Sawstop ICS FENCE DRO: Digifence or Wixey?

[Roger Feeley]

Subject says it all.

The digifence looks like it might mount under the bar and be a little less intrusive.

The Wixey connects with a magnet so it looks like it would be easier to remove the fence.

Advice?

[glenn bradley]

I have run the Wixey for years without issue. The reader strip is under the fence in my Beisemeyer installation. I have no experience with the Digifence but assume there is a reason for double the price. Maybe the fact that it reads to 1/64" whereas the Wixey reads to 1/32" is it? With the Wixey, fence and/or readout removal is easy due to magnetic connection as you describe. It has been fairly bullet-proof. The battery lasts 6 months or more if you don't use cheap batteries.

242906 . 242907

After so much work with one I would have to change my whole approach to work without one. Repeated cuts, offsets from a reference cuts, previous cuts as a reference, etc.

[Bruce Page]

Glenn, probably a good reason why the Digifence is pricier is because Accurate Technology, the maker of the Digifence is very well thought of in the machine shop world and have been around at least since the 80's. They make DRO’s for the lathe and milling machine as well as other machinery.

[David Kumm]

You would need to talk to the Pro scale people but I believe their technology is a little more accurate and repeatable. I use both and the Pro scale is what I prefer and use when I'm upgrading equipment now. Dave

[Matt Meiser]

I had a Wixey and it was nothing but trouble. The calibration would randomly change 0.2". First they said the head was bad and sent a replacement. Then the blamed the gap between sections but I had it happen without crossing the gap. Then they blamed it on static at which point I lost faith and stopped using it. When it worked it was nice but I was recalibrating every few days which was a pain. When I sold my old saw I left it on and said good riddance.

[Alan Lightstone]

Is that Digifence for the "SawStop Commercial Fence" the same one as for the SawStop contractor saw with the T-Glide Professional fence (52" Biesenmeyer clone)?

[glenn bradley]

Glenn, probably a good reason why the Digifence is pricier is because Accurate Technology, the maker of the Digifence is very well thought of in the machine shop world and have been around at least since the 80's. They make DRO’s for the lathe and milling machine as well as other machinery.

Yep, I knew there was probably a good reason. The Wixey uses their "Precise Fraction Technology" which I assume is some sort of fractional equalizing algorithm to determine when something is 11/32" as opposed to 5/16" when the measurement is in between. This would certainly NOT be desirable in a machine shop :D:D:D. The only time I had any trouble with calibration slipping was when the battery was inadequate. I can remove the fence, put it back on and make a cut at the 18-7/32" mark and be pretty much dead on within the device's tolerances. I don't know that the laminate faces on my Beisemeyer would stand up to the sloppiest machine shop tolerances ;).

[Tim Janssen]

I installed the Wixey readout om my SawStop PCS It's working fine for me. Yes sometimes I have to re-calibrate it, but that maybe because I may not use the saw for a couple of weeks or more. I mounted it against the bottom of the fence tube by drilling and tapping for the mounting screws of the clips holding the sensor strip extrusion.
Cheers!

Tim

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks for all the good advice. My perception is that the Digifence would be the more reliable and the Wixey would be a bit easier to use. Hmmmm....

[Chip Lindley]

Digital on a table saw is wayyy overkill. I appreciate digital devices when appropriate, but not on a table saw! Consider wood swelling or shrinkage. On my Powermatic 66, the 1/32" increments of the Biesemeyer rip fence can be interpolated down to 1/64" or even less. Plenty for woodworking. Don't make it any harder than is must be! ! Spend your extra dollars on great blades!

[Alan Schaffter]

I had a Wixey and it was nothing but trouble. The calibration would randomly change 0.2". First they said the head was bad and sent a replacement. Then the blamed the gap between sections but I had it happen without crossing the gap. Then they blamed it on static at which point I lost faith and stopped using it. When it worked it was nice but I was recalibrating every few days which was a pain. When I sold my old saw I left it on and said good riddance.

Matt, I did beta testing on the original unit and had none of those problems. Years, later however with a production unit, the random 0.2" problem cropped up. It confounded me. I knew it wasn't static, I knew it wasn't the gaps.

After some experimentation, I stumbled on the source of the problem. It turns out is was a VERY simple, but hard to diagnose "NON-PROBLEM" - just a weak battery!!! There was enough juice to make the unit appear to work, but then all of the sudden I would get the dreaded 0.2" error! I put in a fresh battery, and all was fine. A few weeks later, just to verify, I put the faulty battery back in and the problem returned. I contacted Barry who thanked me for the info and admitted he had never really found the source of the problem.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, I suppose its not out of the question that I got weak batteries with the original unit and the replacement head. But frankly the way it was handled soured me on doing business with them again.

[Roger Feeley]

Digital on a table saw is wayyy overkill. I appreciate digital devices when appropriate, but not on a table saw! Consider wood swelling or shrinkage. On my Powermatic 66, the 1/32" increments of the Biesemeyer rip fence can be interpolated down to 1/64" or even less. Plenty for woodworking. Don't make it any harder than is must be! ! Spend your extra dollars on great blades!

Chip, your point is well taken. Generally speaking, I would use digital for relative measurements, not absolute ones. With my various digital calipers, I find that I have to recalibrate back to 0 a lot so the DRO would have to earn my trust there.

That said, I do use my router height DRO a lot for tweaking.

[Alan Schaffter]

Yep, I knew there was probably a good reason. The Wixey uses their "Precise Fraction Technology" which I assume is some sort of fractional equalizing algorithm to determine when something is 11/32" as opposed to 5/16" when the measurement is in between. This would certainly NOT be desirable in a machine shop :D:D:D. The only time I had any trouble with calibration slipping was when the battery was inadequate. I can remove the fence, put it back on and make a cut at the 18-7/32" mark and be pretty much dead on within the device's tolerances. I don't know that the laminate faces on my Beisemeyer would stand up to the sloppiest machine shop tolerances ;).

If you are using fractions with woodworking, Wixey's "fractional technology" is the only way to go, otherwise it would be next to impossible to set the fence. Without it if you moved the fence by .001" the readout would no longer display a fraction (unless programmed to display 1/128", 1/256" or some other unwieldy fraction. Since the Wixey displays both fractions and decimals simultaneously, if you want you can just use decimals and be as precise as you want, within the limits of the device.

Even with the "fractional technology" some folks find themselves doing the "tap, tap, tap" on the fence to get the precise setting. I will often use the saw's measuring tape to set my fence initially, then double check it with the Wixey readout. My aging eyes can see the large digital readout much better and I will often use it for fine tuning the fence position. It is great for making incremental cuts like repetitive ripping thin strips.

[Myk Rian]

Digital on a table saw is wayyy overkill.
Agreed. A rule works fine as well as the tape on the rail. This isn't metal working.

I have a Wixey on my DW735 planer, and it is useful there.

[fRED mCnEILL]

I have had a wixey for years and had the same error problem. I do a lot of repeat cutting so the DRO gets a lot of use. I am aware of the error problem so constantly am on the lookout for it and have to recalibrate now and again. But what DOES anoy me is the tap-tap-tap. I have considered the incra setup but its drawback is it takes up way too much space for my liking. But seeing as how probably all dros sufer from tap-tap-tap I will stay with the wixey.

[Roger Feeley]

Ignorant me. What is 'tap-tap-tap'?

[Alan Schaffter]

Ignorant me. What is 'tap-tap-tap'?

A disease which is the result of an almost anal desire to set the the fence precisely. Unless you have a micro adjust wheel you must lightly tap the fence this way, that way, to move it a few thou, etc. so the readout and fence are exactly at the desired setting.