Where can I find a planer thickness gauge like this one?

[Cecil]

Grab a girder clamp.



thread the bold from the inside out. Put a lock nut on it. Use your caliper to set it up the first time. Write on it with a permanent marker. If you are like me, you would only need 3 or 4. For the one-offs, the caliper still works. It can be locked in position as well, to use as a go/no-go gauge.

You could use a carriage bolt. The rounded head would give you an idea of when you are getting close, but it will still give the go/no-go indication.

Like others, I prefer the caliper. I can tell when I am getting close.

[Sawdustd]

No offense, but I thought that's what calipers were for. Its my go-to thickness gauge.

[Phil Thien]

mbholden said:

---

General makes a stamped aluminum one found in the big box stores.
Bought one, but find it useless since it will only tell me when I go too far and the piece is too thin. I need something that will tell me when I get close to finished size, this will not.
Mike

---

That is exactly why I use a cheap plastic dial caliper (General) that has 64th graduations. Each full turn of my planer's wheel is 1/16". So as I'm approaching desired thickness, I know exactly how many 64th's I still need to remove, and can start doing quarter turns of my planer's handwheel and get a very nice finish that is exactly the thickness I'm looking for.

[Ray Newman]

How 'bout a Wixey digital read out?

http://www.wixey.com/index.html

[JGrout]

how about a fractional digital caliper

that way you are not limited to just one machine, a caliper is versatile

[barnowl]

Phil Thien said:

---

[blockquote]mbholden said:

---

General makes a stamped aluminum one found in the big box stores.
Bought one, but find it useless since it will only tell me when I go too far and the piece is too thin. I need something that will tell me when I get close to finished size, this will not.
Mike

---

That is exactly why I use a cheap plastic dial caliper (General) that has 64th graduations. Each full turn of my planer's wheel is 1/16". So as I'm approaching desired thickness, I know exactly how many 64th's I still need to remove, and can start doing quarter turns of my planer's handwheel and get a very nice finish that is exactly the thickness I'm looking for.

---

[/blockquote]

+1

I've got an expensive Mitutoyo, but it's not needed for this.

The cheap $25 caliper is just fine.

[mike4244]

Buy a 6" digital caliper from HF for about $10.00 when on sale.Reads in 3 dimensions.The fraction scale will be of use to you.Also reads in decimal fractions and millimeters which are not used to measure wood thickness.Might come in handy to set machines or calibrate a woodworking tool.
mike

[johnnysuede]

I have a fractional/mm/thousandths digital caliper and I got frustrated at the fact that the fractional scale reads in 1/128ths. I got a dial fractional caliper from amazon for xmas and really find it much easier to read. I use both, but for wood the dial caliper can't be beat in my book.

[daddo]

I cut one out real quick and was going to get the material to make a few from 6061 aluminum, however I found a problem.

All you know is that your cut is too thick or thin, but not by how much. This doesn't allow you to know how big or small you need to correct the cut.

In this case, the caliper is the best choice.

[AHill]

Wouldn't an inexpensive caliper do the same thing? And you could set a caliper to measure thicknesses that aren't standard, like BB ply, etc. Lee Valley sells a set of 6 plastic ones for less than $10. I'm betting Harbor Freight has a boatload of inexpensive choices. You could make your own with a dado blade set and some melamine.