DRO on a Grizzly 15" Planer (version 2 attached)

glenn bradley

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I ordered the T23012 DRO from Grizzly. They did not have a recommended DRO for the G0453Z so I decided to take one for the team. The reader mounted to the power switch post very nicely with a couple drilled and tapped holes.

The readout is wired and has magnets on the back. I have some wiremold that I may use to protect the path

G0453Z-DRO 003.jpg

once I am happy with everything. It also comes with some brackets and a wall mounting sort of fixture so, pretty versatile in that respect. The one missing thing that Wixey has down cold is the calibration. On this build I jet left enough of the scale beam above the maximum height of the planer to allow calibration.

This is just the test build so I will dress up the wooden block or maybe paint it black or whatever.

G0453Z-DRO 001.jpgG0453Z-DRO 002.jpg

G0453Z-DRO 005.jpgG0453Z-DRO 004.jpg

The readout allows you to change the change increment from 32's to 64's to 128's. I think 64ths should be fine but I'll report back after I make the thing a little more elegant.
 
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Version 2

OK, I played with it enough to get it pretty well figured out. To compensate for the lack of a built in differential-type calibration mechanism like the Wixey spring-loaded bar . . . I'll get to that in a moment.

I used a rare earth magnet while drilling to keep all the spoil out of the machine:

a-G0453Z-DRO-v2 drill CI.jpg

The holes in the switch post were done the same way:

b-G0453Z-DRO-v2 other hole.jpg

Here's the basic parts:

c-G0453Z-DRO-v2 basic parts.jpg

To allow calibration I left at least 1/2" of unused scale beam above the thinnest setting that the planer can achieve. In my case about 3/16". Plane a piece of scrap and measure it with something reasonably accurate.

Zero the sensor. Remove the screw that holds the sensor unit to the wooden doo-hicky that ties it to the planer bed. Raise the sensor up the scale beam till it reads the same as the thickness of your scrap measured with your "reasonably accurate" device (I used digital calipers to 2 decimal places in inches). Zero the sensor unit again.

Lower the sensor till it reads the same as your "reasonably accurate" measurement in the opposite direction. Your sensor should now be back where you started but reading the thickness of your test piece as a positive instead of a negative.

Replace the screw that ties the sensor to the wooden doo-hicky and make a few test cuts at other thicknesses checking the DRO against your calipers. Adjust a few thou here and there by loosening the screw and nudging the sensor as required. Once you are within reasonable accuracy . . . enjoy the DRO ;-)

d-G0453Z-DRO-v2 installed.jpgG0453Z-DRO-v2 009.jpg

P.s. the wooden piece has the bottom sculpted a bit to make it set correctly on the bumpy cast iron surface. In the pic it looks like it is not setting solid but it is quite solid.
 
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Glenn this is so cool. :thumb: I think its time i did something like this for my DW735. That way i dont have to try bend over to read the lines on the standard ruler with out any paralax error.

You done anthing DRO style for your jointer? Thats where my biggest issue with scale is.:)


Glenn did you miss this on the wixey site.

For others thinking of this check here if you want a wixey and wanna check if its been done on your machine.


It just keeps on getting better. With Woodcraft the wixey is on sale till sept 25 including free shipping for $40 bucks round numbers. Best elsewhere is $50.
 
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Thanks Rob.

Glenn did you miss this on the wixey site.

I saw that but I just know that 7 months from now I'll forget and crank the planer beyond the Wixey's 6" limit and toast it. I have that one on my DW734 and that is where I got addicted.

To the jointer question; I use the jointer to flatten surfaces so I slowly take off as much as is required to do that and then stop. Knowing precisely how much I am taking off isn't important to me due to how I use the machine. Knowing how much I am taking off with the planer using that flattened side as a reference is important to me. Different things are important to different folks :). It just the way we are :D.
 
He He can you say slow or just havin to much fun doin the flat thing?

might be i am just gettun slow or have other things taken away my time bart:) mainly kids and the other half.. dont know how i ever worked two jobs at once... couldnt do it now.. that wixey setup looks nice glenn whats this about a 6" limit cant imagine planning anything that thick anyway..
 
whats this about a 6" limit cant imagine planning anything that thick anyway..

Wixey's Planer DRO has a 6" range and my new planer has an 8" range. My DeWalt has a Wixey on it and the planer has a 6" range so, perfect fit. I did exceed the 6" range while running a planer sled and some thick stock that was also too wide for my jointer. Normally, 6" would be plenty for nearly everything I do.
 
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