Wixey Digital Planer readout

[Thomas Prondzinski]

Anyone here have or seen a Wixey Digital Planer readout? Woodcraft has them for 59.95. Was thinking of using one for the planer and one for the Performax.


Thanks Tom

[Jim Becker]

I ordered a digital readout that I'm installing on the planer bed of my Mini Max J/P from Accurate/Digi-Kit (http://www.digi-kit.com/). Their kit for the small planers runs $99, so the one you've identified at Woodcraft sounds like a nice deal.

[Mark Katz]

Anyone here have or seen a Wixey Digital Planer readout? Woodcraft has them for 59.95. Was thinking of using one for the planer and one for the Performax.

Haven't seen it but I did notice that www.wixey.com offers them direct for the same price with free shipping. Also, there's a PDF of the owner's manual there, so you can get a better feel for the installation and use of it.

Mark

[Richard Wolf]

This is a pic of a Digital read out I use on my planer. I purchased it at a woodworking show. I can't find a brand name on it or the paper work.

[Jamie Buxton]

So, what's the technology inside these things? What makes them work? (And the implied question, why should we believe their claimed specs for accuracy and resolution?)

[Richard Wolf]

These are built for the machine industry and while some are going to be more accurate than other, I was only looking for a better way to return to consistant sizes. I have not found them to be a problem. But I'm not building rocket parts.

Richard

[Michael Perata]

I ordered a digital readout that I'm installing on the planer bed of my Mini Max J/P from Accurate/Digi-Kit (http://www.digi-kit.com/). Their kit for the small planers runs $99, so the one you've identified at Woodcraft sounds like a nice deal.
Jim
Do you know of anyone else putting one on a 300?

How often to you have to set the height? Once I would hope, at least between battery and Tersa blades changes.

[Jim Becker]

Do you know of anyone else putting one on a 300?

No, but it's been done before. Jim Strain was interested in learning how things work out, too.


How often to you have to set the height? Once I would hope, at least between battery and Tersa blades changes.

I just unpacked it (received today) and am reading the manual "as we speak". (Will put some pics in my original thread shortly) The readout can be "locked" once you zero it to prevent accidental adjustments. Once that's done, it should be dead on. With the Tersas, it shouldn't matter with knife changes since they are no height differences...no sharpening!

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Fortunately, cheap digital readouts for machinery are now commonplace. Many folks who have Taiwanese mill-drills buy these cheap DRO's (digital read out) for indicating quill depth. I plan to put one on my mill-drill. Really, they can be hooked between any two objects that move relative to each other.

Go to ebay and search for DRO.

I think they work just like my digital micrometer- as the head moves relative to the shaft, a pinion gear rotates along the rack gear on the shaft. The pinion turns a very precise rotary shaft encoder, which feeds an embedded processor which drives the display. They have gotten these things down to an accuracy of < 1/1000" for $50 these days.

I've been thinking of adding DRO to the elevation of my SCMI slider TS that I am reconditioning. I would need the type with a remote display tho.

My only concern with these on a planer, as in the photo above, is the possibility of whacking it with a timber that you are wrestling into the planer, or generally bumping in to it and breaking/bending it.

[Michael Perata]

With the Tersas, it shouldn't matter with knife changes since they are no height differences...no sharpening!
I knew that, I really did! :o

[Mike Stanton]

I think it will be great I am going to get one one of these days. Mike :D

[Ron Huisinga]

Here's a Wixey being installed on DW-735
http://www.huisinga.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Wixey

[Boyd Gathwright]

.... Noted, thanks ;).

[Glen Blanchard]

I think DRO's are great. I have one on my router lift and think it's fantastic.

The thing I don't understand, however, is how to zero it out on a planer. Will a planer allow the knives to make contact with the table/bed? And if so, it would seem very easy to damage the blade.

Perhaps these don't get zeroed out on a planer, but a piece of stock of known thickness is placed in the planer and the knives are moved into contact with the stock. This would require the DRO be able to be dialed in to something other than a reading of zero though, and I have never seen that in a DRO.

How do these work?

[Mike Stanton]

I have had my 735 planer blades sharpened will that make it still work.Mike

[Scott Coffelt]

Someone posted a pic of the one from Woodcraft on another board I think, I know I saw it the other day. Anyways, I think theyran a board through and then set the board under the device and pushed a program button something. Seemed real easy to get it set up.

[John Miliunas]

I think DRO's are great. I have one on my router lift and think it's fantastic.

The thing I don't understand, however, is how to zero it out on a planer. Will a planer allow the knives to make contact with the table/bed? And if so, it would seem very easy to damage the blade.

Perhaps these don't get zeroed out on a planer, but a piece of stock of known thickness is placed in the planer and the knives are moved into contact with the stock. This would require the DRO be able to be dialed in to something other than a reading of zero though, and I have never seen that in a DRO.

How do these work?

Gentlemen, I have no clue as to the mechanics of it. I just know it works!:) Just went and picked up the Wixey. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20346

At any rate, those who suggest zeroing it out against a known board thickness are spot on! That's exactly the way you do it. Hence, even if you've sharpened the blades (I'd still like to know how that is accomplished for the indexed type of blades. Any help???), as long as you run your stock through the planer and get an accurate thickness, you can zero out the readout to match that and be good from there on out.:) :cool:

[Glen Blanchard]

John - Actually, I would probably not understand the mechanics if you explained them to me. :confused: What I was asking was how these get calibrated. If you calibrate to a known stock thickness, you must be able to "dial in" the value, no? I have only seen DRO's that are calibrated by zeroing them out - never one that can be dialed in.

[John Miliunas]

John - Actually, I would probably not understand the mechanics if you explained them to me. :confused: What I was asking was how these get calibrated. If you calibrate to a known stock thickness, you must be able to "dial in" the value, no? I have only seen DRO's that are calibrated by zeroing them out - never one that can be dialed in.

Glen, again, I don't know the "hows" or "whys", but it does indeed work that way! You can take a quick peak here: http://www.wixey.com/how/calibration.html to check it out. They also have the full manual on line, as well.:) :cool:

[Glen Blanchard]

Hmmmmmm. Well I read the calibration instructions. It would seem to me that after following these instuctions, that the only way the DRO would be accuarate is if the "calibration board" is placed under the stock to be planed each time as "zero" (if I understand the instructions correctly) is calibrated to the thickness of the "calibration board".

IOW, I don't see how (after calibrating) a readout of zero would indicate that the knives are in contact with the table/bed of the planer - which is what my logic tells me a reading of "zero" should mean.

Oh well. ;)

[Les Spencer]

The easiest way to relate to the DRO are to think of the 6" digital calibers so many of us use. It is the same principles and function. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gif I love anything that helps my old eyes.http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon6.gif


Les

[Glen Blanchard]

The easiest way to relate to the DRO are to think of the 6" digital calibers so many of us use. It is the same principles and function. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gif I love anything that helps my old eyes.http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon6.gif


Les

Exactly Les. How does one "zero out" one of these calipers? By closing it completely and then pressing the "zero" button. This would be analagous to making the knives of the planer just barely kiss the table/bed and then pressing the "zero" button. Now my tiny brain can understand that - I am struggling with this other calibration method however.

[John Miliunas]

OK. Let's try this: I started with a "calibration board". It was a 1/2" board, which came off the planer I mounted the unit on. I kept running my depth down by probably less than 1/64" until I snuck up on the 1/2". I did NOT touch the depth adjustment on the planer thereafter. So now I know that the blades are exactly 1/2" away from the table below. The bottom of the Wixey has an "L", which you line up even with the table. I can only imagine that as the reader goes up and down along the scale, the distance traveled along that scale stays the same. So, if you zero it out at your *known* 1/2", with the 1/2" board that came off the planer, when you remove that board, the reader will travel that amount of distance back to its resting point, zero. As long as the table stays at the same height (it really should:) ) and, unless one sharpens the blades and takes a whole bunch of metal off of them, the readout should stay pretty consistent. At least, that's the way this pea-brain understands it!:) :cool: