Wixey DRO on Jet 22-44 Drum Sander

[Don Abele]

I've gotten a lot of questions about how I mounted my Wixey Digital Readout on my Jet 22-44 Drum Sander. Below are photos and an explanation. I researched and reviewed how a lot of others attached their Wixey DRO to various pieces of equipment. I have to say, I think a lot of people over engineer/over think it. Here's what I came up with. It's been in place for about six months and a couple hundred board feet. No problems what so ever. The entire process to mount the DRO took about 45 minutes (including fabricating a new bracket).

Here is a side shot showing the original height scale indicator bracket:

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This is a close-up of that bracket, removed:

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I took that bracket off and fabricated my own (none of those supplied with the DRO would work). The bracket is made from a truss/joist joining plate I had laying around:

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I attached that bracket using the same bolt/nut as the original height scale bracket and fastened it to the actual readout unit using the factory-supplied washer and screw:

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All attached and setup for use. I attached the scale to the drum sander using the attached double stick tape. It has held very well. If, in the future, it fails, I'll drill and tap holes for screws in the two holes you can see on the scale bracket.

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Please let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps others in mounting a Wixey Digital Readout Gauge. It's an awesome addition and well worth the money.

Be well,

Doc

[Jim Becker]

The question that comes to my mind, Don, is whether the resolution of the DRO is fine enough for this particular tool? Your thoughts?

[Russell Tribby]

Looks good Don. I ended up using the supplied brackets to mount mine although I had to cut one and make some other adjustments. I'll post some pics of what I did tomorrow.

[Don Abele]

The question that comes to my mind, Don, is whether the resolution of the DRO is fine enough for this particular tool? Your thoughts?

Jim, I use my drum sander as it was really intended for - the second, not first, step in thicknessing stock. Many try and use a drum sander as a means to thickness stock - that's what a planer is for, not a drum sander. I use my drum sander mainly for door panels and frame assemblies (stiles and rails) to get everything into an even plane/thickness after glue up. After running through the drum sander I always finish up with final sanding by hand (ROS) to the desired grit for the finish I'll be applying.

In that application, the resolution of the DRO is more than accurate enough. It's much more accurate than the stock thickness gauge! But the main benefit is repeatability. I know I can always come right back to the same exact thickness. This is a real benefit when sanding stiles/rails separately from door panels. I can easily match thicknesses with ease.

When doing this, I take a set of digital calipers and measure several points to find the thick/thin areas. Then I set the DRO to the high point as a start and end at the low point I found with the digital calipers.

I also have a Wixey DRO on my lunchbox planer (Ridgid) and love it for the repeatability as well. Again, it is much more accurate than the stock gauge. Most of my planing is now done on my Hammer J/P combo machine with the digital read-out handwheel which is amazingly accurate. No plans on adding a DRO to that!

Sticking with that theme, I also have the Wixey DRO for my tablesaw and again, it's much more accurate than the stock fence tape/optical mark. And, once again, the repeatability can not be matched with anything that's stock.

Be well,

Doc

[Curt Harms]

......
I also have a Wixey DRO on my lunchbox planer (Ridgid) and love it for the repeatability as well. Again, it is much more accurate than the stock gauge. Most of my planing is now done on my Hammer J/P combo machine with the digital read-out handwheel which is amazingly accurate. No plans on adding a DRO to that!

Sticking with that theme, I also have the Wixey DRO for my tablesaw and again, it's much more accurate than the stock fence tape/optical mark. And, once again, the repeatability can not be matched with anything that's stock.

Be well,

Doc

I'm thinking some sort of repeatable measuring device is mandatory on J/P's and combo machines. With a separate planer you might be able to leave it set to its final thickness in case you need to plane another piece to replace the one that just got screwed up. Using a J/P, of course you needed to joint something yesterday so the planer table has to move(on many J/P's anyway). On the good news side, Wixey is working on a 12" capacity DRO for J/P's where the table has to move more than 6".

Curt

[Don Abele]

Curt, I don't need a digital readout on my Hammer J/P because there's an analog "digital readout" built into the handle. It was an upgrade option, but well worth it. It's accurate to 1/1000 - I think I can maintain repeatability of board thickness with that

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But you're right. For planers, having the ability to return to a desired thickness is important. Between the Wixey DRO on my Rigid lunchbox, the handwheel readout on the J/P, and a pair of digital calipers I'm set!

Be well,

Doc

[Jim Becker]

I do have a DRO on the planer table of my J/P.

The reason for my question about resolution is that with a typical 1/8 turn on the sander adjustment for each pass, it just doesn't move very much!

[Don Abele]

Ahhh...now I understand Jim.

Yes, a 1/4 turn = 1/64 on the handwheel. The DRO measures to 1/20 (0.05). I actually have never verified if the DRO had enough resolution to match the handwheel. I really only use it for the final thickness.

I did just go out and give it a spin checking the resolution:

1/4 turn = 1/64 so I set is at 1.5 inches and then adjusted downward. A 1/4 turn caused the DRO to go from 1.5 to 1.45. The next quarter turn went from 1.45 to 1.35. Just a little adjustment on the handwheel made it fluctuate between 1.45 and 1.35.

So, the resolution is definitely not up to par with the fine screw of the sander. But at the common thicknesses I've used it is accurate and repeatable. I guess if I needed something that was in between, I'd be back to sanding, measuring with calipers, and adjusting, especially if it were a thickness not in a faction divisible by 1/20.

Thanks Jim - I would have never caught that. I don't think that it'll affect my use of the sander, but it's nice to know the limitations of my tools (especially measuring devices).

Be well,

Doc

[Jim Becker]

Yup...that's pretty much what I was getting at, Don. But I agree that the DRO is going to help you get the machine to your own standard thickness settings a lot faster than the manual scale!