028 - Installing iGaging EZ-VIEW Digital Read Out(DRO) on our Woodland Mills HM126 Portable SawMill
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
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We recently assembled and cut lumber with our Woodland Mills HM126 Portable Saw Mill. Our first modification is to install a DRO (Digital Read Out) onto the saw head. This should allow for some precise cuts. The iGaging EZ-VIEW DRO Is super easy to use and set up. I found the right spot to put the DRO onto the saw mill after a few minutes of trying a couple things. I ended up using the same bracket that originally came on the Woodland Mills HM126. I drilled a single hole and was able to get the DRO gauge rod attached. I then used a 3M adhesive strip to connect the rod to the Saw Mill Head.
Link: iGaging Digital Readout DRO 36" Travel X-Large LCD Display EZ-View Plus www.amazon.com...
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Showing the 1" offset zero was helpful - biggest reason I never bought one. Happy milling gobbless
Simple upgrade that should improve efficiency and results significantly!
Nice job and thanks for the good camera work that lets us see details. Be curious to know how battery life is. One heads up -- if the linear bar or counter gets dirty, these can give poor readings, so keep it clean (a challenge in a machine shop and maybe worse on a sawmill). You can test it periodically to make sure the readings are changing smoothly as you go up and down and you hit known heights. I have been bitten with faulty DRO readings a couple times over the years.
Does the display on this unit only have one reading, meaning you'll have to choose between showing absolute height or relative heights, or can it show both at the same time? I normally saw down in relative increments to slice off lumber, but planning how you square up the cant and how you treat the last board needs absolute. So I always want to see both when sawing if possible (equivalent to running two rulers at the same time).
Your post guides sound beyond a squeak but it could be my ears. Might want to check that the posts are truly vertical and the sawhead is hanging plumb on the cables. I had an issue early on with binding and needed to loosen the trolley bolts and give everything a good shake with the sawhead pulling down to tension the cables. Only then did everything become plumb and smooth. Never have needed to lube the guides once that was taken care of.
You can only view actual or incremental height at one time. I think you can connect a second monitor to it but I haven’t tried.
Great be point on the squeak. I had made sure that the blade was even in both sides. It’s possible that I just need to do what you did. Thanks for the pointers.
I’ll definitely give an update on this DRO as I use it.
Great idea man, you must be a former machinist👍🏻
I'm actually not, I'm just an engineer.
How do you handle the vibrations are they a Problem for the dro
The vibrations don't seem to affect it fortunately. At least not in my experience.
Noice... I have a couple left from my Milling machine and need a place to put them. Is this using the full 36"?
It's using about 26"-30". I need to cut the excess length off.
Hope it works better for you than it did for me. I had to return mine. I installed it onto the red arrow thing directly on the ruler.
Worked ok at the start, but overtime it would skip and restart and throw off readings… I’m the only person that seems to have had trouble with this model tho.
Dang. I hope I have a better result. Did you find another model that worked better for you?
nice job how is the read out doing. silcone spary is better will not cake up with sawdust and make life much easier. after i finish saw mill shed i may get a laser. take care be safe and well.
The DRO has been a game changer in getting consistent cuts. Especially cutting 2x4s.
Hi. Great idea. I have a Hm130max. Did you find that a 24 inch rule would work instead of the 36"?
The way I set it up I don’t think the 24” will work. You can cut to length which I would recommend.
how do you account for the saw kerf when using the dro? Do you make a cut, zero, drop down kerf width, zero, drop down 2x4 width and make cut, then do it again?
Here is my standard operating procedures.
1. Make my initial cut.
2. hit the "inc" button. This sets the display of the DRO to 0.
3. Lift the saw blade and move back to start. The DRO will now show a positive number like 1/2"
4. Lower the head to my desired cut. probably -1 5/8.
5. Make my cut,
6. Hit inc which now shows my actual blade height.
7. and repeat steps 2-6
With a 1/8" blade this will make a 1 1/2" board.
So basically I don't zero it, it increment it and account for the width of the blade in the cut. I have found that 1 5/8 is perfect amount for me to drop.
Nice video. i just added mine to where the scale goes and made it quicly removable due to it not being waterproof and my mill being out in the open. However, if i'm cutting the same sized material for a while i just use the DRO to see how many hande turns it is, and then i just use handle turns until i need the DRO again to measure something else. The main reason i do it that was is due to the horrendously wet miserable weather in the Scottish Highlands. When i'm using the DRO, i don't bother setting the 1 inch bottom level as i just zero after every cut, but mine is a different model to yours and not so easy to see
I forgot to show that this has an increment feature. So you can start your cut. Then you can zero the increment. That way it keeps your actual measurement, and then you can increment by whatever distance you want.
I see different length ones of these. What length is the measuring rod or whatever you call it
I went with the 36" rod. I could have probably gone with a smaller one.
@@DuckRiverHomestead thanks I saw a 1 foot and 2 foot. Didn't see the three. I shall look again. Thanks. I would rather be sawing lumber but am out making a living on my shrimp boat in Florida.
I have installed 2 of these exact same models on my sawmill and they both are trash. Neither will hold a dimension and have messed up many boards trying to figure it out. Once I just let the sawmill sit there and I actually took pictures of the DRO dimension changing as it was just sitting there. And I don't mean a fraction, the readout moved up to an inch and I had NOT moved the sawmill at all. Both of mine turned out to be totally worthless. Too late to return the first one, but hope to contact iGaging on the 2nd, but I hear their customer service is horrible.
That's crazy! Mine's still working. That's so annoying.
Looks good to me. I have 130max & thinking to do the same.
It’s a pretty simple install. I’m a fan.
Does this unit get have to be re-calibrated if the battery dies?
That's a great question. I'm going to have to try it out. I have mine set to 1" offset, so it always zeroes to 1". I haven't lost the battery yet though.
Maybe a small electric motor and some pulley reducers attached to the handle someday?
Yes! Some people actually use motorized trailer jacks for theirs and I might do that at some point.
@@DuckRiverHomestead I just added the trailer Jack mod on my HM130 it works great. I’m doing this upgrade next thanks for the video.
Is it the 36 inch ruler yo have got ?
Yes. 36" version
Hows th DRO working for u.
The DRO is working out great!
Hi what length did you get for your mill?
I have one 6 foot extension installed, so 16 feet. I have a second extension waiting to be installed.
Meh. Not weather proof. probably not sawdust proof. Not only that, but it has no utility whatsoever. Counting turns of the hand crank is going to be just as accurate and a lot faster and less annoying. Leave the basic inch scale on and never touch it - that will tell you how far off the bunk you are. That is how you measure and cut with the HM series, period. If you get a motor to move your head up and down, then this could come in handy, but again, you'd have to come up with a way to weatherproof it.
Good video, and informative: I learned that these are useless gizmos that I'll never need. 👍
Each to their own right? I have a sawmill cover and have had this running for several months without issue. Sure you can count turns, and all that, but I find this much quicker and more accurate to the 16th or 32nd of an inch. I also like that I can make incremental cuts and drop the saw head down 1 5/8" for example. Hope you have a blessed day and I'm glad you have a process that works for you. Thanks for watching!
@@DuckRiverHomestead I have a motorized head on my 130 max and saves my shoulder big time. Regarding the DRO, can you preset measurements? For example, cutting multiple 3/4" boards out of a cant. Or, do you have to reset everytime you cut? If so, I will put one on. I think that would be the real benefit. Thanks much for your vid and your time brother.
I skipped to the end where you proved its a waste of time to go back and forth and wait for the number to come up, hey but you are on u tube
lol. It's extremely useful. I've got a knack for it now, and I get accurate cuts every time. It has been helpful to get consistent 2x material. I hope you enjoy using the measuring bar. My cuts were so inconsistent with that thing.
@@DuckRiverHomesteadsome people are so miserable.
I appreciate the video.