Wixey Digital Angle Gauge

Thanks for the review. I want.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Good review. It is on my “must have” list.

-- Maplewood, MN

HI Tony:
For what it worth there is a competitive guage out there for about the same money with 2 decimal accuracy on the readout . (Tilt Box™ Digital Inclinometer for Tool Setting)
This one is at Lee Valley.

Regards

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Great price on the Wixey here:

http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/html_p/C019003.htm

peace

-- peace

I have one of these and it works great. If you would like to see it in action just click here.

-- Eric, www.themorningwoodshow.com

I’ve got one and love it. Whether you get the Wixey or the Tilt Box it is a must have for every shop.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

i have many of their products.. they are all pretty good.

-- making sawdust....

I also have the range, what I have used is great,
I am gonna buy 1 for my Dad, as the large
readout is great for those with failing eyesight.

-- My Fear is when i die, my wife will sell my tools for what I TOLD her they cost

The TiltBox states this for its accuracy ‘It has a range of 90° left or right and a resolution of 0.05° (accurate to 0.2°). I believe the Wixey is accurate to 0.1°

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

Hi Damian:
I found that description on the Lee Valley confrusing.
The meter shows 2 decimals after the interger suggesting that it could measure to a 100th of a degree. (.01)the write up suggests (0.1) – could be a typo?

Bealls write up says it is accurate to 0.1°
++++++++++
The culmination of our long search for a device which could produce precise angle readings on table saws and other shop equipment, the Tilt Box is a digital inclinometer that will read relative angles to an accuracy of +/- .1. Turn it on, place it on your saw table and press the “Zero” button once to establish relative zero. Then attach it to your blade by means of the rare earth magnets on its sides: it will register the relative angle between the blade and the table on a large, easily read display. As a bonus, if you press the “Zero” button again, the Tilt Box will also measure absolute zero, which means that you can also utilize it as a portable pocket level. The Tilt Box is powered by an 9 volt battery, which is included.
++++++++++++++++

Now I dont know what the second decimal place is for other than advertizing.

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I haven’t used either of these devises, but I can offer a comment on precision and/or accuracy versus the display.

[As an aside, it is interesting to consider the difference between precision and accuracy.]

Anyway, the point of this is – just because a device will read to two decimal places, doesn’t mean that it is accurate to this level. It is easy enough for the manufacturer to give a readout with lots of digits after the decimal point. (It might be different these days but once upon a time all chips were made with the capacity to show 8 numbers after the decimal point.)

But this doesn’t mean these numbers are accurate/correct or repeatable.

If it is accuracy you are after, you need to ignore how many digits are displayed and believe the manufacturer.
For the second decimal point to be accurate, they would need to say it was accurate to 0.01.

If one manufacturer says theirs is accurate to 0.1 and another says theirs is accurate to 0.2, then the first one is more accurate. If one says theirs is accurate to 0.1 and another says theirs is accurate to 0.01, then the latter is more accurate. (it doesn’t necessarily mean this is the one you want – you may not need this level of accuracy – which will probably come at a higher price.)

This may lead you to think – “well, why do they have two decimal places on the dial, if the second one is not accurate?” – and the answer is … caveat emptor.

And just to wrap this up – ‘resolution’ in this context (I believe) means this is the smallest number it can display.

-- cheers, Claire (in Oz!)

Great explaination Claire.
I have found in practice that the second decimal is beyond the accuracy of the machines and materials I am using.
I may be more advantageous with a metal milling machin or lathe.

cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I have a lot of useless “gagets” I have bought over the years, but this one was by far worth every penny.

-- I don't make mistakes, only design changes....

I tend to agree with Bob #2.
It’s only wood and it will give enuff with a little clamping pressure or a swipe with sandpaper.
And I can’t tell that close anyway.

If it’s metal you need 1000th’s
If it’s nuclear you need 100000ths

I just use wood. Usually 1 degree is close enuff.
My $.03
Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Sawdust2 (Lee)

In some cases I would agree with you that 1° accuracy is enough. However, if you were cutting a panel say 2’ long then, if you were 1° false, then you would have a discrepancy of 7/16” (10.4 mm) at 24” and at 3” long 1/16” (1.33mm)

Whereas with a an accuracy of 0.1° you would get 0.04” (1.06mm) & 0.01” (0.13mm) respectively.

Even with a 0.1° accuracy when producing parts for the lattice cutting board, this is not accurate enough, with so many joints the accumulative error is just too great – then you need to be dead on 090.00° The Wixey cannot provide this, then you have to go back to your tried and trusted engineering square.

I have purchased an engineers square, which is guaranteed accurate to 0.01° inside and outside angles. This I keep in a wooden box, which used periodically for calibration of other tools.

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Tony, are you using the E/square to set the blade to 90°?

How do you tell if you are nearly 45°?

The reason I ask is that I spent more than enough time building and rebuilding a 45° crosscut sled last week .
The Wixey came to my rescue there as I couldn’t read the angle well enough from and architect’s tri angle.

I had a devil of a time getting the rear bridge on the sled at a perfect 90 and ended up resetting the thing about 4 times then tweaking that with a hand plane.

You soon know how accurate you are when you need four perfect 45’s and 4 perfect 90’s

p.s. love the cutting board. You are a bear for punishment <g>

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Hi Bob

I do not know the “E/square” The 90° square I have is a calibrated engineers square (about 5” long), you can pick them up for about $150. No markings, graduations or other fancy/nice things, just a simple square made to act as a calibration unit for other tools. Temperature makes a very small difference to the accuracy in the order of 0.001°, but as I use mine between 10°C and 25°C I can forget this.

Plain and simple calibrated square

As for setting 45° and other angles (non-critical)

If the angle is referenced to the vertical then I use the Wixey, on the horizontal, its is mainly restricted to the table saw, so I use my The Osborne EB-3 mitre Guide, which I find quite accurate (Once set accurately to 090°)

For setting all angles other than 090° in the vertical and horizontal axis, which are critical. I use my Bevel gauge, although not calibrated, with the calibrated square I find it more than accurate enough for angles and compound angles I make.

Bevel Gauge

Bevel gauge close up (accuracy to 0.1° easily achievable)

We love to tweak and play, but its worth it in the long term, as long as it stays there!

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

I just got the Wixey angle gauge and already find it an essential tool in my shop. I can now set my table saw blade to exactly (+/- .1 deg) or to any other angle I need and don’t have to make repeated test cuts to ensure the accuracy. This saves time, wood, and my poor aching back bending over trying to see light between the blade and a drafting triangle. I have also found it very useful for checking the quill/table alignment on my drill press, and adjusting the guide on a crosscut sled.

Wish I had seen the sale price mentioned earlier but got mine for $34.99 with free shipping so it probably isn’t that much difference in total cost.

Anyway, I would also highly recommend this angle gauge. If I need accuracy of better than .1 deg, then I better stop and rethink why I am woodworking.

Jim