# How Good Is The Wixey WR700 Really...



## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

How good is the Wixey WR700 really? Well, IMHO it is, like the Incra LS TS positioner, more accurate than 90% of what is really needed in woodworking, or is it?

My friend, Dick Willis got me going on this addition to my TS after he installed one on his and his son's TS. Thank you Dick.

In case the reader is not familiar with the Wixey WR700, is a means to have a digital read out on a table saw to display the distance between the blade and the fence.

As anybody that has read my first thread on my installation of this addition to my saw you will recall that the purpose for this addition was that is so easy to see compared to the cursor and scale on the Incra LS system that already resides on my TS.

Again, those member that know me also know that I'm a stickler for accuracy, far more so than is necessary for woodworker and I have ligitamently been called on it several times and only now am beginning to understand their comments to me about it.

Well, let's get on to the Wixey. First of all, the instructions about how to use the tool once it has been installed is to just set the fence so that it barely kisses the blade, and then just press zero on the unit. Keep in mind that the devise works with the same technology as does a does a dial calipber with DRO.

Well, due to my intense interest in accuracy I immediately thought that this was a rather crude way to calibrate the device in light of the term "just kissing the blade". Now let me be very clear, this approach is indeed completely adequate for the purpose that the tool is designed for. I'm talking about my personal quirk about accuracy.

I said earlier that the way that the instructions tell how to zero the Wixey, IMHO is crude and then implied that the procedure is fine, but it is still less than the potential accuracy of the tool. The Wixey can with some messing around be set more precisely than what is described in the instructions, but this additional adjustment is not really needed, I want anybody reading this to understand that I know this.

Due to the fact that I already have the Incra LS system to use to calibate the Wixey I took advantanage of it just because.

First of all I carefully calibrate the Incra. This is done by doing what is suggested to do with the Wixey. Then after doing that I set the scale on the Incra to say for example, three inches and make a cut. Then measure the width of the cut and the odds are that it will be several thousandth off of the desired setting and again I emphasize that this slight error is not a big deal, but it is not as close as what can be set. So what you do is after determining the error in the cut, add or subtract it from the intial setting with the micro adjustment on the carriage of the Incra. Then reset the magnetic strip on the carriage that has the scale on it so that, in this example, reads at the cursor exactly three inches. I

may have to do this drill two or three times to get the calibration so that no matter where I set the scale on the Incra scale the resulting cut will be no more than plus or minus about .004".

This error is not due to any error in the tool, but is due to variation in the way the material is fed into the blade, density of the wood, blade flutter etc.

Once the Incra is calibrated as described above, you set the scale on the Incra to zero which is far more accurate that is that of just setting the fence so that it barely kisses the blade. With the scale now set on zero, press the button on the Wixey to zero it, now both systems will be in sync.

To test this I would make a setting of the distance between the blade and the fence using the Wixey by itself. After making the setting I would then and only then check the setting of the scale on the Incra scale. In every instance the two were perfectly still in sync right to the thousandth of an inch.

One other feature of the set up described above is that my six inch dial caliper is limited to six inches, now I have a dial caliper that will read out to 30" which is far more accurate than my tape measure and so easy to see. Again, far more accurate than is needed, but I like it and it atisfies my "accuracy quirk", the one that I didn't know that I had until getting on this forum and being told politely about it.

Keep in mind that when I first got interested in woodworking I read about the Incra LS system and because it is capable of very fine accuracy, I was led to believe that such accuracy was a desirable and needed for fine woodworking. The accuracy of the tool is indeed needed for the joinery work that can be done with it, but not for everything.

I certainly am happy with the WR700 that Barry Wixey has made available to woodworkers.

I do need to explain that I only set it up on my saw for 30" of travel, but it can be installed with up to 60" of travel if desired.

Jerry B.


----------



## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Jerry..

a most excellent write up on the WR700.


----------



## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

Thanks, Jerry. I've been about 90 mils shy of pushing the buy button on the 700 for weeks now. Probably the weakest aspect of my Griz cabinet saw is the fence readout. The WX700 seems perfect for my needs. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Thanks Jerry , I'd love to have a dig readout got my TS . How cool would that be  
I've seen them on router tables but forgot they made them for a TS. My scenario is going to be differant though as I'm using an Excalbur fence on a GI saw 

Jerry once a Wixey is calibrated , does it stay calibrated ?


----------



## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

RainMan1 said:


> Thanks Jerry , I'd love to have a dig readout got my TS . How cool would that be
> I've seen them on router tables but forgot they made them for a TS. My scenario is going to be differant though as I'm using an Excalbur fence on a GI saw
> 
> Jerry once a Wixey is calibrated , does it stay calibrated ?


Rick we put ours on last spring. We always check it for zero at the blade before every use. It has never been off more than .005", and that could be just the difference in the pressure we put against the blade when checking. I would have to say it's memory is much better than mine! The ability to set zero at any point is a huge help when doing odd repetitive cuts, like drawer dividers. You make the first cut, then zero the Wixey, then move the fence the required amount and make the next cut. It's dead on every time.

Dick


----------



## al m (Dec 13, 2012)

This tool seem like I good way to reduce eye strain,and perhaps help measure or quantify accuracy.The accuracy it's self is in setup and operator skill.
Of coarse accuracy its self is subjective


----------



## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

I believe that the wixey uses an encoded strip to determine location. As long as it solidly adheres to the fence rail, it shouldn't change length by more than temperature driven expansion/contraction of the underlying rail. Probably the same as the measuring tape on the rail!

I did read one review that said it was slightly off at longer measurements (30" iirc). That could be due to stretching the strip when installing or inherent inaccuracy.


----------



## lenh (Feb 27, 2009)

Willway said:


> Rick we put ours on last spring. We always check it for zero at the blade before every use. It has never been off more than .005", and that could be just the difference in the pressure we put against the blade when checking. I would have to say it's memory is much better than mine! The ability to set zero at any point is a huge help when doing odd repetitive cuts, like drawer dividers. You make the first cut, then zero the Wixey, then move the fence the required amount and make the next cut. It's dead on every time.
> 
> Dick


Dick, I've had the DRO for years now. I use it the same as you do. I originally bought it so that I could read metric measurements. It is also great for moving the fence a few thousands to widen a dado. The only issue I have had is that it will lose its place if you move the fence too fast. It is an aggravation when the battery goes dead at the most inopportune time - like when I do not have a spare. As you indicated it requires resetting often. But that's not a big deal.

Len


----------



## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I have no doubt that the readout on the wixey being easier to read is a great advantage. And setting it up as per instructions that accompanied it would suffice for 99.9% of woodworking tasks. 
I use my wixey for blade tilt,and trueing to 90 deg.on my big table saw, but nothing I build requires .001" accuracy. usually 1/32 is close enough, and my tape measure will give me that.
Good write up though for the engineers and machinists among us.
Herb


----------



## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

I needed to do some re-alignment of the Incra fence since I had taken everything all apart when the Wixey WR700 was being installed on the saw. After getting the alignment to my satisfaction I had to go through the drill of re-calibrating everything.

I found that the MJ splitter needs to be removed before attempting to set the Wixey by letting the fence by just letting it barely kiss the blade. Then I did the zeroing as described in the instructions, made a test cut and there was an error of .022", not bad but almost a full thirty second. So I did the zero on the Incra scale and after it was calibrated I set the scale on the Incra to zero and re-zeroed the Wixey. Then I set the fence for a new cut using the Wixey only, the error in that cut was .001". Much better, but I admit, from I understand most member would say, "who cares"? My answer would be, "I do". I'm just weird I guess, but that's the way I am.

Jerry


----------



## rwl7532 (Sep 8, 2011)

kiss the blade means kiss the teeth of the blade, right?
And any wobble of your blade must be fixed before any of this.
Metrology.


----------



## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Be sure it is not on when you kiss it. 
I do no work in .001 inches, trying to translate fractions to decimals by the .001 is an unnecessary exercise. Wood grows and shrinks constantly, and so do metal tools and blades. When a blade is turned on the centrifugal force changes the position of the blade. What are the tolerances on the teeth, do they have the same set from one to another? There might be a particle of sawdust on the arbor washer causing the blade to being tilted .001". They built pianos for hundreds of years by hand, before any dial indicators were thought of.

Herb


----------



## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

rwl7532 said:


> kiss the blade means kiss the teeth of the blade, right?
> And any wobble of your blade must be fixed before any of this.
> Metrology.


Ralph,

What a great opening for what I was about to post, thank you sir.

So you don't have an Incra LS system on your saw to use for a really fine adjustment, well, you don't need one, or so I suspect. 

Here is an idea, it is only in the thinking stage but it sounds to me like it would work.
Steo one, do the "kiss the blade" approach and once done make a setting of the fence for a cut, say three inches just for the sake of what I'm going to say, make a cut then measure it with a dial caliper. If the cut is within the tolerences that meet your standards then don't continue with what I'm going to say, but just in case the cut is off more than you would like do the following. First determine how much out of tolerance the cut is, for example if the cut measure 3.034" and you would like to get closer to 3.00, the fence is obviously .034" to far to the right of the blade. Now just lower the blade, get it out of the way and then move the fence dragging the DRO with it back to it's zero position, once done now move it further to the left until it read a negative .034 and then re-zero the unit at that position. Now move the fence back to where the unit once again reads 3.00, raise the blade and make another cut and measure it. It should read closer to 3.00 than it did on the first try.

That's just my thinking without actually doing it. If anybody tries it and it works, I'd like to hear about it. I hope that I'm right and will deal with what Ralph has pointed out.

Jerry B.


----------



## bobcat65 (Jun 12, 2015)

*Interesting*



Jerry Bowen said:


> How good is the Wixey WR700 really? Well, IMHO it is, like the Incra LS TS positioner, more accurate than 90% of what is really needed in woodworking, or is it?
> 
> Jerry B.


 I have the Wixey and love it. I was actually wondering what would happen if I had the Incra AND the Wixey- would they agree? Now I know. Thanks.

One thing about the Wixey is, if you have a round fence (rounded in the front - my Ridgid 3660 is this way) you may have a bit of a creative engineering job in order to affix the Wixey. And when I say creative I mean creative destruction since you'll be drilling holes for things where no hole was meant to be drilled. It's made with a B-meir type fence in mind. 

In my case I had to buy an angle bracket to attach to the area around the handle that moves my fence then thin edge side to the Wixey, to eliminate any chance of flex. A simple flat piece of steel 1/4 inch thick and four inches long attached to Wixey with the flat side (think popsicle stick) actually flexed too much, maybe a few tens of thousands of an inch. 

One trick I use is to *move the Wixey where I want the measurement to be, fixed it with one hand and slowly draw the fence to it with the other until the magnet takes. Faster, not a lot of nudging the fence.


----------

