Some of you may recall, last spring I installed a Wixey DRO (Digital ReadOut) on my Dewalt portable planer. ( http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=20346 ) When I replaced the planer with a stationary one, the DRO went with it, as I figured it wouldn't work with a stationary planer. Well, I was wrong!!! I really missed having that DRO on the planer so, I figured I'd give it a try.
I went and picked up the Wixey planer DRO to make an attempt at having it work on my stationary planer. I spent some of Fri. evening staring at the planer and checking out OEM sites for other similar planers. Sat. morning, I stared at my planer some more. While there’s a lot of cast iron on it, I decided that for this to be viable for “most” woodworkers, it needs to be something pretty much anyone can do without having a degree in metallurgy or mechanical design. I finally came up with a mounting system using screws (mounting points) already on the machine. I also wanted to be sure the DRO was in a similar site line to the original scale. I believe I came up with a solution or, at least, one which works for me. The caveat with using the DRO designed for the portable planers is, my maximum planing height is now restricted to 6”, rather than the 8” the machine is capable of. No biggie for me, as in all the years I’ve owned planers, I don’t believe I’ve ever had need for a depth larger than 5” or so.
I went into town and picked up a length of 1-1/4” wide, 12ga. galvanized flat stock, mainly so I wouldn’t have to paint the thing! At home, I cranked the planer bed down to 6”, according to the stock scale. After taking some measurements and eyeing things up, I lopped off a 3” section of flat stock and formed an “L” bracket, cutting down the width of it at the point where it needs to attach to the original pointer location. See pic:
BtmBrkt.jpg
Next came the top bracket. This one was not going to be quite as easy. Again, after some measurements, I figured I needed a 6-3/4” chunk of flat stock. It was to be a modified “L”, in as much as, it really needs two “L’s”. The first bend is a mere ¾” before the 90° bend. I drilled two holes for this one to attach it where the stock scale gets attached. As you can see in the next picture, this setup presents somewhat of a challenge:
TopBrkt1.jpg
Yes, that big ‘ole nut on there is just a “tad” in the way. I believe that’s the rod going from one side of the machine to the other for the anti-kickback pawls. I marked the area and started hacking away on it with an angle grinder until I got a nice fit. (If I were to do it over, I would most probably try to fit the top bracket a bit higher, thus requiring a little less grinding.) Following the first 90° bend, I went another 4-1/2” to a reverse 90°. You can see in this next shot where that eventually put me. (This is shot from above and just to the rear of the DRO assy.)
TopBrktRR.jpg
To that particular part of the bracket, I drilled out two holes and used one of the mounting brackets (the one with the two tapped screws) included in the kit. At this point, I realized it will be quite critical to have the DRO mounted on something which would allow for minute adjustment. I used the other bracket included with the kit, though I straightened out the double bend on it, as it’s not needed. I did, however, feel I needed the long slot for adjustment.
TopBrkt2.jpg
I attached the DRO so that it was right at eye-level with the 6” increment on the DRO scale. Once I had everything tight, I checked the range of motion throughout and, once satisfied with that, I proceeded to zero it out. That process was done virtually the same way as one does with the original system (although now can do it w/o having to reference the instructions! ) I zero’d it out with a piece of stock I planed down to just a hair under ¾”, as measured with my digital calipers. In the end, I did end up with about 5/1000<SUP>th</SUP>” difference. For woodworking, me thinks that should be just fine, no?
Here’s another shot of the general installation:
GenShot1.jpg
All in all, a good experience and I’m quite happy with the efforts. It ended up being a pretty clean looking installation. Having checked around, I’m pretty confident this process would work with the Yorkcraft, Bridgewood, the new Grizzly, Sunhill, Jet and similar 15” planers. (At least those having the motor mounted below the table.) In looking at the pictures of others, I also have to believe that a real similar setup would work with some of the larger 20” units, as well. (BTW, as I write this, the DRO is on sale at Woodcraft for @$45.00 and Wixey has it on sale for $40.00! ) Thanks for taking a peek!