Installed a Wixey digital height gauge on planer (w/pics)

[David Eisan]

Hello everyone,

The previous upgrade I did to my planer was to install a Byrd cutterhead in it.

The latest upgrade was to install a Wixey digital height gauge onto my Canadian made General model 130 14" planer.

Here is a shot of the guage fresh out of the box,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey1.jpg

It didn't come with much, just a random bag of screws and things that didn't look too helpful to me.

I checked the Wixey web site to see if anyone had posted pics of an install on a 130. No one had, so it looked like I was on my own.

I held the gauge in various places on the planer until I found the place I wanted to mount it,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey2.jpg

Once I figured out where to place the gauge, I took it apart and made cardboard templates of the brackets I would have to make,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey3.jpg

I bought some 2" wide by 1/8" thick aluminum stock to make the brackets out of. I traced my cardboard patterns onto the aluminum and cut the parts out on a 14" bandsaw. A little work with both a round and a flat file and things looked pretty good. I also had to drill some holes in the brackets for where the screws would attach the Wixey to the bracket, and the brackets to the planer,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey4.jpg

I then marked for those hole on my planer before drilling and tapping the cast iron to accept the pan head machine screws that would hold the brackets in place,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey5.jpg

Next I mounted the Wixey to the main bracket,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey6.jpg

I put the Wixey back together and installed in on my planer,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey7.jpg

You can see the screws that are holding on the brackets I made.

[David Eisan]

Now that the Wixey is installed, it is time to calibrate it.

Here is a gratuitous shot of me planing a board,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey8.jpg

I now take this board and use the onboard calibration function of the Wixey to set zero,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey9.jpg

I lift up the spring loaded scale of the Wixey and place the board on the reference tab and press "Calibrate" for 3 seconds. This sets the gauge to zero.

I raise the head up to 0.435" or 7/16" (trust me, that is what it says, bad photo)

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey10.jpg

and run a board through.

I then measure the board with my trusty dial caliper,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey11.jpg

Looks like I am off 0.003" or less than 1/300". Pretty good.

Lets raise the cutterhead to 0.405" or 13/32",

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey12.jpg

Make a cut and measure the result,

http://www.federatedtool.com/david/img/wixey13.jpg

Looks like I am out almost 1/1000". <grin>

I am very happy with the upgrade, but I do not suggest it for the mechanically challenged. For some planers, you are going to have to figure out the entire install yourself.

I didn't install this so I can mill my boards to exactly 0.750", but rather for repeatability. When I mill boards, I often go for "maximum thickness" that I can get from a board, be it, 13/16", 7/8" or 27/32". I don't work from set plans and I usually make everything up as I go along, so my only real goal was repeatability, and I now think I have that.

For those of you with bench top planers, you might not know this, but cast iron planers have a minimum thickness they must remove per pass. Because of the highly sprung serrated infeed roller is set lower than the cutterhead, you must take off around 1/64" minimum per pass, or the infeed roller leaves marks on the board. On a bench top planer, you can pass the same board through twice without adjusting the cutterhead and not have a problem due to the rubber infeed and outfeed rollers.

I used to have difficulty sneaking up specific thicknesses, but this gauge should allow me to just set cutterhead and get the job done.

Thanks for looking,

David.

Every Neighbourhood has one, in Mine I'm Him.

[Jim Dailey]

Dave,

"Thank You!!!" no make that "THANK YOU!!!

Very, very nicely presented. I really hadn't been thinking about one of these Wixey gauges for my Delta, but you opened my eyes to the concept. I like the idea of setting the planer with a caliper as opposed to setting it by guessing how much of turn to make on the handle based on the "test" boards thickness....

Thank You!!!
jim

[glenn bradley]

Thanks for the pictorial. I've been thinking about one of those for my lunchbox DeWalt. The price isn't bad and like you I build to fit as opposed to follow plans more often than not so the ease of repeatability would be a benefit.

[lou sansone]

thanks dave
I have been thinking about adding this to my planer and my widebelt. they look pretty simple
thanks for taking the time to post
lou

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Very nice David. Especially the action shot. Love to see those chips flying! :D

Wixey should give you a commission as I'm sure you helped their sales with that one. I've been thinking about getting one for my DW735 & I've heard nothing but good things about it. Maybe after Christmas.

Thanks David.

[Gil Mitchell]

I just ordered 2 of them yesterday. one for my planer and one for my sander.

[Tyler Howell]

Man of many talents.:cool:
Thanks for sharing.

[Dan McGuire]

Dave thanks for the pictorial of the installation.. I was thinking about one for my Parks Model 97. With that being said, I have only read about them, never picked one up. Now, I don't generally consider myself a mechanical idiot, but what I don't see is how that gauge works in relation to the bed of the planer. I see that you mounted part of you bracket to the bed of the planner, but how does the digital gauge read the height. For right now I will just accept that it is magic. I will study the pics a little more.....

[Jim Dailey]

You guys just had to mention the sander too....... now you got me thinking besides adding one to my Delta about adding one on my 38" Woodmaster drum sander AND my Williams & Hussey!!!!! Next thing you'll have me thinking about adding one to each of my wood chisels:eek:

jim

[Dave Diana]

For all you guys installing these on larger planers Wixey has a great gallery of these installed on larger machines. I just bought one for my 20” and couldn’t figure out how I was going to mount it until I checked out their website.

http://www.wixey.com/planer/gallery/index.html

[John Miliunas]

Well done, David! And, you may also consider offering up your install process to Barry to put on his site, (if you haven't already done so) along with the other installs there. I'd bet there are other General owners out there who would be very interested. :) Good job, sir! :) :cool:

[Dave Bureau]

I ordered 2 also. 1 for my delta and one for my general drum sander. as far as 1 for the WH plainer, it already has an easy to read guage.

[Dave Bureau]

I got 2 yesterday and installed them both in about 20 minutes. 1 on my delta 735 and 1 on my general 25" drum sander. no special brackets needed for either one. Dead on the money accurate. Hummmm... maybe I will install one on my WH moulder

[Bob Marino]

Thanks David,

I just may get one for my DW 735.

Bob

[Kristian Wild]

Thanks David, that was really well presented. Gratuitus shot appreciated! It seemed to have a striking similarity to a post I saw yesterday on the Canadian Home Workshop forum. Are you spreadin' the wealth around? :)

Kris

[John Miliunas]

Thanks David,

I just may get one for my DW 735.

Bob

My first Wixey DRO was on the 735 I had. Piece o' cake and really nice to have on there! I feel that, it's not just for the initial planing but, it also offers a very certain amount of repeatability. For me, that's great because, about the time I have "just enough" boards planed for a project, I mess one up and have to return back to milling up some more stock! :o :D :cool:

[Tom Hamilton]

John, given the popularity of the 735 (in my shop) , and Dan's impending purchase, do you happen to have an install tutorial in your files?

Merry Christmas, Tom, in Houston, thinking about a Wexey for his 735

[John Miliunas]

John, given the popularity of the 735 (in my shop) , and Dan's impending purchase, do you happen to have an install tutorial in your files?

Merry Christmas, Tom, in Houston, thinking about a Wexey for his 735

Tom, sadly, the best I can come up with is this original writeup here at the Creek: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20346
Mind you, the part about the battery is now a foregone issue and, if I recall correctly from the last Wixey I bought for my YorkCraft planer, I think Barry may be including some additional hardware pieces, making it even easier to install on a wider variety of planers. :) I seriously think you can't go wrong with the unit! There are others out there, though the price points are significantly higher. They may have more robust features but, for my purposes, the Wixey readouts have been spot on! :) :cool:

[Tom Hamilton]

Thanks, John, better than nothing! :)

Tom, in Houston, clicking on the Wixey site.

[Dave Diana]

John
Do you have any pics of the install on your Yorkcraft planer? I have a Yorkcraft 20” planer and have looked through the Wixey photo gallery and have a good idea how I am going to install mine but have just not got around to it yet. I am hopping I will have some time in the next week. I will be sure to get some photos of the installation process to post here after I finish.

[John Miliunas]

John
Do you have any pics of the install on your Yorkcraft planer? I have a Yorkcraft 20” planer and have looked through the Wixey photo gallery and have a good idea how I am going to install mine but have just not got around to it yet. I am hopping I will have some time in the next week. I will be sure to get some photos of the installation process to post here after I finish.

Dave, funny you should ask and mention the pics at Wixey; As it happens, the pics of the Yorkcraft install out there are mine! :D If you need any further detailed pics or info, let me know and I'll do whatever I can to give you a hand. :) Basically, if a numb-skull like me can do it, most anyone out here can do it! :o :D :cool:

[Dave Diana]

Thanks a lot John. The pics on the Wixey site are pretty good I just thought you might have a different twist to the installation. Once I get up to my neck in the install I may give you a call to bail be out:D

[John Miliunas]

Thanks a lot John. The pics on the Wixey site are pretty good I just thought you might have a different twist to the installation. Once I get up to my neck in the install I may give you a call to bail be out:D

You got it, bud! Let me know.... :) :cool: