Digifence vs. Wixey Digital Fence readout?

[Dan Barr]

Just wanted to get the collective's opinion here.

The only real difference i can see thus far is that the Digifence will read 1/64" increments while the Wixey only reads out to 1/32"

Wixey: $99.00 on sale at woodcraft, 129.00 at other stores

Digifence: $159.00 (have not seen any sale prices)


v/r

dan

[frank shic]

the instructions for the digifence are incredibly good and email support is prompt, not to mention that the fence unit comes in one piece and is extremely well-packaged. almost all the tools you need for installation are included.

[Jack Clay]

The information I seen you can not take the fence off with out removing the DigiFence head unit that is bolted on. TheWixey head unit is held on by a magnet. I am looking at the two also. I hope some others can give information on the two.

[Alan Schaffter]

Take a look at the operating manuals for each.

The biggest differences:

1. The Wixey is auto-calibrating - run your fence up until it just kisses the blade, then hit "Cal", that's it. It is that simple! You can easily and quickly recalibrate if you switch to another fence orientation (Unifence) or are using a sacrificial fence. You must manually calibrate the Digifence- you lock the fence, cut a block of wood, measure the block with a set of calipers, then manually enter the size of the block "as measured with the calipers" into the Digifence's readout- two chances for error with the Digifence procedure.

2. With the Digifence, you must always leave your fence on the saw or it loses calibration and must be recalibrated each time (removing the fence is more complicated!) With the Wixey, the measuring unit and readout are a single unit that rides and always stays on the sensor strip. It is coupled to the fence via rare earth magnets. You can easily and instantly remove and reinstall your fence without losing calibration. Great if you are switching from fence to cross cut sled and back again.

3. Look closely at the resolution of both units- while the Wixey fractional resolution (and readout) is only 1/32" its readout simultaneously displays fractions and decimal inches. The decimal resolution is .005 (that's 1/200th of an inch). Accuracy- Wixey .002" per foot, Digifence- .01" per ?? Both units use the same technology, difference is in the application.

I have had a Wixey for over two years (Beta model initially) and it has always performed superbly. The only negative, and this applies to both- is that since you have the ability to set the fence to a precise position, you tend to do just that- it is not easy to move a fence only a few thousandths of an inch- you spend a bit of time tap, tap, tapping on the fence. I don't have a micro-adjuster, but that might help.

The difficulty mounting any of these units is caused by such a variety of fences on the market. The easiest mounting is to the Unifence with the newer style front rail with a T-slot in the bottom- no drilling required.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Wixey-1.JPG

Read the recent reviews elsewhere on this site.

[Alan Schaffter]

the instructions for the digifence are incredibly good and email support is prompt, not to mention that the fence unit comes in one piece and is extremely well-packaged. almost all the tools you need for installation are included.

The Wixey fence sensor strip and mounting rail come in sections for shipping safety and cost. Both ends of each section of sensor strip have a registration hole. A neat little gauge spacer is supplied with the kit that makes precise installation of multiple sections quick and easy. You can buy extra sections if you have a VERY LONG fence rail application, also.

[Jack Clay]

Allen,
Have you had any issues were you have hit the read tape? It looked like the Digifence had the tape flat under the fence rail. I really liked that but there is no way I could be stuck with the fence on the saw.

[Alan Schaffter]

Alan,
Have you had any issues were you have hit the read tape? It looked like the Digifence had the tape flat under the fence rail. I really liked that but there is no way I could be stuck with the fence on the saw.

On my Wixey the track with applied sensor strip mounts under the front fence rail of your saw fence with short stand-offs. Absolutely no problem with hitting the sensor track. I don't know about the Digifence mounting- go to their web site.

Believe me, I take my fence on and off all the time- I'm not organized with the sequence of my operations, so would not like the Digifence.

[frank shic]

you can definitely remove the digifence but it's a little trickier because some of the mounting hardware gets in the way.

[Jim Kountz]

Well I have only had my Wixey for a few days now but Im in love!! I can echo the praises others have already stated here about it and add this much....
The part about having to recalibrate the Digifence was a deal killer for me. I mean, one of the biggest reasons I got a Bies in the first place was for its ease of remove/replace. I was worried at first about the Wixey attaching with just a magnet but the thing moves so smooth and glides effortlessly, the magnet is all it needs.
I had an occassion to use my dado head yesterday and loved the fact that I could simply zero the Wixey right into it then back again to my regular blade with the touch of a button. Very handy for getting accurate dado positions. And like someone else mentioned it was even handier when I used the sacrificial fence for rabbeting. Just slide it over till it touched the blade, hit the button and I was good to go.
Im thrilled to pieces with this thing, I cant remember the last time I got this excited over a new purchase!!

[Jim Kountz]

Allow me to add more to what I said in my previous post just to clarify. I use a 7/8" wide sacrificial fence to make sure if need be, I can cover the entire dado head. What I did yesterday was slide the SF fence to the "left side of the dado, thus covering it completley. Then I hit the zero buttom. This way I can read the exact width of the rabbet right on the Wixey readout. No measuring. Just too damn cool man!

[Steve Clardy]

Ordered the Wixey deal from Woodcraft last night.
Now I'll have 2 angles gauges :rolleyes::D

[Jim Becker]

I have a Digi on the planer portion of my J/P and agree that the recallibration is a pain. If I were going to do my TS fence, the W has a major advantage in that respect.

[Gary Muto]

It appears to me that the Digifence would have the advantage by allowing the input of the value of a piece that was actually cut/planed and compensate for any blade wobble or flexure. I guess the Wixey is close enough, for me anyway, but the digifence proceedure seems exact.

[frank shic]

here's another link in case anyone is on the fence (yuk yuk yuk...)

http://benchmark.20m.com/reviews/DigiFence/digikitreview.html

[Roger Bolen]

Jack,

I had the same concern about the fence being captured by the DigiFence, here is the response that I received from Accurate Technology, Inc.

Roger,

Thank you for contacting us.
On the Unifence, the fence is removed by twisting a locking lever on the
front of the fence.

When complete, the only part that ties the electronics to the saw is the
cable between the sensor and the readout. There are two common ways of
working with this:

1. Disconnect the sensor from the readout before removing the fence (the
readout stays attached to the fence). When re-installing the fence, the
sensor should be plugged back into the readout, and the system will need
to be recalibrated.

2. Mount the readout to the fence using Velcro. When removing the fence,
the readout stays with the saw. When the fence is re-installed, the
readout is placed back in place, and no calibration data is lost.

(I prefer #2 when using my Unifence.)

Mike Fiantaca
Accurate Technology, Inc.

Hope this helps
Roger

[Larry Prince]

The information I seen you can not take the fence off with out removing the DigiFence head unit that is bolted on. TheWixey head unit is held on by a magnet. I am looking at the two also. I hope some others can give information on the two.

MY Digifence (1.5 yrs old) has the head secured with velcro. Just as easy as magnets for removal.

[Chris Parks]

Take a look at the operating manuals for each.

The biggest differences:

1. The Wixey is auto-calibrating - run your fence up until it just kisses the blade, then hit "Cal", that's it. It is that simple!

I have a Wixey and I can't do the auto calibrate without a fiddle. I put it up to the blade, auto calibrate it, do a test cut and it is ALWAYS off by a small margin. I then put it back to zero plus or minus the error and then it is spot on. The auto callibrate is easy but certainly in my case it doesn't work as intended. BTW it might take two minutes to do all this so it is not a drawn out procedure by any means and also not often needed.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have a Wixey and I can't do the auto calibrate without a fiddle. I put it up to the blade, auto calibrate it, do a test cut and it is ALWAYS off by a small margin. I then put it back to zero plus or minus the error and then it is spot on. The auto callibrate is easy but certainly in my case it doesn't work as intended. BTW it might take two minutes to do all this so it is not a drawn out procedure by any means and also not often needed.
Chris, just touching the blade does not determine the kerf.(wobble) In the world of metal machining, you would touch-off with the blade spinning and therefore you would get the actual kerf size. You do not want to do that.....the way your doing it is fine.:)

gary

[Rob Blaustein]

I have a Wixey and I can't do the auto calibrate without a fiddle. I put it up to the blade, auto calibrate it, do a test cut and it is ALWAYS off by a small margin. I then put it back to zero plus or minus the error and then it is spot on...

So does this mean you CAN input a distance if you want with the Wixey, as you do with the digifence?

[Jim Kountz]

I have a Wixey and I can't do the auto calibrate without a fiddle.

Have you perhaps tried a banjo?? LOL Sorry Chris, I couldnt resist.
:D:D:D:D

[Aaron Beaver]

2. Mount the readout to the fence using Velcro. When removing the fence,
the readout stays with the saw. When the fence is re-installed, the
readout is placed back in place, and no calibration data is lost.

(I prefer #2 when using my Unifence.)

Mike Fiantaca
Accurate Technology, Inc.

Hope this helps
Roger

Roger, when you remove the fence the readout stays with the saw, but when you put the fence back on the saw how do you know its in the same place it was so you don't have to re-calibrate it. Maybe I am missing a step or something, sure you can velcro the readout back on but how does that still make it calibrated? Thanks

[Chris Parks]

Have you perhaps tried a banjo?? LOL Sorry Chris, I couldnt resist.
:D:D:D:D

Very droll. :D:D

[Chris Parks]

So does this mean you CAN input a distance if you want with the Wixey, as you do with the digifence?

No. It means that there is no positive way to setup zero with the Wixey. It needs to be set as close as possible by eye or feel then measure the cut at any given figure and measure that cut comparing the measurement with the actual readout. So if I set it to zero by eye and did a test cut at 50mm on the readout it might measure 50.4mm. I would then set it back to zero on the readout then minus the .4 so the readout actually read -.6. By doing this I would then have an exact 50mm cut at 50mm on the readout. It sounds fiddly but is in fact very quick to do when you get your head around it. The first time was a bit of a hassle but that is only because I had to work out which way the error went.

[John Hedges]

Chris, sorry if I'm a little slow, but I want to make sure I understand this as I am considering buying one. I think in your example you would set it to -.4 and not -.6 unless I am missing something.

1) Move fence till touching teeth of blade and 0 out (as per instructions)
2) Move to any positive setting and make a cut (again say 50mm).
3) Using dial calipers on the test cut piece measure it.
4) If the test cut is larger than the wixey setting (say 55.4mm) (not sure this is possible)
a. Lower the blade completely.
b. Position the fence till it reads negative the difference
between the original wixey setting and the actual
measurement (in this case -.4)
c. zero out the wixey
If the test cut is smaller than the wixey setting (say 55.4mm)
(likely if runout at blade makes kerf larger than the contact point
of the fence at the blade in the original 0 out process)
a. Position the fence till it reads the difference between the
original wixey setting and the actual measurement (in this
case .4)
b. zero out the wixey

[Chris Parks]

It appears to me that the Digifence would have the advantage by allowing the input of the value of a piece that was actually cut/planed and compensate for any blade wobble or flexure. I guess the Wixey is close enough, for me anyway, but the digifence proceedure seems exact.

That would be the ideal. Cut a piece, measure and then set the measured value as the reference, it would be so much easier. I think the Digifence has some advantages ov er the Wixey but as it is not available in Oz I bought the Wixey and have not been disappointed in any way.

[Bill Wyko]

The Wixley also comes with a free tilt gauge too. regularly 49.99 I believe. That even sweetens the pot more.

[Bruce Benjamin]

The Wixley also comes with a free tilt gauge too. regularly 49.99 I believe. That even sweetens the pot more.

It's regular price is $39.99 and it's usually available somewhere for $30 or $35...Just for the record.

Bruce

[Dave Comissiong]

Take a look at the operating manuals for each.

The biggest differences:

1. The Wixey is auto-calibrating - run your fence up until it just kisses the blade, then hit "Cal", that's it. It is that simple! You can easily and quickly recalibrate if you switch to another fence orientation (Unifence) or are using a sacrificial fence. You must manually calibrate the Digifence- you lock the fence, cut a block of wood, measure the block with a set of calipers, then manually enter the size of the block "as measured with the calipers" into the Digifence's readout- two chances for error with the Digifence procedure.

2. With the Digifence, you must always leave your fence on the saw or it loses calibration and must be recalibrated each time (removing the fence is more complicated!) With the Wixey, the measuring unit and readout are a single unit that rides and always stays on the sensor strip. It is coupled to the fence via rare earth magnets. You can easily and instantly remove and reinstall your fence without losing calibration. Great if you are switching from fence to cross cut sled and back again.

3. Look closely at the resolution of both units- while the Wixey fractional resolution (and readout) is only 1/32" its readout simultaneously displays fractions and decimal inches. The decimal resolution is .005 (that's 1/200th of an inch). Accuracy- Wixey .002" per foot, Digifence- .01" per ?? Both units use the same technology, difference is in the application.

I have had a Wixey for over two years (Beta model initially) and it has always performed superbly. The only negative, and this applies to both- is that since you have the ability to set the fence to a precise position, you tend to do just that- it is not easy to move a fence only a few thousandths of an inch- you spend a bit of time tap, tap, tapping on the fence. I don't have a micro-adjuster, but that might help.

The difficulty mounting any of these units is caused by such a variety of fences on the market. The easiest mounting is to the Unifence with the newer style front rail with a T-slot in the bottom- no drilling required.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Wixey-1.JPG

Read the recent reviews elsewhere on this site.

Hi Alan;

I saw your post on sawmill creek about the wixey on a unifence. My sone gave me one for Xmas for my new unisaw with the newer unifence. I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out how to install it. When I saw your post I thought I had it beat but came up against two things.
The T slot on my fence seems to be too far back so the wixey is pulled back to the point that the calibrator will not move freely. It also appears that you have to drill holes in the Wixey to attach it to the T slot, if I could figure that out. Would you have any pics of it installed on your unifence. That would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to do anything until I think I know what I'm doing. The Wixey instructions are minimalist at best. My e-mail is comissid@symatico.ca and yes, I'm in the Toronto area of the great white north. Believe it or not there are wood chucking canuks :).. and I am also a retiree with too much time and too many tools that I don't use very well.
Thanks for any help
Regards,

Dave Comissiong

[Jim Solomon]

Well after pouring through these posts and having at the moment very shallow pockets I sprung for the Wixey. From Woodcraft $99.00 + $11.35 s/h and the free angle guage. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is the zero part. In other words when I set it to 3" I would expect the cut to be 3". But having said that I have not installed it yet. I purchased a 20 year old Pm 66 and Delta DJ 20 that where never unpacked. I just finished setting up the DJ 20. From another thread I purchased the Lee valley 50" aluminum straightedge, again couldn't afford the longer steel one. Clyde, my buddy that is a machanist poo pawed it a first(being that it is aluminum) but after taking it to work and checking it on some sort of Starret Machine, he told me it was as close as it would get being that it is aluminum. Anyway, After i make and install the PM 66's extension table I'll install the Wixey and probably beat everyone's ear off for help;) J K. I suppose they are all the same but reading the directions mine uses a magnetic mount for my Biesemyer fence. It also states that the fence can be removed without losing zero calibration, thats nice to know.
Jim

[Robert Mahon]

A simple and accurate way to calibrate a Wixey on a Contractor's saw is to use newsprint between the fence and blade as a "Feeler" gage. Rotate the blade by hand and move the fence closer to it until the newsprint is hard to move at the closest blade to fence relationship. When you've done this, zero the Wixey. The relationship of the 0.00 readout to the true gap will be a lot closer than is needed for woodworking.

Setting a Cabinet saw is a bit more difficult but when done will also be closer than is needed.

[Jim Solomon]

Thanks Robert. It seems to me what would be nice is if it read minus. In other words you make a cut put you caliper on it and see it is 4 mm off, then you move your fence to -4mm and hit zero. Or maybe that is too easy and I'm missing something. If I have to "guess" my cut every time I do not see the benefit of this, other then being able to repeat a certain cut. By the time i do the subtracting/adding I could have used a rule to measure from the nearest tooth to the fence. I suppose the ticket would be either the Dgifence or the Incra TS. But I don't like how much space the Incra takes up in it's mounting.
Jim

[Robert Mahon]

Jim,

The Wixey reads to the minus in the same increments.
Now that I have one, it's a "Must-have" and makes things so much easier.

As a former Machinist, I had to get accustomed to NOT trying to be too precise. However, the Wixey (I cannot speak to the competition) amazes me in that I can remember digital readouts when they were 1st available. My memory is that an early Z axis readout initially cost in the neighborhood of $1,900.00 when installing it to a Bridgeport mill. And that was in 1968 dollars.

I'm sold.