Planer head depth gauge

[keith micinski]

So this is version 1 to make sure it worked ok and I didn't have to make brackets and re-drill holes. I just mounted it to a piece of wood and double stick taped it to the planer. It works perfect so now I am going to make a bracket that replaces the factory depth gauge that has a higher lip so I can screw this spring loaded piece on to it.

[Danny Burns]

Great idea!
Thanks!!!

[Van Huskey]

You did come up with an excellent idea!

[david brum]

Nice, elegant solution. Now I want one.

[Mike Cruz]

David, Woodcraft will pick it up from Keith, and they'll be selling them for $29.99 before you know it! ;)

[johnny means]

I know I'm missing something obvious, but what does it do?

[Mike Goetzke]

I know I'm missing something obvious, but what does it do?
I'm wondering too, but, may be a snap gauge like my Delta benchtop had to set the depth of the first cut. I upgraded to the same machine he has and make a quick caliper measurement of the thickest part of the board and then use the Wixey digital remote gage i have mounted to the machine (sometimes the board if rough sawn isn't thickest on the ends).

Mike

[Mike Cruz]

Johnny, it doesn't matter what it does...it is cool. It is something added to your planer to give you an idea of something...and that you can guage so that you know something or whatever. Why do you have to question things?!?! :D

Seriously, though, I think the idea is that planers tend to have a little piece of plastic on the front edge of the cast iron that lets you know what the maximum amount that you can feed in is, but there is no way of telling what the actual cutterhead depth is relative to your wood. If I "get" this little gizmo correctly, you send your wood through the planer, then bring that piece back around, set up the little gizmo so that the little sled barely hits the top of the wood, and it lets you know (for future passes) if the wood you are feeding in is going to catch the cutterhead and make a nice cut, be lower than the cutterhead and just leave feeder marks in your wood, or if you are about to hog away so much that the wood is going to get lodged in the planer...forcing you to back the table down during mid-cut. The advantage to the gizmo is that it is a guage BEFORE the infeed rollers grab the wood and you are past the point of no return.

Did I get that right, Keith?

[Andrew Joiner]

https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTqk4cISSM4eU5eYxylX3RI5LXSIQzke a9zHG7lM2F7GJOpfQn_

Yes Keith, I'm with you on this one. I'd be lost without the material removal gauge on my planer. I use sleds a lot so I want to know what I'm removing.

[keith micinski]

I thought about putting graduations on it but since there really is only about a 16th of maximum cut underneath that tab it didn't make much sense to waste the time. There just isnt enough room to do some sort of cam system like the lunch box planers unless you want some big honking gauge hanging off the front of your planer which I don't. Plus to be honest with you on my Dewalt I never really used that gauge for anything other then finding zero of a given board away. I am supposed to get the steel today to make a new depth stop and then I can mount the "depth gauge" onto it. Does anyone have any ideas for something that might be a little more durable then the plastic 1.35 piece I bought? That's all I could really find locally and wouldn't be opposed to using a different style of spring loaded pin or a different material anyway. To be honest with you I really think jut a piece of flexible plastic would come close to working but my concern is that if you were feeding multiple pieces through at different widths the plastic might not spring back in time to be completely accurate.

[Mike Goetzke]

I thought about putting graduations on it but since there really is only about a 16th of maximum cut underneath that tab it didn't make much sense to waste the time. There just isnt enough room to do some sort of cam system like the lunch box planers unless you want some big honking gauge hanging off the front of your planer which I don't. Plus to be honest with you on my Dewalt I never really used that gauge for anything other then finding zero of a given board away. I am supposed to get the steel today to make a new depth stop and then I can mount the "depth gauge" onto it. Does anyone have any ideas for something that might be a little more durable then the plastic 1.35 piece I bought? That's all I could really find locally and wouldn't be opposed to using a different style of spring loaded pin or a different material anyway. To be honest with you I really think jut a piece of flexible plastic would come close to working but my concern is that if you were feeding multiple pieces through at different widths the plastic might not spring back in time to be completely accurate.

Really - get yourself some digital calipers and mount a Wixey remote DRO (see links I gave you for simple application) and you will be able to start making chips;). In my opinion this is the tool that most benefits from a digital height gauge. This is what I do - after face joining one side use the calipers to take the max. thickness, dial in the planer to a little under this, and then on additional passes usually turn the crank one turn till I get close then 1/2 turn on last two passes. Also, make sure the bed roller is at or above the bed or else you could get gouging - DAMHIKT.

Mike

[Ole Anderson]

Really - get yourself some digital calipers and mount a Wixey remote DRO (see links I gave you for simple application) and you will be able to start making chips;). In my opinion this is the tool that most benefits from a digital height gauge. This is what I do - after face joining one side use the calipers to take the max. thickness, dial in the planer to a little under this, and then on additional passes usually turn the crank one turn till I get close then 1/2 turn on last two passes. Also, make sure the bed roller is at or above the bed or else you could get gouging - DAMHIKT.

Mike

Yea, the Wixley is the way to go, don't know how I ever got repeatability before. Still, you have a cool idea.

[keith micinski]

Oh I am definitely going to get a Wixey, but that wouldn't do me any good for trying to zero the head to rough sawn lumber. The paint is drying on the bracket now.

[Mike Goetzke]

Oh I am definitely going to get a Wixey, but that wouldn't do me any good for trying to zero the head to rough sawn lumber. The paint is drying on the bracket now.

I'm not getting this. With the Wixey planer gauge you run a board through it and use it to calibrate the gauge. You do this once (till batteries wear out). Then when I mill rough sawn lumber I will face join one side of the lumber then take a caliper to determine max. thickness (although over time your eyball gets calibrated) and set the planer using the gauge to maybe 0.030" or so smaller. I just don't think you will need the gauge you are working on with this planer if use use the gauging described here.

Mike

[keith micinski]

If you operate under the premise that I want to caliper every single board I have face jointed before I run it through the planer (which I don't) then you are right. I can use the expensive calipers, (which I have to go get out and then hope the battery is still good in it) and I can use the expensive wixey digital read out to compare the two read outs, then adjust the table to that read out plus a little more to start taking material off. Or I can take any board I want with out all of those fancy expensive tools and set it on the table and raise it till it bumps the pin up and I no I am at zero and I am done. I can now look over and see what I need to get to for my finish height or I can just clean a face of a board up and take off as little as possible without wasting any. I found that if I had run the board threw twice because the firs time wasn't quiet enough I had even more roller marks in the board to contend with. Now I can shave off the smallest amount easier, quicker and honestly just as accurate and it only cost me about 2 dollars.

[keith micinski]

Here is version 2.0. I decided to stick with the double sided tape for now because I wanted to make sure I didn't want to use a different set up for the gauge and have to have a bunch of holes drilled and tapped into it. Plus to be honest it was all I could do to rip it off to paint it after testing and I am pretty sure if I want to I can just continue to use the tape and I won't have any issues. I have some boards that are 13/16th's and was able to clean them off on one side by just taking the smallest amount off by going an 1/8th of a turn past zero on the gauge to still have a usable 3/4 board. Before I would have had the board darn near chewed up with roller marks even using calipers trying to sneak up on it. With out a digital read out using calipers and then transferring that to a regular ruler is near impossible for tiny amounts. Like I said I am still going to get a Wixey because I love the digital fence I have on my saw but with this little gauge and a stop block I could quickly and accurately duplicate boards of any dimensions with out a 100 dollars in extra digital tools.

[Mike Goetzke]

If you operate under the premise that I want to caliper every single board I have face jointed before I run it through the planer (which I don't) then you are right. I use a $15 caliper takes seconds plus maybe you aren't using rought sawn lumber but many times the face planed board is much thicker somewhere else than the ends rendering an end measurement useless. I can use the expensive calipers, (which I have to go get out and then hope the battery is still good in it) and I can use the expensive wixey digital read out to compare the two read outs, You measure the board with the caliper and then just crank the planer head till it's at the desired material you want to remove. then adjust the table to that read out plus a little more to start taking material off. Or I can take any board I want with out all of those fancy expensive tools and set it on the table and raise it till it bumps the pin up and I no I am at zero and I am done. I can now look over and see what I need to get to for my finish height or I can just clean a face of a board up and take off as little as possible without wasting any. I found that if I had run the board threw twice because the firs time wasn't quiet enough I had even more roller marks in the board to contend with. Now I can shave off the smallest amount easier, quicker and honestly just as accurate and it only cost me about 2 dollars.


Once you play around with the tool you will understand the value of the digital height gauge. It becomes especially important for repeatability and times when you want a piece a little over or undersize. I use to have a Delta 22-580 with a gauge like you are making. Like I said it worked great for stock that was flat but not so if the thickness varied along the length of the board.

Good Luck

(saw your latest photos - might want to fasten that plate to the planer with a couple of screws)

[Greg Portland]

If you operate under the premise that I want to caliper every single board I have face jointed before I run it through the planer (which I don't) then you are right.This is the real benefit. Yes, the Wixey will let you dial your planer to 1" exactly but how thick is your board when you start? Is one end thicker than the other? A simple gauge like this lets you know that you're taking a deeper cut and that you should dial back the feed rate on the planer. I have a static marker on the infeed side of my planer to set initial height but I like the idea of having the gauge ride up or down based on wood thickness. (The next step will be to connect the gauge to the VS feed motor so it will automatically slow down when taking a bigger cut :) )

[keith micinski]

I repeat
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by keith micinski http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1868836#post1868836)
If you operate under the premise that I want to caliper every single board I have face jointed before I run it through the planer (which I don't) then you are right.

[Mark Ashmeade]

I like!

I have an Igaging depth gauge, I might have a play, once I have the shop construction done.

[Michael Mayo]

Was just reading this with great interest because I have a new to me DC 380 planer and I have just started to play with it. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it is to figure out where I am in relation to the bottom of the knives. Also the column mounted rule markings are not worth much for gaging where and how much. I am going to purchase the Wixey it is only $60 and that ain't much considering what I have been spending lately and it will allow me to KNOW for sure how much and where. I was thinking though your little gadget would be great for what your purpose is which is quickly knowing where your blades are in relation to your stock. I used to work as an auto tech and i have a spring mounted tire tread depth guage that would be perfect for your application. I bet you could find one at the local auto parts store for a couple dollars and it would be a lot more accurate once mounted then what you currently have setup. Just an idea for ya.

They even have digital tire tread depth gages now go figure and only $15.99 at Autozone.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Fowler-X-Tread-digital-tire-gage/_/N-26o1;jsessionid=02D124D647B22753F388DF34238FF620.d iyprod4-b2c14?itemIdentifier=186495_0_0_

[keith micinski]

This is exactly what I was looking for Michael. If I can get a foot on something so that the piece of wood slides underneath of it without binding that is perfect. I knew there would be something better out there and this is also why having multiple sets of eyes on a project is always beneficial. I will start looking into this tonight.

[johnny means]

I had the Dewalt with the depth guage at one time. The problem with using it was that it was pointless unless the board was already planed. If a board was bowed then face jointed it is pretty much,always going to be thicker in the middle. This led to few jams and whatever issues jams caused before I learned that boards really should be measuered first.

[Mike Goetzke]

I had the Dewalt with the depth guage at one time. The problem with using it was that it was pointless unless the board was already planed. If a board was bowed then face jointed it is pretty much,always going to be thicker in the middle. This led to few jams and whatever issues jams caused before I learned that boards really should be measuered first.

+1 This is exactly what I have been trying to say. Since I began taking a quick caliper measurement and adjust the planer using the Wixey remote DRO live has been good.

Mike

[keith micinski]

Ya, I am not sure how anyone can have used a planer and not understand the concept of this simple gauge. I literally just ran a face jointed board that had a high spot in the middle of it through with no issues. I sited the board after jointing and realized there was a high spot in the middle. If I thought there was a larger high spot then a 16th, which is the max of my planer, I could leave it down a little from zero of the cutter head and make it in multiple passes. I raised the table till the front edge was at zero and then trimmed off enough to not leave roller marks. Done. High spot gone, board perfectly flat and no roller marks because I didn't take enough off on the low spots because I didn't know where zero of the head was. Using Calipers on the high spot would not help me with this measurement unless I started Calipering the board in 3 or 4 spots. No messing around with calipers and taking measurements and setting digital readouts and doing math. This isn't meant to be rocket science. It's also meant to replace a 100 dollars worth of measuring tools if you can't afford them for something that cost about a buck to make.