Shopsmith Forums

I like these guys (Incremental Tools). Innovative stuff and well made.
But this is rather dumb.
Anybody with a decent set of open end wrenches already has gauges for thickness.

I need to invent a woodworking gadget and get it marketed.

woodworkers are almost as bad as golfers when it comes to gadgets.

I could see that being handy if all sides were square as well but not for that price

I think it would be a reasonable useful and convenient gadget to have, but not for $30...lots of better uses of my limited toy $$ than this

That is a legit tool, but not for DIY. If you need that level of precision you should get out your mic or digital calipers.

However, in a factory environment I would buy a case of them.

I'm with Gene. I already have the wrenches and as for needing greater accuracy than that ......... well lets just say all I run through my planer is WOOD. :-)

I would rather have a caliper reading before I get to the thickness I want so I can calculate my final cut on the SS planer. I also like to sneak-up on it with a final cut of 1/32" and increased cutter head speed for a finer cut.

Gene Howe wrote:I like these guys (Incremental Tools). Innovative stuff and well made.
But this is rather dumb.
Anybody with a decent set of open end wrenches already has gauges for thickness.

I'm one guy that thinks this is a pretty nifty, very usable tool. Fast and accurate measurements coming out of a planer. Faster than a caliper and maybe even more accurate. Because of the 1/16th gauge sizes, would work just like a caliper in determining new settings on the planer.

This is for the guy that wants to make sure that all joining pieces have the same diameter - at least to start;)

Don't think I'll buy one especially at that price, but if someone wants to gift one to me I'll accept it with many thanks.

[quote="charlese"]I'm one guy that thinks this is a pretty nifty, very usable tool. Fast and accurate measurements coming out of a planer. Faster than a caliper and maybe even more accurate. Because of the 1/16th gauge sizes, would work just like a caliper in determining new settings on the planer.

This is for the guy that wants to make sure that all joining pieces have the same diameter - at least to start]

OK, Mr. Curmudgeon, time to talk precision. 1/16" is about 0.062". With my good, yet old-fashioned analog dial calipers, I can accurately measure the thickness of a board to 0.001" in about three seconds. Then armed with the thickness measurement of a board that I am planing, I can reliably dial my SS planer to within 0.005" for the last pass, time and time again.

I just can't do that using a go/no-go gauge at 1/16" resolution. That's really only efficient for making things accurate to 1/16". Beyond that, fitting with a good hand plane could be pretty nice . Or sanding could be pretty unpleasant

I've gotta agree with you on the price, though. My dial calipers (not Starrett, but Mitutoyo) cost only a little bit more than the tool in question, when I found a good eBay deal.

Hi All,
I read an article in FWW years ago that changed the way I built my projects. The author bemoaned the high precision that was coming into the WW world, specifically the use of milling machines in custom furniture. He advocated very little measuring at all, doing most things by eye and comparison and milling lumber all at the same time, story boards, etc.
Anyway, I tried it on a couple of projects and it changed the way I built furniture. One chest was built with no measurements what so ever and is sitting in my living room today.
In my world, (engineering & special machine design) precision is an every day thing. Going in the other direction with my WW hobby put the relaxation back into it. For me it works, but I am sure that approach is not for everyone.
I look at that tool and shake my head, mostly at the price. But that's just me.