Coop Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Cliff, I'll probably get some opposition on this but skip the Wixey gauge. All I use mine for is to hang the cord over. But it may be this old farts operator error. In fact, pm me with your address if you're hell bent on having one and I'll send you mine, frt. free and hang my cord on something else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Cliff, I'll probably get some opposition on this but skip the Wixey gauge. All I use mine for is to hang the cord over. But it may be this old farts operator error. In fact, pm me with your address if you're hell bent on having one and I'll send you mine, frt. free and hang my cord on something else!I'd jump on Coop's offer, Cliff. Any reason why you don't like it? I've been seriously contemplating getting one as well, just curious to hear what you don't like about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Cliff, I'll probably get some opposition on this but skip the Wixey gauge. All I use mine for is to hang the cord over. But it may be this old farts operator error. In fact, pm me with your address if you're hell bent on having one and I'll send you mine, frt. free and hang my cord on something else!Well I will definitely PM you my address. I'd like to try it. My big concern is that I often change the planer settings then have to try to match the thickness on a different board. Partially that is from just being a noob with my workflow. I put in one of the kreg plates and have been very happy with it. Just don't drop it on the floor... I did as I was getting the insert hole cut and chipped the edges.Awesome. I'll make triple sure not to drop the thing! I'm so happy to have this setup. I was going to get a whole router lift thing but it's not necessary with the Triton stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Coop Posted November 25, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) Al, again, it's probably me. I have the small square one with the magnets and couldn't do without it when setting my ts blade. But this just never has worked for me. I'm always going back to my calipers to gauge the thickness. I've screwed up my last piece of wood depending on it!if Cliff doesn't want it, I'll be glad to send it to you! Oops, sold to Mr. Cliff por nada. Consider it done bud, I'll take it off this weekend and have it on UPS on Monday. Edited November 25, 2015 by K Cooper 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Al, again, it's probably me. I have the small square one with the magnets and couldn't do without it when setting my ts blade. But this just never has worked for me. I'm always going back to my calipers to gauge the thickness. I've screwed up my last piece of wood depending on it!if Cliff doesn't want it, I'll be glad to send it to you!Oops, sold to Mr. Cliff por nada. Consider it done bud, I'll take it off this weekend and have it on UPS on Monday.Gotcha - always good to hear "in the field" testing reports, though! I'll be posting a Black Friday/Cyber Monday loot grab soon enough. Speaking of which, are there any "amazing" deals this year? Seems like each year has been progressively less impressive when it comes to sales, woodworking or otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I agree with Coop...Wixey gauges are a waste of space. All of your boards that need to be exactly the same thickness should be going through the planer at exactly the same time, and who cares what that thickness actually is? Do without it. Matters not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I agree with Coop...Wixey gauges are a waste of space. All of your boards that need to be exactly the same thickness should be going through the planer at exactly the same time, and who cares what that thickness actually is? Do without it. Matters not.For exactly the reason I stated above sir. Inexperience. My last issue was because I *thought* I had 33" of width for the panel. Well, I didn't. So I had to use other material to add on. I needed to get it down to the same size. I don't live in a perfect world where I know what I'm doing 100% of the time. At least, not in this area. I am not going to call it a needed tool, but I'll take the extra convenience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a caliper woodworker. I did a little of tiny little adjustments to get my slabs to 4" exactly. The Wixey if installed and configured properly will remove that caliper step to a certain degree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a caliper woodworker. I did a little of tiny little adjustments to get my slabs to 4" exactly. The Wixey if installed and configured properly will remove that caliper step to a certain degree. What calipers do you use? I have a Brown & Sharpe digital caliper and I find it hard to read and it doesn't show fractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Carrera Precision, they are decimal calipers. 4.250 is 4 1/4", 4.50 is 4 1/2"Decimals are your friends, Every .125 is an 1/8. .375 is 3/8" etc. I have one of these in poster form hanging in my shop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I have fractional calipers but it gives me stuff like 37/128. That chart you just posted may help me though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I need to get one of them posters. I have a ruler with the scale, but it's also very hard to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I love my Wixey planer gauge and wish I bought it earlier. A lot of times I'll mill my boards 1/32" over and take 1/64" off each face at the drum sander. If I'm not drum sanding then I plane using fast feed rate until I get to 1/16" over, then slow feed rate taking 1/32" off each face. It's come in real handy with my Roubo build planing the dog strip and front face to exactly 4.02". Sure I could use a ruler or calipers but measuring an 8' 8/4 board after each pass isn't fun. Now my Wixey digital angle gauge rarely gets used - only for angles other than 90 and 45 on the table which is like never. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I have fractional calipers but it gives me stuff like 37/128. That chart you just posted may help me though.I would be great if those things incorporated a rounding feature to next 1/16 or 1/32. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I would be great if those things incorporated a rounding feature to next 1/16 or 1/32.My thought exactly. I thought maybe it was just cause I bought a Harbor Freight one. But it gets good reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) My thought exactly. I thought maybe it was just cause I bought a Harbor Freight one. But it gets good reviews.I got a fractional caliper at Woodworkers Supply. It reads out fractions to 1/128" also, but there's a chart on the back of the caliper with decimal equivalents - pretty handy, as long as you have your glasses on! Edited November 25, 2015 by micks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a caliper woodworker too but I've never once in my life needed a caliper on my planer. I even bought one from Barry a long time ago and it just sat in a drawer for a couple years until I sold it to someone else. I just don't see the need for it. I know I've already been given two examples of how they've been useful but there are other ways to skin that cat.If you get one for free...by all means, slap it on your planer. But it's not something I would spend money on unless I had every other conceivable tool already purchased.A Wixey gauge on a drum sander, on the other hand...that's something that I could consider. Although I've gotten this far without that, either. It just so rarely matters that boards are a particular thickness if you're using a logical workflow.As for calipers, I just have a cheapish i-gaging or whatever it's called. It has settings for fraction, decimal, and mm. It works fine, but I'd love a Starrett because Starrett is Starrett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a caliper woodworker too but I've never once in my life needed a caliper on my planer. I even bought one from Barry a long time ago and it just sat in a drawer for a couple years until I sold it to someone else. I just don't see the need for it. I know I've already been given two examples of how they've been useful but there are other ways to skin that cat.If you get one for free...by all means, slap it on your planer. But it's not something I would spend money on unless I had every other conceivable tool already purchased.A Wixey gauge on a drum sander, on the other hand...that's something that I could consider. Although I've gotten this far without that, either. It just so rarely matters that boards are a particular thickness if you're using a logical workflow.As for calipers, I just have a cheapish i-gaging or whatever it's called. It has settings for fraction, decimal, and mm. It works fine, but I'd love a Starrett because Starrett is Starrett.I've got a set of Starrett "analog" calipers I got from my dad, that he used when he was a machinist. I look at them funny because I can't read that or the Browne and Sharpe micrometers. Silly dials and numbers and things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Picked up this today. 16 gallon for $39 at Home Depot. I added on the 3 layer filter I think they call it. The one that catches 99.97 % and down to .3 micron I believe are the specs. It cost almost as much as the vac haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Al, again, it's probably me. I have the small square one with the magnets and couldn't do without it when setting my ts blade. But this just never has worked for me. I'm always going back to my calipers to gauge the thickness. I've screwed up my last piece of wood depending on it!I agree, worthless Picked up this today. 16 gallon for $39 at Home Depot. I added on the 3 layer filter I think they call it. The one that catches 99.97 % and down to .3 micron I believe are the specs. It cost almost as much as the vac haha.I own the same vac, I would highly recommend getting the bag insert. Those high efficiency filters KILL your airflow once a bit of fines get in there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I'm a caliper woodworker too but I've never once in my life needed a caliper on my planer. I even bought one from Barry a long time ago and it just sat in a drawer for a couple years until I sold it to someone else. I just don't see the need for it. I know I've already been given two examples of how they've been useful but there are other ways to skin that cat.If you get one for free...by all means, slap it on your planer. But it's not something I would spend money on unless I had every other conceivable tool already purchased.A Wixey gauge on a drum sander, on the other hand...that's something that I could consider. Although I've gotten this far without that, either. It just so rarely matters that boards are a particular thickness if you're using a logical workflow.As for calipers, I just have a cheapish i-gaging or whatever it's called. It has settings for fraction, decimal, and mm. It works fine, but I'd love a Starrett because Starrett is Starrett.No. I am going to force you to get a Wixey gauge for your planer. Seriously though.. not everyone is gonna do their projects the same way with the same tools. It's all good. I may find I have no use for it either. But since I was planning to buy one to address a very specific need I currently have, I will gladly take it off the dude's hands. What you guys actually is mean is "worthless to me." Cause it sounds pretty handy over in my disaster. I mean, shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eric. Posted November 25, 2015 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 "Sounds" handy is not the same as "is" handy. If I could get my money back on everything I've bought over the years that "sounded" handy, I'd be rich. Well, that's not true...I'd still be broke but I'd have a lot less worthless crap in my shop. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 What you guys actually is mean is "worthless to me." Cause it sounds pretty handy over in my disaster. I mean, shop.so far i see 3 out of 3 agreeing that they bought the tool, and found no value in it. Eric doesn't use it, coop's giving it away, I threw mine away. I'm pretty sure I said what I meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 "Sounds" handy is not the same as "is" handy. If I could get my money back on everything I've bought over the years that "sounded" handy, I'd be rich. Well, that's not true...I'd still be broke but I'd have a lot less worthless crap in my shop. ...and unfortunately an easy trap to fall into. It seems there is a gizmo out there to "solve" a problem (and not specifically addressing Wixey), but those gizmos take both money and space. I would even consider space more of a priority than money. You can always make more money, but your work space is generally more static for longer periods of time. Some doo-dads may be worth it, some may be borderline, and some are less so. Of course there will be folks who prioritize gizmo A over gizmo B. For each "handy item I think I may use" you buy, you chip-away at your "really need a better <table saw/band saw/planer/jointer/dust collector/hand tool>" budget.So for me, I am "starting over" this year in regards to my purchases and only buying what I need to accomplish a given project, and not buying things because I think "that would be handy/neat". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 So for me, I am "starting over" this year in regards to my purchases and only buying what I need to accomplish a given project, and not buying things because I think "that would be handy/neat".That seemed to work for me but... I always find an excuse to buy the tools I covet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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