Wixey DRO for Hammer N4400 bandsaw

[Derek Cohen]

Over at the FOG, Matt Byington posted a Wixey on his bandsaw. His was an impractical setup, but I really liked this idea of using a DRO for the bandsaw.

I do not know why I did not think of it myself before, as I have a spare Wixey for the table saw ... well, part of one: there was a small section of rail over from a previous installation, and then I replaced the digital box as the original had been damaged (lost the window, which I repaired with film), stopped working (although I later learned how to work around this, and now it seemed fine). In the meantime, the one on the table saw (Hammer K3 slider) looks nice and new :)


https://i.postimg.cc/vBkSqpkf/1.jpg


My thought was to build it in using the same method I used for the K3. This is what I came up with ..


https://i.postimg.cc/GpMfYBjM/2.jpg


The control box is attached with a rare earth magnet, so it can be removed.


https://i.postimg.cc/3RdcZKS3/3.jpg


The only issue with the gauge is that it attaches here from the left side of the fence, where it is designed to attach from the right (perhaps someone knows how to set this up for the other way around). The result is that the readout reads as a minus.


It sets up easily for zero, and this is important when changing blades.


Below is how it attaches to the Hammer N4400. I made use of the bolts attaching the fence rail. I am sure that other bandsaws will have something similar to use. The L-brackets were cut to length and drilled to suit this set up.


https://i.postimg.cc/prjcgsM7/4.jpg


Regards from Perth


Derek

[Jim Becker]

Interesting adaptation. I'm curious if "relative accuracy" is good enough or if you find a need to recalibrate with blade changes to different size/type? What about drift as a blade wears? These are things that seem to be needed to consider with a band saw that are more straight-forward on the table saw given most folks use blades with the same width metrics on their table saws. (I stick with Forrest blades, for example, because they are all smack dab .125" kerf width)

[Derek Cohen]

Jim, I see the use when sawing tenons, resawing boards, even veneer. So far I find it pretty accurate. Importantly, it makes repeatability much quicker to set up.

Early days. I will report on its use one it has had use :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

That's sounds like a good plan. I'll be interested to know how blade condition figures in on the accuracy you prefer for your tenon work, although it's a given that you're refining them by hand anyway. Being able to just dial in what you want with the DRO will likely be pleasurable and fast.

[Robert Hazelwood]

Pretty cool. I use a dial indicator on the backside of the fence for joinery cuts like tenons and bridle joints. I don't need any hand cleanup unless I miscalculated something.

But I do have to calibrate it each time I set it up, a DRO if reliable enough should reduce that to once per blade change.