Yesterday I posted pics of the hoist, today the final outfitting of my new DC-380 15" planer. The upgrades include mobile base (my own version) and a digital readout. I also installed the recently received dust port but did not take any pics of that.
My mobile base consists of Hartville Tool ball bearing wheels removed from the supplied bracket and mounted in rectangular steel tubing to the back sides and a Delta-style step caster from Rockler mounted to a piece of 1 1/2" square steel tubing that was bolted to the front of the planer base. Works great. I have to coordinate folding the outfeed table and raising the step caster if I'm putting the planer away.
Next I installed a Wixey digital readout. On this installation I tried to use existing bolts, holes, etc. and to avoid drilling any new holes in the machine. It worked well. Here is the completed installation.
Here are the parts I used and fabricated from steel bar, angle, a corner mending plate, and a plumbing expansion plug. Many holes in the mending plate- measure once, drill many
The expansion plug, fits perfectly into the planer head support column. When the nut is tightened, the rubber section expands and holds the plug tightly in the column.
I cut this bracket that holds the bottom of the readout assembly from a piece of steel angle. I removed the original set screws that hold the bottom of the column to the planer base and inserted two bolts and nuts- The bolts keep the column fixed to the planer base and the nuts hold the bracket. The vertical piece of steel strap is held by two screws mounted in countersunk holes. I drilled and tapped the angle for the screws..
This bracket made from a standard corner mending plate, fixes the digital readout to the planer head so the readout moves up and down with the planer head (in this planer the head moves and not the table). It is mounted using cap screws that replace the original screws that hold the the planer head assembly to the lifting mechanism inside the column. I removed and installed one screw at a time to prevent slipping of the planer head.
The top of the steel strap that holds the readout mechanism is mounted to the top of the column using an expansion plug. At first I wasn't sure how to attach the upper end of the strap, then came up with this idea- it was the neatest thing in the whole set-up.
Here are all the brackets mounted to the planer.
The completed installation.
Calibrating the unit is incredibly simple. Just run a board through the planer, taking off any amount, and put the freshly planed board between the bar and the bottom piece. The bar slides up but is spring loaded to the down position. Once the board is between these two pieces, just push and hold the calibrate button for a few seconds, then remove the board and let the bar settle back on the base. Thereafter, in addition to setting your finished thickness, or cut depth, you can find the thickness of any board by putting it between these two pieces.
Here is an out of focus pic of the readout after I made a test cut. First, I cranked the planer height adjustment to an arbitrary setting, in this case 13/16 (due to the way the system works the decimal is not precisely equial to 13/16- there is a +/- .002 window. Then I planed the board.
After running a board through the planer, this is what my caliper said. Not bad!!!!! Looks like, hmmm maybe about .007 off, probably due to my sloppy calibration.
Just try and get anywhere this close with your planer's built in thickness scale!!!!!!
My mobile base consists of Hartville Tool ball bearing wheels removed from the supplied bracket and mounted in rectangular steel tubing to the back sides and a Delta-style step caster from Rockler mounted to a piece of 1 1/2" square steel tubing that was bolted to the front of the planer base. Works great. I have to coordinate folding the outfeed table and raising the step caster if I'm putting the planer away.
Next I installed a Wixey digital readout. On this installation I tried to use existing bolts, holes, etc. and to avoid drilling any new holes in the machine. It worked well. Here is the completed installation.
Here are the parts I used and fabricated from steel bar, angle, a corner mending plate, and a plumbing expansion plug. Many holes in the mending plate- measure once, drill many
The expansion plug, fits perfectly into the planer head support column. When the nut is tightened, the rubber section expands and holds the plug tightly in the column.
I cut this bracket that holds the bottom of the readout assembly from a piece of steel angle. I removed the original set screws that hold the bottom of the column to the planer base and inserted two bolts and nuts- The bolts keep the column fixed to the planer base and the nuts hold the bracket. The vertical piece of steel strap is held by two screws mounted in countersunk holes. I drilled and tapped the angle for the screws..
This bracket made from a standard corner mending plate, fixes the digital readout to the planer head so the readout moves up and down with the planer head (in this planer the head moves and not the table). It is mounted using cap screws that replace the original screws that hold the the planer head assembly to the lifting mechanism inside the column. I removed and installed one screw at a time to prevent slipping of the planer head.
The top of the steel strap that holds the readout mechanism is mounted to the top of the column using an expansion plug. At first I wasn't sure how to attach the upper end of the strap, then came up with this idea- it was the neatest thing in the whole set-up.
Here are all the brackets mounted to the planer.
The completed installation.
Calibrating the unit is incredibly simple. Just run a board through the planer, taking off any amount, and put the freshly planed board between the bar and the bottom piece. The bar slides up but is spring loaded to the down position. Once the board is between these two pieces, just push and hold the calibrate button for a few seconds, then remove the board and let the bar settle back on the base. Thereafter, in addition to setting your finished thickness, or cut depth, you can find the thickness of any board by putting it between these two pieces.
Here is an out of focus pic of the readout after I made a test cut. First, I cranked the planer height adjustment to an arbitrary setting, in this case 13/16 (due to the way the system works the decimal is not precisely equial to 13/16- there is a +/- .002 window. Then I planed the board.
After running a board through the planer, this is what my caliper said. Not bad!!!!! Looks like, hmmm maybe about .007 off, probably due to my sloppy calibration.
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. A little black paint covers many sins.:-D
