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Thread: Digital read out for jointer-planer

  1. #1
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    Mar 2003
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    SF Bay Area
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    Digital read out for jointer-planer

    Hi- I have a Robland jointer-planer and would like to add a digital read out for adjusting the planer thickness. The one I've found is the Wixey WR-550. I wonder if anyone has experience with this item and are there other appropriate gauges on the market? Thanks.
    -Howard

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    If you play with the Advanced Search, you can likely find several threads about adding a DRO to a J/P. It's come up multiple times.

    I have one on my MiniMax J/P (Digi-something or another) and when I actually remember to put fresh batteries in it, it works great.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
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    I have run this one on my planer for years. Long enough that it was about $30 when I got it. No problems ever, I trust it implicitly.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Today I just installed the same one (Wixey 550) on my 20 inch J/P and it seem to work very well. After running the height adjustment thru a few cycles it was within .005 give or take. Sometimes dead on sometimes .005. That’s pretty good in my book. My procedure is to run the table up from the bottom to within an inch of the 0.00 then I use the slow advance button to bring it to the full up position. I have an older Felder 751 that I bought new in 04. The analog dial I never cared for. I did some research and you can spend a mortgage payment on a DRO if you care to. I’m sure they are worth it but for me it’s planning wood. I normally finish most items on the wide belt anyways

    I've put off buying the Wixey for yrs because I thought I needed something expensive and sophisticated. Not true, I’ve had one on my molder for yrs and it works pretty darn good. There was a fellow selling the 550 in the classifieds the other day. I hesitated and I now see it is sold. It was new in the box for $35.00.

    I was actually surprised by the quality of the scale beam of this unit.

    Hope me this helps
    sometimes it's people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one imagines. Alan Turing

  5. #5
    Do yourself a favor and dont waste your time with the wixey. They are attractively priced but for a planer/jointer you will want something that reads in the .001 accuracy and the wixey does not. Also the wixweys have notorious issues with loose batteries and vibrations which will cause them to completely reset (and therefore need to be re-setup) constantly especially when they get older.

    If you want a DRO spend the money on a Proscale or something equivalent that actually reads .001 and is robust. The wixeys display three decimal places but do not read with that accuracy. If you are rough surfacing it may be ok (other than the constant resets).

    We tried a couple of wixeys and never again. You may find a .001 read import on ebay or something to save a few pennies over the proscale but most of them will be targeted to the metal working world.

  6. #6
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    Sep 2016
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    Look on the bay for a quill DRO for a generic unit to attach yourself.
    Bill

  7. #7
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    The negative experience with Wixey doesn't reflect everyone's experience. The Wixey DRO which I have installed on my planer does read to the .001 and is extremely accurate. I generally check the thickness on the final pass with my calipers before running all the wood through and it is always within .001 or .002 of that reading. The only time I must recalibrate is when I change batteries which is not very often. I love mine and have never had a problem with it. It's been installed on my planer for 5+ years. The support I have gotten from the company when I have called with a question has been fantastic.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
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    The original Wixey had issues that Mark talked about. I had a similar experience and replaced it with an iGaging unit that works very well. The tricky part was to figure out how to calibrate it. There is a new model of Wixey planer gauge that I have no experience with.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #9
    Last time I looked the wixey site still called out .005 resolution not .001. And sure hope there is a newer version that doesnt suffer from vibration. I'm sure on a machine that sees infrequent use it may take longer or not happen at all but we had issues with these shortly after install. Calling their support they were helpful and said to put a piece of foam under the battery cover to apply pressure to the batteries. Which we did.

    These were most definitely the first version if there is a new version but eventually the foam didn't even work and they would reset, lock up, freeze, continually. I can't say I was surprised at the price point and being on a machine that may run 6-8 hours a day at times.

  10. #10
    The current version of the Wixey (for sale on Amazon) only reads with 0.005" resolution (although, very annoyingly, they have pictures showing 0.001" resolution, and have not updated this despite emailing me and admitting that these are the wrong pictures!)

    You CAN buy the 0.001" resolution version on Wixey's website (I think it's called the "hi res" display, or something like that - the beam is the same for both, it's just the display head that's different).

    All that said, I have the 0.005" resolution version on my Hammer J/P combo, and I think it's the better choice. The planer bed is supported by a large center post, and the scale is (necessarily) mounted at the "end" of the bed. So there is a little bit of flexation, and I think seeing the display vary at the thousandths place might be irritating.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Camas, Wa
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    Are we really complaining about .005" accuracy on wood? I have the Wixey 550 and am very happy with it. It is quick and more accurate than the Grizzly scale. I had an Iguaging one but it was a pain to calibrate. I have never had the any of the issues with the Wixey.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Madison, Wisconsin
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    I put a Wixey on my Robland XSD and it works well. I mounted mine on the inside of the base to keep it out of the way, using the existing scale as a mounting point, but wouldn't do it again as it is hard to access for recalibration which I find I occasionally have to do. I find I can consistently plane boards to 5-10 thousandths....after all, this is wood, not CNC'ed NASA parts. Who needs wood planed to 0.001?

  13. #13
    I like the ones Grizzly sells. I have them on about 4 machines. Cheaper.

  14. #14
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    .005", .001 . . . Really it's not that significant given that wood expands and contracts more than that between seasons and even from one week to the next. I still use the DRO on my planer though so, if it gets me to .005" that's, for sure, close enough. I used to try to reach the highest level of precision possible until I realized that it's difficult to be more precise than 1/64" (.015") when cutting or routing. When fitting parts they just need to fit and then measurement isn't important; only the final fit and how the project goes together. So, anything that gets a planed board to within .005" is more than precise enough.

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Randy Heinemann View Post
    .005", .001 . . . Really it's not that significant given that wood expands and contracts more than that between seasons and even from one week to the next. I still use the DRO on my planer though so, if it gets me to .005" that's, for sure, close enough. I used to try to reach the highest level of precision possible until I realized that it's difficult to be more precise than 1/64" (.015") when cutting or routing. When fitting parts they just need to fit and then measurement isn't important; only the final fit and how the project goes together. So, anything that gets a planed board to within .005" is more than precise enough.
    Amen. I just did the math on wood expansion and a Red Oak board 10" wide will swell 0.017" with a MC change from 8% to 9% (or shrink from 9% to 8%). So, that's about 0.002" for a 1/10 of a percent moisture change. We THINK all our lumber is at a consistent MC, but there is variability both within a board and between boards. So, as Randy implied, its all academic trying to plane to less than 0.005" (or even 0.010" IMO) as even slight MC changes can overshadow any precision we think we are achieving.

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