Adapting Wixey planer gauge

[dan lemkin]

I got a wixey 510 digital planer gauge for my minimax fs35 because the mechanical digital readout slips UP about 1-2 hundredths of an inch when planing a board. The table does not appear to move based on my useless tests with small boards and a vernier caliper. It appears to be slop in the cable for the readout that moves with vibration.

I saw on the wixey site that these gauges could be adapted for larger planers, but I got the thing and see a fundamental problem. Mounting it so the aluminum gauge is fixed and the head moves will be relatively easy... But it is designed for planers where the head moves down and the table is fixed.

I tried reversing the scale to see if it had any impact on the readout, but it does not. When you move the head up, it counts up. In this situation, I need it to count down when I raise the table. Creating a convoluted mount that moves the scale when the table moves is not practical with a J/P as it will move the scale higher than the jointer tops and get in the way.

Am I missing a setting that reverses the scale, or is there another way to get this to work. Any alternative devices you can recommend.

thanks
dan

[Doug Shepard]

I seem to recall reading something in the calibration insytruction that makes me think you can set so that it's reading negative numbers if your zero point is at the far end of the travel.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Please look this thread -http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87606 and you will find info.
Generally speaking in your setting you will have a negative value.
Ed.

[dan lemkin]

Here is the response from wixey with a few pics... I am trying to decide if I should attempt this method or go with the one in the link from the post above which uses the negative reference range.

Dan;
Here are some photos I recently received from someone who has a Laguna combo machine which I think is similar to yours. The bottom lines is that if you have a machine where the table moves up and down instead of the head like portable planers you have to attach the frame and scale of our readout to the moving table and the display will be attached somewhere so it is stationary. In this way the device will calibrate and display properly.

People are getting real creative and seem to hook it up a lot of different ways.

any thoughts from those who have installed on a j/p?

-d

[dan lemkin]

Here are pics of my fs35. I forsee complications due to:

1) table inset about 2.25"
2) digital gauge is in the way of potential sliding scale if mimic the laguna method.
3) all the electronics are on the front side tower, so not a big hassle, but I will probably remove the face so I know where I am drilling prior to making holes.

[Barry Vabeach]

Dan, I have a Jet Jointer Planer and decided to reverse the operation to make it work correctly. I added some pictures which gives you the general idea. It looks kind of temporary because I thought I would have to go make some adjustments - but it works fine for me. When I get around to it, I am going to redo the mount to the gauge bar so that the mounting rod in held off the back of the bar by a 3/8 or so, that will allow me to put slots in hardwood and mount them on both sides of the bar, above and below the head, so there would be no movement of the gauge bar in or out. So far, though, it has worked fine, so I haven't messed with it. One tip, if you go this route, you lose the initial calibration feature ( where you put the stock in between the end of the gauge and a stop ) but you can calibrate it manually. What I did was mount the readout head so that it was firm, but I could still move it a little, and put a magnetic dial indicator mount, with a fine adjust bar, under the head, then planed a piece, used dial calipers to measure the wood - then adjusted the fine adjust bar to move the head up or down to match that measurement, then locked down the head. Hope that made sense. The first photo shows it in jointer mode, the second shows it in planer mode - as you can see, the gauge bar has moved but the readout head doesn't.

[Dan Forman]

Dan---What year is your machine? I have about a three year old FS 35 Smart (unfortunately the "smart" is not magically conferred to the owner), which doesn't have the odometer type readout like yours, but has a mechanical bar scale on the right side of the machine, rather than the left. It is not present on yours, but it looks like it might have been at one time. You will notice there is a notch on the lower right side of your planer table. On mine, there is an L shaped bracket that is attached at the slot, comes straight out and the L goes out to the right, and reads against the linear scale on the upright. I'll post a picture shortly.

By attaching that L bracket, which you should be able to get from MiniMax, you should be able to mount the DRO in a similar fashion to the Jet.

Thanks for starting this thread, I have the same DRO, and haven't been able to figure out how to mount it, being not so mechanically inclined. Please post your ultimate solution.

The other Dan

[dan lemkin]

I think the best solution is going to be flipping the scale and zeroing it so it reads negative numbers. I am afraid that fabricating a mount to securely hold the scale would be really difficult, given the recessed table. Anything rigid enough to withstand the occasional stray board that would smack --- would be really bulky.

I will play around with some aluminum and the mount and see what happens.
the pics are on the previously mentioned post... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87606

wondering if I need such a long leg on the table mount... I don't have that large paddle switch? on mine, so I should be able to raise it some

thanks
dan

[Dan Forman]

I think the best solution is going to be flipping the scale and zeroing it so it reads negative numbers. I am afraid that fabricating a mount to securely hold the scale would be really difficult, given the recessed table. Anything rigid enough to withstand the occasional stray board that would smack --- would be really bulky.

I will play around with some aluminum and the mount and see what happens.
the pics are on the previously mentioned post... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87606

wondering if I need such a long leg on the table mount... I don't have that large paddle switch? on mine, so I should be able to raise it some

thanks
dan

Dan---did you see my pic? that L bracket should negate the problem with the recessed table. Since your table has the notch for the L bracket, it is probably tapped for a bolt to fit. You should just need the bracket, which you could either buy or fabricate. Then you can mount the DRO on the right side, in the same position as on my machine, and the L bracket will move up and down to register table movement.

Dan

[Leo Graywacz]

I have mine setup so that it read in negative numbers. Made a couple of brackets and it works fine. If you nee pics I can get them later. I have a Jet 15" planer.

[dan lemkin]

yep... I was just thinking the greater bulk and size cantilevered out that far would be prone to movement, or striking with a board.

I have not given up on your idea. I am looking for local metal dealers and going to get some 1/4" aluminum plate and a bunch of angle and flat stock and see what I can braze together.

I was thinking about creating a vertical guide or partial sleeve that the scale would ride in. My thinking is that this might remove some of the slop or play and protect the mechanism from unintentional abuse it will receive when I try to handle large stock without help.

If I can come up with something that does not protrude too much and doesn't have any significant vertical slop (the reason I want this in the first place) I will post the final design. Regardless I will report my findings.

-d

[dan lemkin]

Here is my solution.

I went with the upright configuration and found a method that seems reasonably robust. I suspect, like the rest of my machines, this will be more accurate than I am.

I took a bunch of pics, and posted some of the methodology in a google album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/zargnut/...eat=directlink