RELIABLE DRO for planer?

[Marty Gulseth]

HI All, hope this is an OK topic to post here. I have a "popular brand" DRO on my planer (DW735, if that matters). This is actually the second one, and both have just died after a short period of time. I really liked the aid of the tool while they worked, but I'm not going to keep buying those...

Does anyone know of an alternate brand that is durable and provides reasonably accurate measurements? Oh, and that is not a major pain to install? Hope I'm not asking too much...

Thanks for any suggestions! And Merry Christmas to all!

Marty

[George Bokros]

I will follow this thread since my Wixey started acting wonkey today. Table saw works good, but not the planer or the one on the router table.

[John TenEyck]

I put an AccuRemote DRO on my planer based on the positive review of a SMC member. Couldn't be happier. Easy to set up, stays in calibration, and great battery life. Not expensive either.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0071EFLDO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

John

[Mike Goetzke]

I've been using the Wixey WR550 successfully many years on my Grizzly planer.

[George Bokros]

I've been using the Wixey WR550 successfully many years on my Grizzly planer.

Do you have the first generation or second generation. First gen uses th button battery.

[Paul F Franklin]

I have the Igauging 35-812A stainless DRO+on my Jointer planer, with the AC power adapter. I've had it less than a year but it's been perfect. Had to drill a couple holes to mount it. I believe they have a model made for the Dewalt specifically; no experience with that. My only gripe is that the instruction sheet is lousy; but I muddled through, there is not all that much to them.

[Bill Dufour]

You can buy a real one with glass scales made in China for under $100. Good luck figuring out the manual, but for a planer you do not need most of the features.
Bil lD

[Mike Goetzke]

Do you have the first generation or second generation. First gen uses th button battery.

Must be gen2 - it uses AA ot AAA.

[Marty Gulseth]

Do you have the first generation or second generation. First gen uses th button battery.

Not intending to confuse things as Mike says he has the WR550: I think that is a slightly different critter. My WR510 is the one with the button battery so I'm concluding that it's first gen. I was not aware there was a second gen model until I read your post then went and looked up the model. Any idea what changed internally aside from the battery configuration?

[Thomas Wilson]

I have the Wixey with AA batteries. It has been installed for 7 years. It was in storage for 3 years (without batteries, that is important because old batteries leak). Since March it has been in regular usage. I calibrated it when I got it in the new shop. It has held that calibration. Batteries are still good.

[Brian Holcombe]

Mituyoto would be my choice in this situation, few extra bucks but they are well made and reliable. I have Mitutoyo digital gauges that are 20 years old and work perfectly.

[Ole Anderson]

I use the Wixley, it has been reliable, the only issue I have it that it sometimes hangs up and doesn't follow the wood while going down in thickness. Might need some lube.

[Curt Harms]

I have the iGaging 12" DRO on a Jet JJP. It took me a little thinking how to mount and calibrate it but it has worked out very well. 2 2032 batteries last about 2 years.

[glenn bradley]

A good thing to look into is why the units re failing. I ran an original Wixey for many years without issue on my DW-734. I sold it with the unit and it was still working. I have run the Wixey DRO on my tablesaw since 2008. I have the igaging that Curt shows (or one very close to it). This has been in use on my 15" floor machine since 2010 again, without issue. Are your tools setup in an uncontrolled environment; freezing, sweltering? Are there long periods of non-use? I'm just trying to help identify the cause so you don't buy something else only to have it also fail in short order.

[Erik Loza]

Seems like I had a million customer with the Wixey gauge on their jointer/planers back in the Italian days. Never heard major complaints. I would check the usual things: No gum or residue, both encoder and strip clean, free of dust, etc. Also, I have had several devices in the garage that took AA or AAA batteries get ruined because the batteries leaked over time and corroded the internals. "If" your device takes batteries like that, I would only use lithiums.

Erik

[Marty Gulseth]

A good thing to look into is why the units re failing. I ran an original Wixey for many years without issue on my DW-734. I sold it with the unit and it was still working. I have run the Wixey DRO on my tablesaw since 2008. I have the igaging that Curt shows (or one very close to it). This has been in use on my 15" floor machine since 2010 again, without issue. Are your tools setup in an uncontrolled environment; freezing, sweltering? Are there long periods of non-use? I'm just trying to help identify the cause so you don't buy something else only to have it also fail in short order.

Good questions, Glenn. Both quit pretty quickly after I got them, and it was my bad for not getting them returned within the warranty period. And, both units just quit. The old location (we recently moved) was in a garage which was part of the basement, and it had a heat vent so there were never major temperature swings or excessive humidity. And neither lasted long enough for battery issues to be a problem.

with our recent move, I now have a dedicated shop, I’m getting things set up and organized, and when placing the planer I remembered that the second DRO had quit - I had just sort of given up on them for a while. The opportunity for a fresh start was what prompted my original post.

From the replies, I’m thinking that maybe I just got caught in “luck of the draw” - twice.