New Readout for Wixey Planer gauge

[Alan in Little Washington]

I've known for quite awhile and can now finally post- Wixey has a new planer readout (model WR510) with slanted display which is much easier to read, auto-off, and improved mounting hardware. I don't know whether you can get them from retailers yet because they may still selling out their stock of vertical display WR500 so you may have to order directly from Wixey. The new display unit only will also be sold as an upgrade for the older WR500 display for $20.

[yellofins]

Alan,
I just bought one of the old versions for my Grizzly after seeing your setup when we picked up the wood.
Does the bracketing line up the same on the new readout?
It looks a little wider.

Ron

[Alan in Little Washington]

Originally Posted by yellofins

Alan,
I just bought one of the old versions for my Grizzly after seeing your setup when we picked up the wood.
Does the bracketing line up the same on the new readout?
It looks a little wider.

Ron

It is designed to mount on the older style bar. It is wider, so if you have a custom installation with the readout in a channel or limited side clearance, it could be a problem. I should have a new unit in a few days and will show side-by-side pics of both readouts. I also ordered an upgrade display for the unit I never got around to mounting on my dual drum sander.

Anyone planning on buying one of these- get the new angled display model. The viewing angle of the older unit was a pain, so last year I suggested to Barry that he change the design- to which he responded that he was way ahead of me. In order not to undercut his retailers, he held off offering the new unit until a few days ago.

[Chipper]

That's exactly what I need for my planer. I'm going crazy trying to set thickness.

[jtodd71]

Originally Posted by Alan in Little Washington

It is designed to mount on the older style bar. It is wider, so if you have a custom installation with the readout in a channel or limited side clearance, it could be a problem. I should have a new unit in a few days and will show side-by-side pics of both readouts. I also ordered an upgrade display for the unit I never got around to mounting on my dual drum sander.

Anyone planning on buying one of these- get the new angled display model. The viewing angle of the older unit was a pain, so last year I suggested to Barry that he change the design- to which he responded that he was way ahead of me. In order not to undercut his retailers, he held off offering the new unit until a few days ago.

I ordered one for my planer and also ordered the tablesaw gauge.

[mkepke]

It would be even better if you could mount the display remote to the scale.

The preferred mounting location is not always the preferred operator location.

-Mark

[Alan in Little Washington]

Originally Posted by mkepke

It would be even better if you could mount the display remote to the scale.

The preferred mounting location is not always the preferred operator location.

-Mark

That can be true for some installations, but then the exposed wires add to the vulnerability, complexity, and likely cost. This unit was really designed for lunch box planers, but many folks realized they could adapt it to other machines. In any case it is a huge improvement over the tape scale supplied with these machines.