Magnetic scale.

[Ken Malone]

Has anyone have any tips on making a homage magnetic scale? Thanks

[jpassardi]

I made one out of 1" wide magnetic tape (roll from craft store). I plotted the increments and numbers using AutoCAD, then used clear packing tape over to attach it to the magnetic tape and fully wrap the paper. Obviously, you need CAD and a plotter but you could do the same on paper by hand just be careful not to incur error as you mark up it.

[Mooseherder]

Cooks Sawmill parts dept. has them for 108.00 if you want to splurge.

[Ken Malone]

Did some research and I think this will work for me.got some magnetic strips with adhesive on one side and stuck them on a couple strips of 16ga metal.

[Daburner87]

I just bought this set from Woodland Mills, of course I have a WM Sawmill.  This is their updated set which takes in consideration of the kerf.  Now this is what their new mills ship with, the old ones were pretty lackluster.  If you look at the second picture there is a red arrow/guide.  If you mention it in the order notes they will include it for free, but I don't know if this will work for your mill as you haven't said what you have.  I also just bought an EZ View DRO, but mine does not read correctly.  Not sure what's wrong with it very disappointed, but I found these new magnetic scales so I hope it helps.

https://woodlandmills.com/magnetic-log-scale-kit/

To be fair I haven't gotten mine yet so I can't say how good they are, but one youtube said they were much better than the old setup.

[Ljohnsaw]

How long are the Woodland Mills scales?

I made these from some thick aluminum and a punch set. The first one didn't have enough scales for my timber frame cabin build. But it did come out nice. Used a metal stamp set. The numbers at the bottom is the scale, with kerf allowances .

The second one was a little more messy. After stamping all the numbers and scratching the lines, I spray painted, let it dry, then sanded. Later I went back and put a dimple midway between lines and added which scale it was. That way, when I'm all the way at the top, i know which is my column I'm working with. The dimples are used to center on the pith.

I set my mark for the top cut, slide the scale up so the desired scale is under the mark (now a laser line) and cut. For example, I'm starting on the 2" scale, 15 boards up. I make the cut I say to myself "15 on 2". Now I drop the blade to "14 on 2", double checking that I didn't shift over a column.

I drilled hole and epoxied in some magnets to hold the scales. They would still shift a bit so I added a toggle clamp at the bottom.

[never finished]

 Consider a roll of magnetic strip and a sticky scale stuck to that. May be the most cost friendly way to do it. I'm not sure who all makes the sticky scales. I get mine from Hud-Son

[rusticretreater]

I noticed some problems with using the scales on my Woodland Mills HM130max. So I measured them and found that during the silk screening or printing of the scales that some of the increments got stretched.

The saw came with two types of scales and only one was messed up.  I bought a replacement one from Cook's.

[LeftFinger]

$10.60

[rusticretreater]

Better get them now.  I hear that magnets have gotten caught up in the tariff wars.