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Balancing Drill-Holes on Tooling
Question
Forum Responses
From contributor J: I agree. I had a customer bring in his own 1/4" knife stock he wanted his profile ground on. They were from a cheap woodworkers supply place. I couldn't even rub the two corrugated faces together. Unusable. It pays to pay more for tooling. Or at least stay away from the cheap stuff because it is just that. From contributor A: It is common practice to drill one hole when balancing a cast cutterhead. The key word here is one. The depth of the hole determines the balance. More than one hole, then it is junk. From contributor R: I would like to respectfully disagree with contributor A. When cutter heads are balanced, the steel is taken from where the steel density is too heavy. I have seen cutterheads with many holes drilled in many different areas and they run very smooth. May I also add that the gibs, gib screws must also be balanced. It is on the same theory as balancing a car tire. You can't put the weight where you want to. You must put it where it needs it, and sometimes there are two or more weights on the tire. May I also state there are good cutterheads from all over the world as well as inferior ones. In general you get what you pay for. Buy from someone you trust and who has a good reputation and they will take care of you even when things get like this. Even the best manufacturers have had some lemons in their inventory from time to time.
From Dave Rankin, forum technical advisor: Contributor R is correct. When balancing heads it is common to see several balance holes. The larger the head, the more common it is. This is necessary when dealing with a 2 plane balance issue. For example, on a 6" long cutter, the right side may need balanced at knife pocket one while the left side of the head body may need a balanced at knife pocket 3. If not balanced correctly, the head will try to run in an egg shape. The high point of the right side will be on top while the high point on the left side will be on the bottom. In tooling, you generally get what you pay for.
From contributor A: I should have been more specific. I was referring to holes in a small cast cutter like the mentioned raised panel cutter. I'm aware that on much larger, very accurately made planer heads like you mentioned, it is common practice to drill several holes. Because it would be impossible to drill one hole deep enough to balance the head. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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