How To Upgrade Makita 2012NB Thickness Planer To Helical Spiral Cutter Head + Comparison Test

[@lethedream6290]

Very nice. Thanks. This gotta be one of the quietest lunchbox planer setups!

[@nzadventurefamily3728]

Nice work. Thanks for this video. Ideally you should not pull on the outer race of the bearings when removing. In your case this was unavoidable. When reassembling you should not hit the outer race with a hammer, this will damage the groove where it contacts the balls. When installing, the inner race should be hit or pressed with a steel tube or stepped shaft to prevent the balls from damaging the groove in the inner and outer races. It looks like you got away with it, but the bearings may fail prematurely. (But they will be cheap to replace compared with the cutter head!)

[@TigerCarpenter]

I used rubber mallet, which is giving in to the hardened stainless steel bearings. the welding table is made from 18 mm thick mild steel plates, and they are acting like a spring / trampoline = they absorb most of the hit / vibrations. it may look I was hard on the bearings, but I was in fact very gentle and cautious. and yes I will replace the bearings if they fail or start making some funny noises. BTW: me and my brother produce these cutter heads from the raw materials, we cut them on the laser shaper, which I believe is the best to date precision cutter heads on the market. we are actually engineers for totally different industries, but we took on this idea just to challenge ourselves, and to produce the best cutter heads. I know this sounds so unhumble, but our cutter heads perform like a sports car compared to the regular saloon car. we designed them with so many factors in mind, such as the lowest possible resistance to the air, lowest possible weight, truly spiral cutter blades curves (changing angle), and shaft diameter / length precision like in a spaceship. I think we did a really good job. I actually further fine tuned them, and now they perform 25% more quiet, and take 20% less Amperage than in this video.

[@sixpackacademy]

Very informative and detailed video, keep up the great work 👍

[@citetez]

This will be very helpful when I do this myself - soon, I hope. There is a certain irony in the rustic container for a tool meant to create refined work.

[@TigerCarpenter]

The rustic box keeps the customs from charging you too much. And the only function of that box is to protect the cutter head in transport. Once the cutter is installed you will no longer need the box for it ever. I would absolutely make a beautiful box for the expensive chisel set or something that would be kept in that box for its lifetime

[@undede]

@@TigerCarpenter hi, I would like to buy this helical head for the Makita 2012B, just like yours. I've read that you ship from Germany, I am from Italy how can I buy it and be sure not to pay any extra custom or fee? I see the dollar currency on the website. Please let me know the total cost I will be paying in Euros for this head including shipping to Italy. Thank you

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@undede Please email me [e-mail] or WhatsApp [phone] for more information

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@undede Please email me [e-mail] or WhatsApp [phone] for more information

[@undede]

@@TigerCarpenter sent you an email.

[@andreivyisner]

Great video, thank you. I have noticed that initial power spike (load free) with straight blades was half of that drawn by helical head. I assume it could be because the helical head is heavier than stock head and thus requires higher power to gain initial momentum?

[@andreivyisner]

@@TigerCarpenter Thank you for the reply it helps a lot. I have the 110v version which I run with 3000 watt step-down transformer(I have 20 amp single phase 220v wring in my house)I wanted to upgrade to helix but was worried that planer would draw too much current from the step-down transformer (limited to 3000 watts). I have tested my planer today with original straight blades and the initial spike was about 30 amps , it did not trip the converter though. However under heavy labor planer drew only about 12 amps. Thus I am not worried that while under load it will overdrain the transformer, however worried that initial drain will trip the transformer.

[@5084204]

This shaft costs almost the same as the entire thicknesser. Does the cost truly reflect a much better finish?

[@TigerCarpenter]

Yes it's a game changer. I would never return to straight knives after using spiral helical cutter head for 2 years on the first blades index, I have 3 more indices to rotate. The upgrade is totally worth the investment. The finish doesn't require sanding and it's silky smooth

[@BalancedLugger]

Thanks for doing this!

[@eMRimas]

Nice upgrade Tiger Carpenter! By any chance you are planning to provide a one for DW733?

[@TigerCarpenter]

thanks! we produce the cutter heads of all sizes and for all machines, we can also make a custom size for your specific needs. funny as it sounds, 95% of all of my tools are DeWalt, but Makita 2012NB thickness planer is built much more sturdy, it is less noisy, vibrates less than DeWalt. that's why I don;t have a DeWalt thickness planer to demonstrate the cutter head replacement. we sold few hundred of our helical cutter heads for DeWalt so far, and we had not a single issue reported back to us. in fact the DeWalt installation is easier and more straightforward, comparing to Makita, as it doesn;t require any modifications, just plug and play from the top.

[@icecube3645]

@@TigerCarpenter you modified the Makita planer by filling the hole into circular shape, but if I was you I would instead file the helical head rod.

[@undede]

@@icecube3645 no way I am filing a rotating and balanced from factory cutter head to put it off, much better to file the bearing house.

[@nicklavioletteiii2183]

Great video, but for an extra $100 you can get the Oliver benchtop planer with a helical already installed.

[@TigerCarpenter]

Thanks for your feedback. I agree there are always many ways to achieve similar results. I went with the upgrade for 2 main reasons: 1. I already had Makita 2012NB thickness planer which never failed for many years which makes me confident it's a high quality piece of equipment 2. My brother and me design and manufacture custom helical spiral cutter heads for any machine and any dimensions you can think of. We also manufacture the CNC / router cutter bits with the same concept of replaceable indexing carbide blades that would last for a decade. So for me it was a no brainer to design and laser cut the Makita spiral cutter head. If I haven't already owned Makita thickness planer I would probably buy DeWalt thickness planer or some industrial grade monster Grizzly and I would make spiral cutter head for that little baby.

[@nicklavioletteiii2183]

@@TigerCarpenter Very impressive! I'll most definitely keep that in mind if I'm ever in need.

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@nicklavioletteiii2183 ok great. We can make for you any custom cutter. You can stay tuned to tigertoolspro.com to see newly added cutters, CNC/ router bits etc. I'll add my favourite router flush trim bit with 10 or 12 indexing carbide blades tonight (30mm diameter and 60mm cutting edge height), they work like a charm to joint boards edges on the router table.

[@adrianburghelea9353]

Hy ! Only if You please to tell where I can buy shelix cutterhead for makita and what is the price ? Thnks so much for video.

[@TigerCarpenter]

tigertoolspro.com/?product=helical-spiral-cutter-head-for-makita-2012nb-thickness-planer

[@photonashville]

You don't need to remove the segmented cutters to install the new head. Just install the head from the topside, longer end goes in first then the short end. Don't put the whole cutter head through the drive side hole! There are other videos which show this correctly.

[@TigerCarpenter]

you can be sure I tried that, and it wasn't possible to fit it in from the top. the other brand helical head is slightly smaller in diameter to accommodate just that. however then you will have the head-rollers misaligned (not in one plane), and that's why I went with this route. I know exactly what I'm saying because we produce these cutter heads, and we cut them with the lasers to perfect dimensions. I know Shelix for instance will fit in from the top, but as I mentioned, it doesn't match the original head's size and ours does. you can't even take out / install the original straight knives cutter head from the top. hence the side hole has the rectangular slot that allows the original cutter head to pass through. and that's why I had to file that slot to allow the round profile helical cutter head to pass through that same side hole (slot filed to a circle). the removal of the segmented cutter knives serves 2 purposes: 1. you won't cut yourself while handling / installing the helical cutter head (it's a one time off task, and takes 20 minutes and yes it is boring but it allows you to practice your patience) 2. you don't need to file the rectangular side slot (that lets the original straight knives cutter head to pass through) unnecessarily too big, without the segmented knives, the circular hole that allows the helical cutter head to pass through is barely bigger than the new cutter head's core (without the knives), so you save time on filing the slot into circular hole, and preserve the chassis structural strength (it would get weaker with a bigger hole on the side). bonus conclusions: if you use other brand helical cutter head which is smaller in diameter to accommodate the installation from the top: 1. you will get rollers significantly misaligned from the cutter head plane, 2. you will cause much bigger pressure between rollers and the material, 3. you will put 25%-35% more load on the motor (you can see we in fact REDUCED the load on the motor) 4. you will cause the pulley and inner surface of the V-belt to overheat and cause the belt to change its geometry, hence cause even more dangerous implications such as V-belt melting / breaking. 5. you will increase the operational noise (we DECREASED the noise as presented in the video) 6. you will use more input power / pay more electric bills 7. your overloaded motor will fail much faster in the long run of using misaligned rollers/cutter head (not in 1 plane) so.... after having gone through all the above mistakes and experiments in the process of prototyping our helical cutter heads, we concluded that the best overall solution is to use the helical cutter head that exactly matches the original Makita dimensions, both cutter's diameter and shafts length / diameter. this way our motor load decreased, noise reduced, pulley/V-belt temperature lowered, machine longevity increased, reliability is much higher, and most of all the final surface quality is better/smoother. when helical cutter head diameter is smaller (Shelix et al.), the material is pushed harder with the rollers which are below the cutter head cutting line, the material friction is higher, and everything starts to get affected like in a chain reaction. we strongly believe that Shelix decision to reduce helical cutter head diameter for the convenience of the installation (one time off task) was emphatically wrong. you can see they retracted their decision in DeWalt variant, because it was causing DeWalt thickness planers overheating and motor failure and other issues. thanks for your input!

[@undede]

removing cutters when installing is a goodf practice. You will be safer handling it and much better chance of not chipping any cutter. ASk me why I know.

[@MulyoYoo-h9t]

Brpa harga jointer helix nya

[@vi683a]

I will be buying

[@TigerCarpenter]

great! that's the best upgrade you can make to your woodworking machinery

[@adzeharrazak7954]

Hi sir, can ship to Malaysia?

[@TigerCarpenter]

Yes sure. Please take advantage of the promotional discount on TigerToolsPro.com

[@kulaksikulak]

Thank you 👍👍👍

[@TigerCarpenter]

I'm glad it helped you

[@mycocoa998]

I totally agree that helical spiral cutter head is the best upgrade one can make in their woodworking machines I'm nicely surprised how significant is the surface finish improvement is when you use the segmented cutter blades

[@alexjustdoit2255]

Thanks for this video. I am searching here in germany for a spiral cutter. Found the shelix in the internet. Bitte with high additional shipping and import costs between 150 and 300 Euro this is quite expensive..... I realy like the noise reduction. Maybe one Day there is an affordable version also here In germany.

[@TigerCarpenter]

tigertoolspro.com/product/helical-spiral-cutter-head-for-makita-2012nb-thickness-planer/ we ship worldwide, and our cutter head is a class above other brands. we make it with 3D laser shapers with unmatched tolerances, using special alloys. and to make you happy, we import the blades from Germany.

[@alexjustdoit2255]

@@TigerCarpenter thanks for this Information. Do you also offer a version for the triton? The 99 Dollar includes already the tax etc.? Or is that additionally on top?

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@alexjustdoit2255 USD99 is for air courier such as FedEx (in fact we pay more to them as it's over 7kg + wooden box), and there are no other hidden charges / taxes / custom duties etc. so once you proceed with an order, the cutter head will reach your doorstep very fast. we've just shipped one to Finland yesterday. Triton: because we are a manufacturer, not a middleman, we can make for you ANY cutter head, of any dimensions you specify, that includes Triton. because I don;t have Triton, I would rely on your measurements of the shaft diameter / both ends length, and outer diameter and total length. you also need to specify the spinning direction (in case Triton decided to get creative).

[@alexjustdoit2255]

@@TigerCarpenter thanks for this information. The Triton I am talking about is the TPT 125. A thicknessplaner for about 400 Euro being the starter segment here in Germany. If the total cost for the head including shipping and potential taxes would be around 400 Euros this would be on the level of the only available planer with a spiral head Shinko 330. Being maybe somehow worse compared to yours I would guess. Unfortunately I am not sure if I could handle to do the precise meassurements you would need to produce a cutter head which is safe and works well. If there is anybody else out there supporting this I would try and also male a small comparison as I am searching for years for such a solution. And I guess there are many others out there searching for Such a solution.

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@alexjustdoit2255 you can use a caliper or micro meter to measure the shaft diameter which is critical. The shaft ends also can me measured with the caliper. Or maybe the instruction manual has those dimensions specified. Personally I recommend 2012NB as it is made from aluminium and works continuously for many hours without fail or overheating. DeWalt would set itself on fire after few hours of use. I mill lots of lumber on Makita for many hours in a tow and it just works . Makita is engineered to perfection in my opinion based on heavy use experience

[@farmcat3198]

It looks like changing the cutter head was an all-day job. Is that correct?

[@TigerCarpenter]

it was my 1st time to perform this surgery. but to be honest the 2nd time it would take me less than 30 minutes, especially that I was figuring it all out without watching my step-by-step video. the longest step was filing the vertical flat sides of the hole through which the cutter head has to go into the body of Makita NB2012. it took me a while to think and decide whether I should do it, because I was reluctant to irreversibly modify the Makita's chassis. I was searching the Internet for it, and nobody was showing it, so I made that call and went ahead with it. it turned out to be the right decision. the filing itself took 10 minutes, but deciding to do it took me few hours or Internet search and thinking. yes the video recording started in the afternoon, and ended after sunset (on the equator where I was at the time of making this video, the sun sets at 6:30 pm). so the short answer is: yes it took me all day of thinking, figuring out which bolt needs to be opened, how to slide the cutter head through the hole which was smaller than the cutter's diameter. after watching this video, it should take you 2 hours to get the job done. I suggest to equip yourself with the gear pulling jaws, to be able to remove the bearings from the original straight cutter head. if you don't have these jaws, it can also slow you down while you are sourcing them / bring to a car workshop to help you take it off or order online and wait for the delivery.

[@Saw-IT]

Nice and very thorough.

[@radurobert1]

hey did you ever had any problem with Interna Lock mechanism ?. Mine started to loose the lock when I push the wood .

[@TigerCarpenter]

You experience the locking mechanism problem after changing the head to spiral? The lock is only used to change the old straight knives and you can literally remove the lock once you switch to the new head. And I get worried that you need to push the wood through. It should pass through without any force from the operator. If the wood needs a push then you might try waxing the planet's bed/table to reduce the friction

[@radurobert1]

@@TigerCarpenter what did I mean is that when I take 3mm the handle start to move upwards approx 1 cm so if I plan 10 wood pieces it will move to 2mm ot something like that . At maximum depth of 3mm the wood won't go easy as I need to push the wood to enter under the rubber wheels but if I take 1 mm will go very easy .I adjusted the head and I'm using only pine without knots so I'm not so sure if the carbide spiral head would be an improvement or worth the investment over the factory head.

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@radurobert1 spiral cutterhead will take 3mm off pine stock without a blink of an eye but you shouldn't need to ever push the stock through. use wax to make the friction lower on the bed. and one side has to be jointed prior to using the thickness planer. I hope that is obvious as well.

[@radurobert1]

If I adjust to 3mm the wood won't go easy under the rubber wheel so I push only until it is under the first rubber wheel . Is this normal ?. The price of the spiral cutterhead is equal with the machine itself but it is strange that they won't also give you and aditional set of tooths in that price . So if I buy that thing where can I find more tooths ?.

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@radurobert1 the spiral head blades are combined 48 15x15mm square carbide blades. Each edge of the square is sharp, so you can rotate each blade every time you damage it or if it becomes blunt. one set of 4 sharp edges will last you 10 years. The spiral head price is the same worldwide and is well justified by the finish read quality of the planed surface. If you are happy with the original straight blades, you don;t have to upgrade to the spiral head. If you run a commercial business or if you want to significantly improve the quality you can deliver, then the upgrade to the spiral head is well worth it and justified. you should never use any force to feed the material to your machines. it will result in the accident (touch wood). the rollers pressure should be sufficient to let the stock travel under the cutting head, and feed automatically.

[@thomasmonsch9906]

- How much does is the price of this spiral-knife? - Where can i buy it?

[@TigerCarpenter]

tigertoolspro.com/product/helical-spiral-cutter-head-for-makita-2012nb-thickness-planer/

[@marcenariahobby7pallet]

Muito top 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👍💯

[@twisterwiper]

Is tiger tools out of business? Their website don’t work.

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@twisterwiper the server is up and running now

[@lalitaescuela]

Hi , do you have an email so can ask you some questions? I to order you a helicoidal head, you have no email on the website, Is the price in Indonesian dollar's? Dou you have then in stock? House much time to get it to Spain? Thanks

[@TigerCarpenter]

tigertoolspro.com/product/helical-spiral-cutter-head-for-makita-2012nb-thickness-planer/ please order from the website. we deliver worldwide. price is in USD info at tigertoolspro dot com

[@dougveganparadisebuilder5808]

@@TigerCarpenter Is the price in SGD or USD?

[@TigerCarpenter]

@@dougveganparadisebuilder5808 USD. The price for helical cutter heads is nearly identical worldwide. Our cutter heads are 3D laser cut to perfection and match the exact diameter of the original head. We use significantly better materials than the competition.

[@sellme666]

What is your email address? I have questions before making such an expensive purchase.

[@TigerCarpenter]

info [at] tigertoolspro.com Or you can ask me here