my old SCMI S52 and—no exaggeration—the planer now sounds like it’s humming a cosmic mantra while atomizing tear-out into confetti. Feed a gnarly board in, and what comes out the other side looks kaleidoscopic: shimmering, glassy, and flat like it’s been politely negotiated into perfection by a thousand tiny diplomats in carbide suits.

This head is psychedelic in the best way—not trippy, just transformative. The cut is quiet-er, the chips are tiny, and the finish is so clean it feels illegal. Western hemlock with squirrelly grain? It shrugs. Edge banding knots? Yawn. The six-start helical pattern keeps the bite constant, so the machine doesn’t lurch—just a smooth, relentless zzzzzzip as the work glides through.

Is it scary? Absolutely. It’s a beautiful monster. Treat it with respect and it rewards you with:

No drama, no tear-out – even on cranky grain.

Sweet, steady feed – fewer vibes, more control.

Low maintenance – rotate the inserts, keep cutting like a boss.

Bottom line: this isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a planer rebirth. If your S52 still has straight knives, you’re living in black-and-white. This head flips the switch to full technicolor. Buy it, bolt it in, and prepare to grin like an idiot at boards that look too good to sand.

The cutter fit perfectly into machine, there is a noticeable difference in the quality of the cut compared to the standard cutter that came with the machine. It is also a bit quieter. This cutter is worth the investment .

I ordered my cutter head and was soon there after contacted by customer service. They wanted me to confirm the dimensions of my cutter head to be sure theirs would fit my machine. I sent them back the dimensions and after confirming the fit they shipped the head to me. While I was installing it I broke the pinion gear that had to be transferred from my old head to their new one. After calling the manufacturer of my machine and being told it might take as long as 6 months to get the part, I contacted Sheartak and told them of my dilemma. They took the time and effort to look up a compatible pinion gear in stock at my manufacturer. I ordered it and got the part soon after. I was able to install the Sheartak cutter head and try it. It was impressive. It was half as loud as my original. The chips were much finer and easier for my dust collection system to handle. The finish on the boards was incredible. They came out like they were already sanded with 180 grit sand paper. I'm going to go through a lot less sand paper now. I think the company was fantastic , going way out of their way to help me. Thanks Mike!

As an experienced woodworker, I was tired of dealing with chipped and dull blades on my aging Delta 6-inch jointer. I wanted an upgrade with a helical cutterhead, but without spending a fortune on a brand-new machine. After researching, I found that most affordable options were flimsy tabletop models—overpriced for their quality.

Instead, I decided to retrofit my Delta with a helical cutterhead and new bearings. The investment was just a few hundred dollars, plus some time for installation. The process was straightforward, requiring no special tools, and the results have been outstanding. My jointer now produces a buttery-smooth finish, and with this upgrade, it’s built to last a lifetime.

A special thanks to Sheartak for their excellent customer service—they asked all the right questions to ensure I got the correct part. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. And best of all? No Amazon needed!

purchased recently. i received it after ~1month for China. packed well, also got extra knives & screws as spare. the cutterhead is as awesome as they promised. replaced it in a few hours, adjusted the planer / knives. the quality is great, exactly perfect for my metabo machine. absolutely recommended for upgrades!

Installation was easy, but I made it harder than it needed to be. When it was time to put in the new head, I hit the threaded end to align it without putting back the pulley first and I damaged the threads. No big deal though, I sent it to a machining shop nearby and they fixed the threads. After installing it the right way I torqued each knife to spec I tried it and the results were very good, but I had some vert small lines showing. After realigning some of the inserts the boards came out so smooth I understood why people go crazy about these heads. When looking at the boards under light you might see some lines on them but you shouldn’t feel them with your hands. It shouldn’t matter though if you sand your projects, and it is galaxies better than the nicked straight blades I was using (I am kind of lazy about blade changes). I took the same 1/16 passes I usually do and the motor doesn’t seem to be working significantly harder than with the standard head, time will tell if the motor likes the upgrade or not. Noise is reduced but you absolutely will need ear protection anyway. Hard maple usually teared out a lot with the last set of straight blades I had, and the maple test piece came out flawless.

Overall very satisfied, after three years of buying straight knives I feel like this cutterhead is going to save me some money and tearout induced headache.