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Thread: Recommendations for Router and Table Saw Digital Height Gage

  1. #1
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    Recommendations for Router and Table Saw Digital Height Gage

    I want to buy a digital height gage to use for setting my router and table saw heights. I have digital calipers but I'm looking for something easier and quicker to use.

    I see Wixey makes a low cost unit but it looks lightweight and by router top is phenolic. I've seen a few others but wanted to know what others are using.

    I'm thinking maybe it's best to get a good quality metrology height gage.

    TIA

  2. #2
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    I use an iGage digital height indicator to set my shaper cutters. It should work fine for your application, as long as both machines have magnetic surfaces.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

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    Chris is the handle aluminum?

  5. #5
    And how long would it take to make this out of some scraps? ShopNotes / Woodsmith several (many) years back in the tips section showed one using a plastic digital caliper. Look at photos in the reply above for picture of jig. Because, over the years, I have made several, I made a set of templates to make the body.
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 07-28-2020 at 8:33 PM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Arnsdorff View Post
    Chris is the handle aluminum?
    The blue part is anodized aluminum, but has magnets press into the base so it holds fast on a cast iron surface.

  7. #7
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    Cannibalized a digital caliper and made this.

    big depth gauge 001.jpg

    Good for many height adjustments. Also good for distances.

    depth-gauge-2-003.jpg
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


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  8. #8
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    Great options! Seeing the DIY stuff got me to thinking that may be the best option for me. I didn't even have to make anything for it.
    I recalled I had an old digital gage in a box somewhere and I dug it out.
    I stopped by Harbor Freight and got a magnetic base for indicators.
    This is what I ended up with. It ended up being less than $20 but that's just because I happened to have a very nice digital gage.
    Gage.jpg
    I like the idea of modifying a caliper. This could be useful for other measurement setups. Harbor Freight has some nice ones for cheap (some of their stuff is hard to beat - not always the case).
    The iGaging option is also appealing and it looks like good quality for the cost.

  9. #9
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    The modified caliper idea is great!
    For less than $20 I can make a digital height gage for my planer!

    2A95D039-C8C3-48DA-9B06-A54680B371AC.jpg
    58E61036-FE2C-4DBD-AC15-038987C36E9C.jpg

  10. #10
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    I have one of those horse shoe shape igaging tools. It's very cheap and works fine. It's not what I would call a quality feel tool since it's made out of plastic. It would be nicer if it was spring loaded which is why I still use my dial indicator. I stick the magnetic base to a piece of 1" thick steel from my hydraulic press. It's more than heavy so it doesn't fall over. It's over kill. I'm sure a thinner piece of steel would work just fine.

  11. #11
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    I have and use the wixey digital height gauge. It is perfectly adequate for woodworking. My router plate is phenolic and my throat plate is aluminum, so the magnets don't stick.

  12. #12
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    I use this one from igaging. I like the magnetic base and that it doesn't need to straddle the thing I'm measuring-- fences are often in the way of the horseshoe shaped ones.

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