Wixey Digital Readout-Mini(very) review

[John Miliunas]

Inspired by our illustrious Jim Becker, as well as leads from that and another thread, I decided to see what all this digital readout stuff for planers is all about. There IS a practical motive to this move, as my poor old eyes are finding it harder and harder to discern between all them lines on the scale!:o So, last week I trotted on down to my local Woodcraft, where they had one set aside for me, and picked it up. I had checked out the Wixey site beforehand, so I already knew my planer was on "the list" of acceptable units. I also spent some time familiarizing myself with the installation procedure. Once home, it was pretty much as they say a "piece 'o cake"! :) Already knowing the procedure ahead of time, I also had prepped a piece of stock on the planer and got it to exactly 1/2", as told by my digital calipers. I figured, doing this ahead of time, would save some time and aggravation in the calibration and proper setup of the device. I think it did, but even without doing it, the process is pretty straightforward.

So, today I finally had a chance to take it for a real test drive on some Walnut I picked up over the weekend. In a word, "Great!!!":D I'm a happy camper. When I finally got my stock down to acceptable rough thickness, before putting it away to rest a day or two, I took a caliper reading. It showed .855". Sure enough, it matched what my Wixey showed on the planer!:)

Cons? Two. First, the screw which attaches the readout unit to the bracket, is not of real high quality and I couldn't get a nice fit in the head (Phillips) with any of my drivers. I did manage to get it tight enough, though. Secondly, at least for myself, I will need to stock up on some SR44 batteries, because the unit does not have an auto-shutoff. You need to remember and do it after use. In other words, yours truly will be buying more batteries!:rolleyes:

So, all in all, the unit gets a "thumbs up" from this tool junkie!:D IMHO, money well spent! BTW, it was $60.00 through WC, though they have it for the same price at their web site w/free shipping. So I'm impatient....:) :cool:

[Jamie Buxton]

John --
So the readout is only in decimal inches? Maybe this is the occasion to convert entirely to decimal inches. Lee Valley sells tape measures in decimal inches.

Jamie

[John Miliunas]

John --
So the readout is only in decimal inches? Maybe this is the occasion to convert entirely to decimal inches. Lee Valley sells tape measures in decimal inches.

Jamie

Ooooops!:eek: My bad, Jamie! :o I should've included those specs in the writeup! It will do decimals to .005 in., fractions to 1/32nd and metric to .1 mm. My digital hand caliper does mm and inches to decimals, so that's what I ended up gauging against. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Jamie!:) :cool:

[Alan Turner]

Nice. I often work in decimal inches. Quite accurate. One of may favorite set up tools is a taper wedge from LV, in that format.

[Bruce Page]

John, cool tool!

I could easily live with the .005 resolution, but in fractional mode, only 1/32 res? That’s .0312 – six times worse!

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks for the review John. I might just have to get one of those things.

As I was reading your mini-review, I was wondering about metric and I am glad to hear from the follow-up that it is supported.

Alan, the taper wedge from LV is also one of may favorite set up tools (but mine is the metric version).

[Michael McDuffie]

<cons ?="" two="" first="" screw="" which="" attaches="" readout="" unit="" bracket="" is="" not="" real="" high="" quality="" and="" couldn't="" a="" nice="" fit="" in="" the="" head="" (phillips="" with="" any="" of="" my="" drivers="" i="" did="" manage="" to="" get="" it="" tight="" enough="" though=""><cons ?="" two="" first="" screw="" which="" attaches="" readout="" unit="" bracket="" is="" not="" real="" high="" quality="" and="" couldn't="" a="" nice="" fit="" in="" the="" head="" (phillips="" with="" any="" of="" my="" drivers="" i="" did="" manage="" to="" get="" it="" tight="" enough="" though="">"Cons? Two. First, the screw which attaches the readout unit to the bracket, is not of real high quality and I couldn't get a nice fit in the head (Phillips) with any of my drivers. I did manage to get it tight enough, though."

Ah, the opportunity to buy another tool.

I know of four different types of "+" drivers. They look nearly the same but aren't always compatable.

There is the Reed-Prince, looks just like a Philips but with a blunter tip. Not common and no identifying marks I know of.

The JIC or Japanese standard. Not sure of the difference but screws are marked with a dot in one of the wedges.

Finally, there is the Pozi-Drive. It’s screws are marked with a second set of indentations centered in the wedges.

Michael
A tool junky in Des Moines Washington</cons></cons>

[John Miliunas]

<CONS though="" enough="" tight="" it="" get="" to="" manage="" did="" i="" drivers="" my="" of="" any="" with="" (phillips="" head="" the="" in="" fit="" nice="" a="" couldn?t="" and="" quality="" high="" real="" not="" is="" bracket="" unit="" readout="" attaches="" which="" screw="" first="" two="" ?=""><CONS though="" enough="" tight="" it="" get="" to="" manage="" did="" i="" drivers="" my="" of="" any="" with="" (phillips="" head="" the="" in="" fit="" nice="" a="" couldn?t="" and="" quality="" high="" real="" not="" is="" bracket="" unit="" readout="" attaches="" which="" screw="" first="" two="" ?="">"Cons? Two. First, the screw which attaches the readout unit to the bracket, is not of real high quality and I couldn't get a nice fit in the head (Phillips) with any of my drivers. I did manage to get it tight enough, though."

Ah, the opportunity to buy another tool.

I know of four different types of "+" drivers. They look nearly the same but aren't always compatable.

There is the Reed-Prince, looks just like a Philips but with a blunter tip. Not common and no identifying marks I know of.

The JIC or Japanese standard. Not sure of the difference but screws are marked with a dot in one of the wedges.

Finally, there is the Pozi-Drive. It’s screws are marked with a second set of indentations centered in the wedges.

Michael
A tool junky in Des Moines Washington</CONS></CONS>


4 different type???:eek: :confused: Sheeeesh...Why don't the *all* just go to square drive and be done with it!:D :) :cool:

[Steve Cox]

Probably for the same reason we all don't go metric. If you figure that one out let me know will ya.:cool:

[Tony Falotico]

Doggone you John K. Miliunas .... :mad: you just cost me another $60 plus tax & shipping (or gas $$ to Jacksonville) !!!!

PM your credit card number to me !!! :D

[Doug Shepard]

Doggone you John K. Miliunas .... :mad: you just cost me another $60 plus tax & shipping (or gas $$ to Jacksonville) !!!!

PM your credit card number to me !!! :D

You took the words right out of my mouth. That thing looks way too convenient to leave off my gotta-have list.

[Dave Richards]

John, that's a neat little addition to your planer. Seems like a good tool to put it on.

As for batteries, why don't you set it up to run on a couple of AA or larger batteries? On a couple of D-cells is would probably run for a year without being turned off. you could even use rechargeable cells if you want.

You should be able to model the pair of button cells out of wood or plastic and add the appropriate contacts easily enough. You probably wouldn't have to modify the unit at all.

[John Miliunas]

John, that's a neat little addition to your planer. Seems like a good tool to put it on.

As for batteries, why don't you set it up to run on a couple of AA or larger batteries? On a couple of D-cells is would probably run for a year without being turned off. you could even use rechargeable cells if you want.

You should be able to model the pair of button cells out of wood or plastic and add the appropriate contacts easily enough. You probably wouldn't have to modify the unit at all.

Hi Dave,
Now that may be an idea worth considering! :) So far, (Knock on wood) I've been remembering to turn it "off". Yeah. I know: Wonders will never cease!:rolleyes: In the meantime, I still need to get a couple spare 44's anyway, for the digital calipers I have laying around.:) :cool:

[Boyd Gathwright]

.... So noted, thanks John ;).

Ref: http://www.Wixey.com (http://www.wixey.com/)

.

Inspired by our illustrious Jim Becker, as well as leads from that and another thread, I decided to see what all this digital readout stuff for planers is all about. There IS a practical motive to this move, as my poor old eyes are finding it harder and harder to discern between all them lines on the scale!:o So, last week I trotted on down to my local Woodcraft, where they had one set aside for me, and picked it up. I had checked out the Wixey site beforehand, so I already knew my planer was on "the list" of acceptable units. I also spent some time familiarizing myself with the installation procedure. Once home, it was pretty much as they say a "piece 'o cake"! :) Already knowing the procedure ahead of time, I also had prepped a piece of stock on the planer and got it to exactly 1/2", as told by my digital calipers. I figured, doing this ahead of time, would save some time and aggravation in the calibration and proper setup of the device. I think it did, but even without doing it, the process is pretty straightforward.

So, today I finally had a chance to take it for a real test drive on some Walnut I picked up over the weekend. In a word, "Great!!!":D I'm a happy camper. When I finally got my stock down to acceptable rough thickness, before putting it away to rest a day or two, I took a caliper reading. It showed .855". Sure enough, it matched what my Wixey showed on the planer!:)

Cons? Two. First, the screw which attaches the readout unit to the bracket, is not of real high quality and I couldn't get a nice fit in the head (Phillips) with any of my drivers. I did manage to get it tight enough, though. Secondly, at least for myself, I will need to stock up on some SR44 batteries, because the unit does not have an auto-shutoff. You need to remember and do it after use. In other words, yours truly will be buying more batteries!:rolleyes:

So, all in all, the unit gets a "thumbs up" from this tool junkie!:D IMHO, money well spent! BTW, it was $60.00 through WC, though they have it for the same price at their web site w/free shipping. So I'm impatient....:) :cool:

[Mark Singer]

I am still trying to get things to the closest foot:confused:

[Sparky Paessler]

you might also want to look at ebay item 3870458629 for machines that the Wixey doesn't fit. That guy also has larger units also.

[John Miliunas]

Well, if I wasn't surprised when I got a PM from Barry Wixey himself!:) Good to know that, at least, some of the vendors and OEM's do indeed keep an eye out for what's happening with the "real world" woodworkers! My compliments to Barry!:) However, seems he's a bit "shy", as I mentioned he could easily add comments and such to the thread, but he was just a bit reluctant, not wanting to "disobey" any forum rules or protocol. :o

That said, I've taken the liberty of doing a "copy/paste" below of part of his additional info he provided for me. Good stuff!:)
*****************************************
I wanted to just add a few comments about our digital readout. First about battery life. We orginally had an auto shut off built in to the device but it turns out that the battery life is exactly the same whether the unit is turned on or off. It will last 6 months or more either way. In order to have the unit always keep track of the calibrated reading it has to be on an measuring all the time. Turning it off only turns off the display which uses almost no power. We almost took the on/off button off the thing and maybe should have because of the confusionit has caused.

One of the people who read your review and commented about the fractions mentioned that 1/32" is only .032" decimal and that would not be very accurate. What we have done to take care of this problem is to combine the decimals with the fractions. You will notice that the fraction only lights up at a precise location so, actually the accuracy of our 1/32" fractions =/-.002" .
*******************************
There you have it. I *still* really like my Wixey dig. readout and am hopeful we see more similar products and/or adaptations to fit more planers!:) :cool: