Ridgid R4330 Cutter Head Upgrade

QUICK CORRECTION TO THE VIDEO: At 35:13 I talk about the Shelix cutter head being shorter than the stock cutter head. This is incorrect - the Shelix specifications that I show do not include the splined end that you have to transfer from the stock cutter head, which accounts for the difference in length. The reason there are no threads visible on the end of the shaft is that the pulley retaining nut provided with the Shelix head is much thicker than the jam nut that is installed on the stock cutter head. Sorry for the mistake!

This is a very thorough, step-by-step demonstration of the teardown and reassembly of the Ridgid R4330 thickness planer to upgrade the stock cutter head to a Shelix helical cutter head from Byrd Tools. I can’t imagine that any questions will remain after watching this video, other than maybe “Why did I buy this planer?” But if you have questions or comments feel free to post them here, and I’ll do my best to respond.

Here are some links you might find helpful. I’m not a real content creator so I’m not sponsored or anything like that, these are just the things I used and thought I could save you some time by sharing the links.

• Cut-proof gloves – I recommend these especially for the removal of the straight knives, which tend to be very sharp even when they’re kind of dull. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GTYVJ58?...
• Screw set that includes all the screws used in this planer (I think), in case you have to use an extractor and destroy a few like I did. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
• Powerbuilt 9-Piece Zeon metric hex key wrench set for damaged fasteners (highly recommend you get this or another quality set of metric Allen wrenches before you start. You’ll need them.) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
• Allen wrench drill bit set – These things are great. I didn’t use them in a drill for this project (I’ve used them that way before, though), but I put them in an adapter on my socket wrench, and they provided the torque I needed to loosen a lot of the over-torqued screws on the R4330. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
• Two-jaw bearing puller – I ended up not using this because I had a 3-jaw puller (which did not fit very well), and I ordered this to use instead but got impatient and used two “cat’s paw” nail pullers instead. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
• Small pry bar nail puller – I grew up calling this a “cat’s paw” for some reason, so that’s what I call it in the video. These are not the ones I used, but they look similar. Need to have two of them – two come in this set I found. You need either a set like this or a small puller (above), but not necessarily both. https://www.amazon.com/SN-KNIFE-Teard...
• Byrd Tool Shelix cutter head – This link will take you to My Wood Cutters, which is just one source for Shelix cutter heads. There are several different sources, so shop around. My Wood Cutters had the best prices when I was looking. https://mywoodcutters.com/SHELIX_for_...)