How often do you use the height gauge on your portable planer? I personally never use mine because it's just not accurate enough. I have found many times over the years that if I want true accuracy out of my planer I have to take very light passes until I 'creep-up' onto my exact thickness. The factory scales on planers seem to always be an afterthought and tend to be cheap and shabby in my opinion. The Wixey Digital Planer Readout changes that.
The Wixey Digital Planer Readout is a great upgrade to your portable planer. With it you can accurately set your planer's height to achieve precise stock thickness to within +/- .0025". The easy-to-read display shows measurements in both millimeters and inches (both fractional and decimal). Now while it is super nice to have a digital display, what I really love about this little planer add-on is its ability to measure to exact dimensions (or at least as close enough to exact as you can really get with a planer). I came up with three examples of why you should add this little beauty to your machine:
Example 1: I didn't mill-up enough parts and totally messed up one of my pieces. With the Wixey I can simply put a micrometer on one of my existing pieces and set the planer height to that measurement. Presto. Easy to remake the old and busted piece.
Example 2: I have to mill up a shelf to fit into my dado groove. I hate a sloppy fit and I also hate having to creep-up onto my final dimension. With the Wixey Digital Planer Gauge you can avoid having to repeatedly plane your workpiece until you finally get the thickness you want. Just set your planer head to the exact thickness you need and stop wasting time on trial cuts and sloppy joints.
Example 3: I don't really have an example 3 yet, but I'm sure there is one.
The Wixey Digital Planer Readout features absolute and incremental measuring modes. The absolute measurement is the true thickness as it comes out the back of the planer. In incremental mode you get the ability to temporarily zero out your gauge so that you can remove precise amounts of stock or figure out the exact thickness of a board that has an unknown thickness.
Set up and calibration of the Wixey is very easy to do, but the procedure will differ from one brand of machine to the next. Installation for most portable planers will involve using double-stick tape to replace the factory gauge. Installing the Wixey Planer Readout on our DeWalt 735 planer couldn't have been easier since we were able to use the OEM scales' mounting holes. Other makes and models of portable planer may require you to drill and tap new mounting holes. The Wixey unit comes with a drill bit, screws and additional mounting hardware to make this step painless.
To calibrate the machine for exact thickness, simply run your board through the planer (please note that it must be perfectly flat), lift the scale, place the freshly planed board on the foot of the gauge, lower the scale down onto the planed board, hold the on/off button for 3 seconds until it zeros out. This should give you your true calibrated measurement. You can double-check the measurement using a micrometer at this time. If you are off, try it again and this time make sure that the board is perfectly flat against the foot of the scale.
I'm not normally one for digital gauges, but I have to say that Wixey is really changing my opinion on them. Wixey's Digital Angle Gauge (item #DAG-003) and this Planer Height Readout have both changed and helped my woodworking practice immensely.
Have a full-size planer? You should check out Wixey's 0" - 12" Digital Planer Readout (item #DRR-002) for your machine.