digital read out for rip fence ?

[lou sansone]

good afternoon
I love jay's tiger stop, but they are sort of pricey. I was wondering if some of you have a basic digital read out on your saw fence and how you like it. so, any creekers have DRO on their rip fence and how do you like it. Photos would be nice


thanks lou

[Gary Keedwell]

I have a plunge-type indicator with a magnetic back that I put against my fence after I measure my stock with calibers. I move the fence, remove indicator and rip the stock again. Wish I could post a picture.......still trying...

Gary K.

[Jamie Buxton]

good afternoon
I love jay's tiger stop, but they are sort of pricey. I was wondering if some of you have a basic digital read out on your saw fence and how you like it. so, any creekers have DRO on their rip fence and how do you like it. Photos would be nice


thanks lou

No electronic readout. A machinists rule on the rail and a finger on the fence work well, and the batteries never wear out.

[Jim Becker]

I don't have one...yet...but have been interested. Wixley's new fence setup looks nice and the price is certainly affordable. I'm wondering, however, how challenging it will be to use a DRO with a tubular fence bar like the S315WS sports for the rip fence?

[Andy Hoyt]

Wixey's instructions in the owner's manual for the table saw unit include accomodations for tubular rails They're on his website (http://www.wixey.com/index.html).

[Jeffrey Makiel]

A decent metal adhesive ruler tape and a hair line cursor work really well for me.

It's also one less thing to breakdown on me. However, I must admit that I'm attracted to the Wixley electronic readout for my benchtop planer. Problem is, my planer doesn't deserve it!

-Jeff :)

[Jim Becker]

Wixey's instructions in the owner's manual for the table saw unit include accomodations for tubular rails They're on his website (http://www.wixey.com/index.html).

Thanks, Andy. I missed that on my last visit there!

[Jay Brewer]

Hi Lou, have you thought about contacting Mini Max about the one they offer on the W350? It might be worth a shot, It look like a nice setup.

[Mark Hubler]

Digi-kit (www.digi-kit.com) have great products for table saws and other equipment. It is more expensive than the Wixey products, but it also has options that are not available on the Wixey. With the Digi-kit, it is very easy to increase or decrease the dimension on the scale (+ and - buttons), along with a zero button.

Customer service is excellent, too! I was have a problem with mine and they replaced it FREE, even though it was out on warranty!

DRO are such a pleasure to use and realitively inexpensive. Far fewer mistakes, faster, and repeatable.

[Gary Curtis]

I went so far as to get the Wixey literature because I'm just setting up my General right tilt saw. After looking things over I decided to see how good my eyes are using the Biesemier fence and rule. I made repeated rip cuts on a board, each time moving the fence and then resetting it to 3/4 of an inch.


I cut 5 slips and then measured them all with a digital caliper. I was surprised. The slips were within .005 or .006 inches. My eyes aren't so good, being over 60. And the curser and rule on the extension table seem a little crude. But I was wrong to doubt the simple but proven mechanism on the Biesemier.

then I called two owners with Felder saws having DRO. They both said that digital is far too accurate when you take into account what wood movement alone does on long cuts. They said if they aren't quick about using a cut board, in a day or so it warps and all their accurate cutting was a waste.

Of course this wouldn't matter on plywood. But if the naked eye and a curser and rule can come to within .005", why bother. And a few of my cuts came to within .004" of each other.

So, no Wixey DRO for me.

Gary Curtis

[Bruce Page]

I'll be the first dummy to speak up :rolleyes: ...what's a tiger stop?

edit: I just saw Jay's Tiger stop post...nevermind. :o

[Alan Schaffter]

I've been using the Wixey for a year now, beta and production models. Really nice and simple. Easy to mount and calibrate. I have it on a Unisaw with Unifence. What is nice is you can remove the fence and reinstall it without losing calibration since the readout stays on the saw. It attaches to the fence with rare earth magnets.

[David Rose]

Gary,

I agree, basically. My primary saw is my bandsaw. So I often end up "touching up" the cut edge. My "bedded" rule will let me cut to about .007 repeatability. I have 58 year old tired eyes. Boy can I tell the difference in about two years!

But for trimming the edges of doors and such, the tighter tolerance would be nice on a "finish" saw. Besides, gizmos that give closer tolerances are fun and error eliminators (sometimes).

Wood movement is always there. If it doesn't show up very soon, it will later. However, it is kind of like a gun that will shoot to one inch groups when the shooter can only shoot four inch ones. Add the error to the unknown error and things grow.

I know you are not saying this, but I once had a manufacturer tell me that "since wood moves", not to worry about a 1/4" drill cutting a hole .020" oversize! I returned his drill set.

I want to know what my wood "could" move then allow for that.

No Wixey on my bandsaw, but they look pretty good for my planer.

David


I went so far as to get the Wixey literature because I'm just setting up my General right tilt saw. After looking things over I decided to see how good my eyes are using the Biesemier fence and rule. I made repeated rip cuts on a board, each time moving the fence and then resetting it to 3/4 of an inch.


I cut 5 slips and then measured them all with a digital caliper. I was surprised. The slips were within .005 or .006 inches. My eyes aren't so good, being over 60. And the curser and rule on the extension table seem a little crude. But I was wrong to doubt the simple but proven mechanism on the Biesemier.

then I called two owners with Felder saws having DRO. They both said that digital is far too accurate when you take into account what wood movement alone does on long cuts. They said if they aren't quick about using a cut board, in a day or so it warps and all their accurate cutting was a waste.

Of course this wouldn't matter on plywood. But if the naked eye and a curser and rule can come to within .005", why bother. And a few of my cuts came to within .004" of each other.

So, no Wixey DRO for me.

Gary Curtis

[Brad Townsend]

I too was involved with the beta of the Wixey and currently have the production model installed. I would agree that it is questionable whether one needs this level of accuracy. There are other benefits however. The two main advantages I have experienced are:

1. Absolute repeatability - the fence can be moved and moved back with assurance that you will get exactly the same cut. No need for me to squint at the cursor with my 57-year-old eyes, making sure my eye is positioned precisely over it.

2. Being able to get a direct measurement no matter what you have on the saw arbor. It's nice to be able to install a dado stack, put the fence against it, zero out the readout, and read exactly how far the fence is from the cutter without fiddling with a ruler, or doing fractional math in my head.

This is the only TSR I have used. I don't know anything about the others, but I can say that Barry put a lot of time and effort into getting this one right and getting on the market at a reasonable price point. He gives excellent support and when you buy from Wixey, you are dealing directly with him.

[Rich Torino]

Another vote for the Wixey. I put on on my Grizzly 1023 several weeks ago and now wonder "how I did without it".....