How about those add-on Wixey height gauges

[Bob D]

A digital height guage for my planer and my router lift would be really nice if its repeatable. Wixey makes add-on guages for both applications. Does anyone have experience with either?

Thanks, Bob

[Leon]

I put one on my 15" Delta planer 10+ years ago.. Fit is crotchety and would get hung up. I would not buy another one of those.

I am looking closely at the Wixey remote digital readout however and may get one for my new jointer/planer.

I would rather have a mechanical gauge. They attach to the elevation crank wheel rod. It counts revolutions and parts of a revolution.

There is one offered for my model in Europe but I would want imperial vs metric.

[krw]

I had a few of the Wixey readouts. The one that was really slick was the TS gauge. Unfortunately, all Wixey stuff is crap. They burn though batteries so fast the battery is dead every time I want to use the readout and they're built like crap. My TS readout failed, which Wixey replaced once and it failed again. I replaced the readout and it too failed. Poor mechanical design with crappy electronics made with cheap plastic. A real winning combination. Nice idea, very poor implementation.

[gray_wolf]

The top dog is:

[Jack]

My planer, like all planers I guess, has a built in mechanical gauge. I never use it. If I want to plane something to an exact size, say 3/8", I grab a 3/8" open end wrench and use that to check things. Works pretty good. I also use wrenches on my lathe if turning a tenon to an exact size.

[Leon]

The issue with some larger planers with the ribbed steel in feed rollers is that they leave impressions in the wood if the planer is only removing a slight amount of material.

The easy fix is to not take a very light pass on the final pass. On these planers you need to remove enough material to also remove those impressions.

With a digital meter you can get relatively close but not so close that you do not cut deep enough to remove the impressions on the final pass. I have heard of this being an issue decades ago and my 15" Delta and new Jet jointer/planer also have this issue.

I think some people have tried adjusting the ribbed in feed roller for less pressure however wood was not adequately pushed into the cutters, past the cutters, and on to the out feed roller.

[Leon]

But I do not see that Starrett offers this type device.

And unfortunately one needs to be able to adjust the planer correctly/accurately before making the last pass.

[Leon]

Another alternative.

[krw]

Backlash? Stiction? I'd rather measure the business end than somewhere between the hand and the tool. Power tool gearboxes (other than CNC, obviously) just aren't designed for precision.

Maybe I'm blind but I don't see the equivalent of the Wixey tools. I might go that way if they did, though Starrett is way overpriced for woodworking.

[Bob D]

Interesting, but... here is the warranty statement on their website:

"This site and the materials and products on this site are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind"

[Bob La Londe]

On 2/20/2021 4:03 PM, Bob D wrote: > A digital height guage for my planer and my router lift would be really nice if its repeatable. Wixey makes add-on guages for both applications. Does anyone have experience with either? >

I never heard of Wixey, but I do have a couple height gages I use in the shop all the time. One is a digital I use for measuring the tool height of end mills and drills in tool holders so I can enter the length in the tool height table on my CNC mills. It consistently and easily gets me within half a thousandth without even trying. The other is an analog with a dial I use for most often on the granite surface plate for accurately scribing lines on steel with a carbide scribe. Its probably within a thousandth for that, and better for other things.

The key is to make sure the base is on the primary reference surface, and that you zero to your height reference before measuring. On table saw or router that would like by the main table top for both.

[Jack]

That's exactly what I did. No impressions on hard wood, and very little on softwoods, but softwoods sand out easily.

[Jack]

At least they're honest. I hate trying to get a warranty replacement and they start by putting you on hold with horrendous loud tiny music for an hour, then a non-english speaking clown gets on asking for receipts and all that rot.

Anyhow, I do have a Wixy angle gauge. I though it would be good for checking for 90 degrees, and maybe setting up some angles on things. Works OK but the first thing I did is check all my tools for 90 degrees. All were already within the margin of error of the gauge. Next, I found out the battery went dead just sitting there (I seldom use it.) Now, I take the battery out of it when I'm done, so now the battery last years. I have the same problem with a cheap digital caliper that eats the battery when not in use.

Sometimes I wonder if battery makers don't sponsor this crap.

[Leon]

Some are some are not. Concerning the Hammer jointer/planer it's dial/digital counter, mounted behind the crank, is apparently repeatable accurate in the thousands of an inch.

Nor did I see the equivalent. I have found that some Starrett tape measures are very reasonably/competitively priced. But that is about all I can say about reasonably priced.

[Leon]

True! Pick your poison.

I would love to find something like this. I had ordered this option, in inches, when I originally ordered the Hammer A3.

[Leon]

Sooooo I had battery issue with my "tilt box" style angle gauge. Mine came in a protective vinyl pouch that fit snugly.

I found that the stitching in the pouch was pressing the "on" button in some way. Leaving the gauge out of the pouch extended and or putting the gauge in the pouch in a different direction significantly extended battery life.

And my digital caliper does pretty well, the battery in it lasts a good year or more.

BUT as you say, removing the battery after use does extend the life of the battery.