Anyone tried this?
It seems with a bit of trial & error a digital caliper could be attached to a planer to give .010 or so accuracy to setting the height.
Wixey makes a product for $60, but I'm too cheap for that. A HF caliper is $16.
Thinking something could be rigged up fairly easily..
Wondering if anyone has tried..
I just measure the boards.
I have considered doing that but for only $44 more you have a dedicated measure. Additionally Wixey has redesigned the device for the planers and is shipping for free at te moment.
Additionally, Woodcraft has the old style on sale for $45 iirc.
Like I said, I'm cheap. $16 vs $45.. for 1/3rd I'm willing to tinker a bit..
I have a Delta 22-560; the 12.5" predecessor to their 13" one now. Most of the housing is plastic.. to which the Wixey also has to attach. To me that's probably a .005 error in itself.
Anyway.. the HF 6" caliper is $16
Yeah, I can live with .005" error. You realize that is about the thickness of a sheet of 20# paper. If you are sanding after you are probably altering with greater variances. My experience has been that measuring with a dial indicator can deliver mixed results if you don't pay attention to holding the indicator perfectly perpendicular to the board. Additionally the cheaper bench top planers will tend to deliver mixed results greater than .005" if something as simple as different length boards are run through at the same setting.
But, I still use the dial indicator myself but hope to get the Wixey in the not too distant future.
Wed, Jan 9, 2008, 2:38pm snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (B=A0A=A0R=A0R=A0Y) doth sayeth: I just measure the boards.
ROTFLMAO That's the way I do it too. In fact I've never even thought about doing it any other way. I'll just keep on measuring the boards.
I got one of those 6", $16, HF digital calipers awhile back. Neat. They convert from inch to metric. I play with it more than use it, but it does come in handy at times.
JOAT
10 Out Of 10 Terrorists Prefer Hillary For President- Bumper Sticker I quite agree.
Sometimes, I don't even do that. I try to thickness all of my stock at once. If I run out of surfaced stock, I just put the extra board(s) next to the previously thicknessed boards, and feel the difference with my finger. My finger tells me if I need another pass.
Some of my formal training was with a guy who threatened to ask anyone seen with dial calipers near the thicknesser to leave the shop. (No kidding! He didn't laugh as he said this, either.) The $5 4" brass sliding calipers with no dial were allowed.
Before I trained with him, I would have measured the boards with dial calipers, as well as added a Wixey to my machine.
Yeah.. funny.. I think I settled on that idea also.
I fiddled with the idea a bit last night.
But I found my planer cuts .100 for every rotation of the knob. I found it very easy to get within .005 just by rotating the height knob. I figure there is .003 or so variability anyway, and it seems I can quickly narrow in on setting the planer to within .003 or so of an already planed board.
Going to keep the digital caliper handy forget the idea of trying buy make or buy a precise measuring device. With any device there is always error potential. Just when I need that board .750, there will be some calibration issue and I'll cut it .650.. may as well spend the extra 10 seconds and be sure.
If you have to match a board, you need to start with a thicker board. It's extremely easy to get close enough for assembly using your tape to get close, and then your fingers sliding back and forth will tell you what you need to know.
We're really _not_ trying to be funny.
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