thickness of cut indication

[beerguy]

How do your mills indicate the thickness of cut? Excluding those of you with comp setworks, of course. I have a simple (cheap) system that uses a pole with a scale on it, and a 'pointer' made of plexi. I am looking to digitize it, to reduce any paralax errors, (plus it gets bent sometimes). I have seen a commercial product that is quite expensive, but I am going to make one. Anyone been down this road?

[Ron Wenrich]

What type of mill are you running?  The type of pointer would probably be different for differing mills.  What I use on a circle mill carriage wouldn't fit on a thin kerf band mill.

[beerguy]

I have a 52" Hudson. The actuator for the cutting head is a winch/cable/pully setup. As I go up/down, a vertical 'stick' follows, and a static 'pointer' indicates against an adhesive scale on the stick. I am looking to put a flat gear on the vertical piece, and have a reader roll on it with a gear, turning a shaft, like a rack & pinion. From there it shouldn't be hard, as I am into electronics. Just looking for ideas so I won't re-invent the wheel, and want to see who knows where to but a 5 foot 'rack' with maybe 6-8 teeth per inch. Wouldn't want to make one.  

[Gilman]

I use these guys for 80% of my power transmission components in machines. http://www.bearings.com/

Or MSC Direct
Long URL link

[beerguy]

Gilman,
Thanks a bunch. That is what I was looking for.

[ex-racer]

Do any of you circle saw guys use what we call a "breast roller" to set your board thickness, after the cant is slabbed?

Some photos of mine below-
Each turn of the crank adjusts the roller 1/4", and it flips out of the way while slabbing.



Here it is set at 1-3/4" for sawing 2 x 6 boards.





Ed

[beenthere]

x-racer
Curious how it works, as seems the carriage would have to be putting some pressure against that roller, which at the end of the cant, the carriage would push the cant into the side of the sawblade. Appreciate some insight, to straighten me out.
 

[ex-racer]

seems the carriage would have to be putting some pressure against that roller, which at the end of the cant, the carriage would push the cant into the side of the sawblade.

No, as the carriage goes by, all the headblocks are exactly the same distance from the roller, and the sides of the cant are straight and parallel.
 
It's handy when you are sawing all one thickness of board. I just pull the cant up against the roller, without even looking at  the gauge.
And generally, I only use the first dog, because the roller keeps the cant tight up against the headblocks.

Ed