Today I upgraded my 735 to the Shelix OEM head. Completely new machine IMHO.
two head size options. I went with the OEM size although I did have to remove all the cutters but that's okay. It's 8db quieter and no clogging in the blower housing. Well worth the expense. It does fabulous on curly maple. Absolutely no tearout.
The long run trade off is worth it. besides, the smaller diameter head throws off your depth gauge and
you have to make shallow passes.
Not a big deal but worth mentioning.
This must be some kind of parallel universe I'm in this morning?? I just put a Shelix in my DW 735 yesterday. Other than a couple of stuck screws holding the original blades in place it wasn't too tough to change.
I have 2 friends who offered to help me so I went to see their machines in action and got some info before I pulled the trigger on a spiral cutting head. As you mention in your comments there are 2 different size cutters available from Byrd who supplies the conversion heads and you have to make a choice. Bigger head = removing 40 cutters and reinstalling. Smaller head just insert and set.
I read about the issue of depth inaccuracy and I was thinking maybe the bigger one that matches the diameter of the OEM head was the way to go. So off I go to see them side by side. I took along a few pieces of 8/4 hickory and curly maple for the test. Making a shallow cut to allow for the smaller head is a myth in my view. I saw no difference and my two friends felt the same.
Accuracy of the OEM gage is effected by the change. True. I never put any stock in the gage from the day I bought the DW 735 so its mute. I have a Wixey gage on my saw that the previous owner installed and I have found that to be less than "dead nuts" with my 3 knife work. I always measure with a hand caliper on a board that comes out to sneak up on the final thickness. Just me.
Why mention the big or small question? Money.
The best price I could find on the big head was 425 with bearings and the smaller head was 349 and free shipping last week. I must confess I am a little lazy too. After removing all those allen srews from the original head and having to deal with stripped out heads for the second time, I decided enough.
Am I happy with the new cutter? Yes. Like Wes said earlier, its quieter and it gives you a surface that you won't get with the 3 blade configuration. There has been enough videos made about this conversion to start a TV series so you can do some exploring on your own.
I made some seat blanks with curly walnut veneer I cut. I applied the veneer to some ugly walnut and then I ran a piece thru with the Shelix head working. They came out like glass. I would never consider putting them in the planer before.
