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Thread: DRO on K3 Hammer Rip Fence

  1. #1
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    DRO on K3 Hammer Rip Fence

    I have had my K3 for about 10 years and for 9 years it has had a Wixey DRO on the rip fence. I copied the installation from another forum member who no longer posts here to my knowledge so all credit for the idea goes to him. Over the years I have become more and more dissatisfied with the Wixey both with the installation and using it so it was time for a change as DRO's have become far cheaper and more user friendly. The Wixey calibration is a bit fiddly, there is no backlight and specifically it did not suit the K3 for my use case. Hooked on Wood Amazing Miter Saw Upgrade! How to build video - YouTube showed a DRO installation on a mitre saw and I have seen a few DRO installations on K3's but the DRO's were simply too expensive and unavailable in Australia, when I saw HoW's video showing the cheap Chinese DRO's I was in with both feet and my credit card. This DRO can be customised where the Wixey cannot, the direction of read can be changed, it has a backlight and calibrating it is a breeze. Do a cut, measure the result and put that number into the DRO without moving the fence. Putting a different kerf blade on the saw with the Wixey was a bit of a mission if I wanted to use the DRO but I can calibrate this DRO in about 30 seconds and it is spot on first and every time. I ordered the DRO with the long cable which was a mistake so the housing had to be big enough to hold the rolled up cable and I drilled a hole big enough to allow the sensor to pass through. I could have shortened it and at the same time drilled a smaller hole to suit the cable but that would mean I could not remove it without disconnecting the cable from the DRO. The magnetic tape fits into the face of the extrusion which the measuring tape is in on my saw but if you have the basic fence you are on your own. All links needed are available from the linked video.

    K3 DRO 1.jpg K3 DRO Sensor 2.jpg K3_DRO_Housing.jpg
    Last edited by Chris Parks; 01-10-2023 at 8:35 PM.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

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    I've wondered about using a DRO for the same thing. Question, do you have to recalibrate if you remove the fence from the saw?

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Rozmiarek View Post
    I've wondered about using a DRO for the same thing. Question, do you have to recalibrate if you remove the fence from the saw?
    Yes, that is the single advantage of the Wixey as the head stays on the rail. Having said that the calibration is so quick it hardly matters compared to the Wixey. The difference between the two is that this DRO is calibrated by cutting a piece and then entering the measured cut into the DRO without moving the fence, the Wixey has to be zeroed from the blade which can be a bit hit or miss.
    Last edited by Chris Parks; 01-10-2023 at 8:36 PM.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

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    Per the OP's comments on the thread about T-nuts, this thread here helps make more sense about how the DRO is used. I have a Wixey leftover from when I had a contractor's saw, although it never worked that well on that saw anyway (it had drift issues). I've thought about trying to hook it up to my K3 based on posts that Derek Cohen has made, but didn't really like the idea of the track hanging down below the bar and partly blocking the ability to flip the fence underneath when not needed. This idea looks good though.

    I've seen other posts online about people adding DROs to their Felder saws, but this might be the first one I've seen using this style setup on a K3 (or I just don't remember seeing this exact setup before). Do you have the 800mm or 1250mm cutting width on your saw? Either way, I'm guessing you had to cut the magnetic strip down to size; were there any issues with that? Do you remember who you got this idea from? I'm sure I can find that on here either way.
    And there was trouble, taking place...

  5. #5
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    I first saw the idea here Digital Retrofit on Tablesaw Rip fence - YouTube but I could not source the DRO in Oz and the price was off the planet to import one but then I could not find anyone who would supply it anyway. Recently as late as last night there is discussion on the Felder Owners Group concerning DRO's on both Felder saws and the Hammer K3, look for this thread >Details of Adding Fiama DRO to Felder K975 Rip Fence< Read it all as the Chinese DRO's are discussed and some of the discussion concerning price is wrong, a figure of $500 is quoted but that is simply wrong, the figures around $100 are close to the mark. My saw has an 800mm rip capacity and the shortest magnetic tape is one metre so I put the tape on the face of the extrusion and then after the stainless steel outer protection strip was applied cut it off with an angle grinder and thin cut off disc.

    Someone in the Felder thread suggested an idea to shorten the already very short operation of calibration if the head has to be removed from the saw a fixed stop first be put into place and when the head is put back on using the fixed stop the cut and measure does not need to be done just put in the original figure used in the original calibration. He was talking about another brand of DRO but the same principal applies to the Chinese one. My saw has the fine adjustment head which is the same as the Felder saws and if you have the basic rip fence I don't know what is possible.

    Derek's Wixey installation was a copy of mine which was a copy from a member who no longer posts here. At the time there was no other option but as pointed out by Steven it was less than ideal in every way and is now going in the bin. BTW as per the video link on the HoW video the power cannot be turned off on the Chinese DRO but it does have a backlight and the battery life is reported as very good. The next thing is the CC fence on the outrigger as I have finally worked out a way to put a DRO on the flip stops. I am going to put spacers between the Hammer clamping blocks and the fence, they will be about 15mm lower than the fence height to allow the magnetic tape to be applied to the back face of the fence and the Kipp levers will no longer be in the way.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I first saw the idea here Digital Retrofit on Tablesaw Rip fence - YouTube but I could not source the DRO in Oz and the price was off the planet to import one but then I could not find anyone who would supply it anyway. Recently as late as last night there is discussion on the Felder Owners Group concerning DRO's on both Felder saws and the Hammer K3, look for this thread >Details of Adding Fiama DRO to Felder K975 Rip Fence< Read it all as the Chinese DRO's are discussed and some of the discussion concerning price is wrong, a figure of $500 is quoted but that is simply wrong, the figures around $100 are close to the mark. My saw has an 800mm rip capacity and the shortest magnetic tape is one metre so I put the tape on the face of the extrusion and then after the stainless steel outer protection strip was applied cut it off with an angle grinder and thin cut off disc.

    Someone in the Felder thread suggested an idea to shorten the already very short operation of calibration if the head has to be removed from the saw a fixed stop first be put into place and when the head is put back on using the fixed stop the cut and measure does not need to be done just put in the original figure used in the original calibration. He was talking about another brand of DRO but the same principal applies to the Chinese one. My saw has the fine adjustment head which is the same as the Felder saws and if you have the basic rip fence I don't know what is possible.

    Derek's Wixey installation was a copy of mine which was a copy from a member who no longer posts here. At the time there was no other option but as pointed out by Steven it was less than ideal in every way and is now going in the bin. BTW as per the video link on the HoW video the power cannot be turned off on the Chinese DRO but it does have a backlight and the battery life is reported as very good. The next thing is the CC fence on the outrigger as I have finally worked out a way to put a DRO on the flip stops. I am going to put spacers between the Hammer clamping blocks and the fence, they will be about 15mm lower than the fence height to allow the magnetic tape to be applied to the back face of the fence and the Kipp levers will no longer be in the way.
    Thanks. I apparently have watched some of that linked video before according to YouTube, but I don't remember when I did that. I'll have to watch the whole thing this time. lol

    I have the same fence setup as you, including the fine adjuster, except mine is the 12500mm length. That means I would have to go with the 2 meter tape and also cut it short. At least that seems like an easy enough operation based on what you're saying.

    I've been reading that post on the Felder Group since it started late last year. Those price issues are because the one poster refuses to buy from AliExpress, so he's trying to source the equivalent in the US and dealing with all the various markups in between. I just saw the recent post about using a fixed stop when putting the fence back on; that's a neat idea.

    That same thread has pictures of a setup on the CC fence. Will be interesting to see how you get that working.
    And there was trouble, taking place...

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Wurster View Post
    That same thread has pictures of a setup on the CC fence. Will be interesting to see how you get that working.
    I measured things today and there is plenty of room to put a spacer in between the Kipp Lever Blocks and the fence, I just have to work out how to design a housing for the DRO and the sensor. Unfortunately our 3D printer has gone on strike so I can't prototype anything at the moment. A DRO on the CC fence will most probably make it necessary to put a fine adjuster on the flip stop as Derek has done.
    Last edited by Chris Parks; 01-11-2023 at 8:22 AM.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Wurster View Post
    That same thread has pictures of a setup on the CC fence. Will be interesting to see how you get that working.
    The Kipp levers have always been the problem on the outrigger CC fence and I have been kicking ideas of how to get around them for a few years as has everyone else who wants to put a DRO on the flip stops. It turns out there is a simple way around the problem and that is to space the fence off the Kipp lever blocks enough to allow the read strip to be fixed to the back of the fence and more importantly that allows enough space for the DRO read head. I cut a piece of timber today to show what I mean but I will use individual aluminium blocks for the permanent installation. The timber spacer is 30mm thick and is 15mm down from the top of the fence which is sufficient for the magnetic tape which I think is about 12mm. My apologies for the metric but I don't do imperial measurements. The challenge now becomes how to fix the head to the flip stop in a sort of elegant way, maybe someone can come up with something as I am still thinking about that part. My problem is I use two flip stops and attaching it to the side of the flip stop is going to reduce the minimum distance between them, for a single flip stop that is not a problem.
    CC Fence With Spacer .jpg
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

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