Posts: 6,107
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Central Kentucky
Been using my "new to me" 15" planer and was wondering what you all do about repeatability.
I had a Ridgid 13" planer with stops for various thicknesses. It made it easy to plane down to common thicknesses. The 15" planer does not have stops. Are there any tricks out there to easily achieve repeatability?
Posts: 12,604
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Wapakoneta, OH
I put a Wixey on mine and find I can repeat thicknesses fairly well. Prior to that I just placed the target piece on the saw and kept checking the workpiece against it as i planed.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
Posts: 12,879
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2010
Location: Lewiston, NY
I use a set of vernier calipers to check the thickness of my stock as I plane it. I can easily sneak up within 0.005 inches of the target. On my old Foley Belsaw planer one turn of the crank is equal to 1/16" and that helps get me very close to where I needed to be.
John
Posts: 4,814
Threads: 1
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Eugene, OR
I try to mill everything at once, with a rough guess at overage based on my usual number of mistakes. I never know my actual thickness with much precision -- I generally use a double square and my fingernail to check for flush. I've never needed anything more exact. But I know that all the boards in the run are the same thickness.
If I need to mill new stock to match a previous batch, I run test pieces and iterate until I hit it. My test gear, again, is new stock vs old stock, side by side, and a fingernail to see if either board stands proud. Works surprisingly well.
Best,
Aram, always learning
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Web:
My woodworking photo site
Posts: 29,152
Threads: 1
Joined: Aug 2002
mill all stock in one setting is the best way.
If you find you are short and do not have a digital scale note the position of the handle then lower the table however many turns it takes to mill the piece you forgot. now reverse the order until you get to the handle position.
now take two pieces of your stock you already milled set one piece on the other stepped back then take the recently milled piece and set it next to the piece on top and check by feel.
You will literally be within a thousandth or two if you put the handle in the last known position
Let us not seek the Republican Answer , or the Democratic answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future John F. Kennedy
Posts: 6,107
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Central Kentucky
I am going to look into the wixey gauge.
I am finding the height gauge a bit hard to read and the wixey with the angled face looks like it will make life easier.
Posts: 2,497
Threads: 0
Joined: Oct 2005
I went with a Wixey also. The gauge on the Grizzly is horrible
"There is no such thing as stupid questions, just stupid people"
Posts: 6,107
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Central Kentucky
Looking at the wixey, looks like I will have to fabricate a mount for the generic 15" planer.
Posts: 29,152
Threads: 1
Joined: Aug 2002
I don't believe so.
The kit is pretty universal.
Joe
Let us not seek the Republican Answer , or the Democratic answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future John F. Kennedy
Posts: 12,604
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Wapakoneta, OH
I did, though it wasn't that hard. I don't remember which planer you got, this is the Delta.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
