Beall Angle measuring device

[Steven Bolton]

Hi:

I wonder if the specs. on this device mean it is that accurate? It will "....read relative angles to a resolution of .05 with an accuracy of +/- .1."

I want to cut 45 degree angles on a table saw for box making. Will this be an asset worth $40.00?

Thanks

Steve Bolton

[Jeff Wright]

I just ordered one today. You might want to read (and view the accompanying video demo) at the following website:

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/bealltiltboxrvu.html

[Michael Weber]

I believe the accuracy IIRC is .1 degree. Accuracy and resolution are two different things as you have supposed.

[ryan smythe]

Have a look at this review.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57944

[Eddie Darby]

It has received good reviews, and I haven't run across any complaints.

You can always set-up 45* cuts without one of these digital units.

[Jim DeLaney]

I like mine. I've had it for a couple months, and have found it to be very accurate,

I also have the Wixey. It's also very accurate - just as accurate as the Beall, in fact.

The Beall has a metal case and magnets on the side.

The Wixey has a plastic case and magnets on the bottom.

For the Beall, you zero it on the saw's table, then just slide it over to the blade and let the magnets hook up. It then reads the tilt angle directly.

The Wixey is slightly different: You still zero it out on the saw's table, but then you have to turn it on its side to attach it to the blade. For a left-tilting saw, you then have to count down from 90 to get the angle you want.

The Beall uses a readily available 9 volt battery, but you do need to open up the case (using the included screwdriver) to change it. The Wixey uses a coin-type battery, but you don't have to take the cover off to change it - just open the access door on the case.

Overall, my preference is for the Beall.

BTW, the only reason I have both is that one was given to me as a gift.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

BTW, the only reason I have both is that one was given to me as a gift.

And I was just getting to wonder if you had a fixation for digital angle devices. ;-0

[Gary Keedwell]

And I was just getting to wonder if you had a fixation for digital angle devices. ;-0

:confused: You make that sound bad.:rolleyes:

Gary K.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

How does one eliminate any cosine error that may occur when the blade moves, or if the user places the tilt box on the blade in a way that lays the tilt box off on some unknown amount out from a dead vertical position. I don't mean the axis that is secured by the magnets I mean the axis that can be found by twisting the tilt box with the magnets in contact with the blade - or simply rotating the blade a bit.

[Phil Thien]

I have both. They both have their strong points.

First, the Wixey is not plastic. Just the front and back are plastic. The rest is an aluminum extrusion.

2nd, having the magnets on the bottom (like the Wixey) makes sense. That way you are always referencing the same surface of the gauge.

I find that the Beall wobbles a little on a flat surface.

The Wixey uses a pendulum. The Beall uses some newfangled technology.

[Bill Huber]

I have a Beall and can not use it, it just has to much sensitivity and I can set it on my saw and it will never 0 out but a few times if I don't move and the wind is not blowing.

So I still just use my good old drafting triangle to set my blade.

My shop is on a metal frame on blocks and the frame moves to much for it I guess.

[glenn bradley]

Hi:

I wonder if the specs. on this device mean it is that accurate? It will "....read relative angles to a resolution of .05 with an accuracy of +/- .1."

I want to cut 45 degree angles on a table saw for box making. Will this be an asset worth $40.00?

Thanks

Steve Bolton

I used the Wixey which is .05 less accurate readout-wise and my boxes worked out fine.

[Bruce Benjamin]

I have both. They both have their strong points.

First, the Wixey is not plastic. Just the front and back are plastic. The rest is an aluminum extrusion.

2nd, having the magnets on the bottom (like the Wixey) makes sense. That way you are always referencing the same surface of the gauge.

I find that the Beall wobbles a little on a flat surface.

The Wixey uses a pendulum. The Beall uses some newfangled technology.

Considering your negative comments about the Beall, I'm curious what you find as, "Strong points" with the Beall as compared to the Wixey. I think that they are both excellent tools but I found the Beall to be equal to or superior in pretty much every way. At least in the ways that I tested it, anyway. But I would be happy to have either one if I didn't have a choice.

If you read the whole SMC thread linked earlier in this thread you'll see in post #14 that I specifically address the, "Plastic" comment. I should've been more clear in my review that the Wixey is a mix of both plastic and metal. I explained that clearly in post #14 though.

My Beall sits perfectly flat. This is the first complaint I've heard like this. Did you try calling Beall? I'm certain they will take care of you if it's defective. The first one I received had a problem with the buttons. They paid for return shipping and sent me another one right away. Excellent customer service, and really nice people.

You MUST be joking about the, "Newfangled technology" comment, right? If not, well, I won't bother explaining why I see this as making no sense.:rolleyes: ;)

Bruce

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Just to up date:
I e-mailed Tom Hintz about his Beal review. I asked the same question I posted above about Cosine error when the operator sets the thing on the blade at a slight angle or the blade moves a bit.
He said he tried to induce error that way and found no error developing.

And

I emailed Beal with the same question this was the reply:


"It appears that that axis is not too critical to its operation. A few degrees fore or aft does not seem to matter."

So apparently they (Beal) haven't got a mechanism to correct for cosine error but rather they expect that you'll visually place it accurately enough.

Maybe some consistent physical vertical reference like a square along the front or back as you place it might be a good idea.

[Phil Thien]

Considering your negative comments about the Beall, I'm curious what you find as, "Strong points" with the Beall as compared to the Wixey. I think that they are both excellent tools but I found the Beall to be equal to or superior in pretty much every way. At least in the ways that I tested it, anyway. But I would be happy to have either one if I didn't have a choice.

If you read the whole SMC thread linked earlier in this thread you'll see in post #14 that I specifically address the, "Plastic" comment. I should've been more clear in my review that the Wixey is a mix of both plastic and metal. I explained that clearly in post #14 though.

My Beall sits perfectly flat. This is the first complaint I've heard like this. Did you try calling Beall? I'm certain they will take care of you if it's defective. The first one I received had a problem with the buttons. They paid for return shipping and sent me another one right away. Excellent customer service, and really nice people.

You MUST be joking about the, "Newfangled technology" comment, right? If not, well, I won't bother explaining why I see this as making no sense.:rolleyes: ;)

Bruce

The only reason I brought up the plastic/metal comment is that it was once again mentioned by another poster in this very thread that the Wixey is plastic. I've also seen this mentioned [and corrected] in your previous thread, and on other forums. It just stands repeating that the Wixey isn't some plastic toy.

The Beall wobbles on at least two sides on my reference plate. Probably off by approx. .001" or less (I did not measure it). I did not call Beall as it seems to me that the design of the unit, with the painted case, will tend towards that sort of problem. That is, it seems to me to be a design issue, not a manufacturing issue. It almost feels like the surfaces need to be lapped.

As sensitive as the Beall seems to be, it strikes me as odd that the wobble doesn't seem to introduce any artifacts into the readings. Cosine issues, I guess.

The Beall's strong points would be the extra sensitivity and the newfangled technology inclinometer that they are using. The Wixey still uses a pendulum, which off course can introduce friction error.

[Jason Garrett]

The Beall wobbles on at least two sidesMine does too.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have the Wixey and am very satisfied with it.:)

Gary K.

[James Phillips]

How does one eliminate any cosine error that may occur when the blade moves, or if the user places the tilt box on the blade in a way that lays the tilt box off on some unknown amount out from a dead vertical position. I don't mean the axis that is secured by the magnets I mean the axis that can be found by twisting the tilt box with the magnets in contact with the blade - or simply rotating the blade a bit.

You will get some error here, but it is very small. I will not attempt to lay out the math here, but you would see the movement well before the error is significant. Bottom line: If it looks 'veritcal' (perpendicular to the table in both axes) then you are close enough.

[Jim DeLaney]

...First, the Wixey is not plastic. Just the front and back are plastic. The rest is an aluminum extrusion....

Okay, I stand corrected on the Wixey not being a totally plastic case. However, I did not mean the reference to plastic as a 'slam' on the Wixey. There's really nothing wromg with having a plastic case. After all, nearly all your portable tools these days have plastic cases or housings - your drill, sabre saw, biscuit jointer, circular saw, etc. - and nobody blast them for it, so why should the Wixey be any different?

The metal case doesn't make the Beall any better - just different from the Wixey. Dropping either of them on a concrete floor will likely render them useless - regardless of case material, so what's the big deal?

The Beall uses a readily available battery. I might have to look a little harder to find a place that sells the Wixey's battery, but still, it's available at drug stores, Radio Shacks, maybe even K-Mart or Wal-Mart, so it's not a big problem.

Getting to the meat of my comparison: They're both equally accurate, at least in my uses for them. They're both about the same price, and they're both very useful tools.

[Steve Clardy]

I have the wixley. I like it.

[glenn bradley]

How does one eliminate any cosine error that may occur when the blade moves, or if the user places the tilt box on the blade in a way that lays the tilt box off on some unknown amount out from a dead vertical position. I don't mean the axis that is secured by the magnets I mean the axis that can be found by twisting the tilt box with the magnets in contact with the blade - or simply rotating the blade a bit.

You can get a false reading if you alter the 'pivot axis' when moving from surface to surface. This of course happens to some degree unless you're a robot. The tolerance seems very acceptable. The pivot would have to be significantly off to get a bad reading. I've found no problems eye-balling the correct position but have experimented on how far I have to go to get a bad reading; pretty far.

[glenn bradley]

I have a Beall and can not use it, it just has to much sensitivity and I can set it on my saw and it will never 0 out but a few times if I don't move and the wind is not blowing.

So I still just use my good old drafting triangle to set my blade.

My shop is on a metal frame on blocks and the frame moves to much for it I guess.

Bill, I would look at getting a replacement. I haven't seen any other posts about that behavior. My DRO for my planer had some issues and the replacement works beautifully. The dancing you're getting doesn't sound like the norm.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You will get some error here, but it is very small. I will not attempt to lay out the math here, but you would see the movement well before the error is significant. Bottom line: If it looks 'veritcal' (perpendicular to the table in both axes) then you are close enough.

Yah that's what the Beal people told me.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

:confused: You make that sound bad.:rolleyes:

Gary K.

Now why would a tool fixation be bad? ;-)

[Gary Keedwell]

Never:p ;)

Gary K.

[Bill Huber]

Bill, I would look at getting a replacement. I haven't seen any other posts about that behavior. My DRO for my planer had some issues and the replacement works beautifully. The dancing you're getting doesn't sound like the norm.

Glenn, I can put the unit on my bench which is connect to the wall and not the floor and it will zero just fine. When I put it on my Ridgid sander table it will zero just fine, it is on a bench attached to the wall.
So it has to be the floor, if I set it on the saw and don't move for 30 sec. some times it will zero out, but then when I put it on the blade it jumps all over the place, it will go from .05 to .8 and back and forth.

I am sure that no one here has a shop setting on blocks like I have. It is just a Tuff Shed with 2"x6" galvanized steel floor joist and 3/4 in. plywood.

[Bruce Benjamin]

Just to up date:
I e-mailed Tom Hintz about his Beal review. I asked the same question I posted above about Cosine error when the operator sets the thing on the blade at a slight angle or the blade moves a bit.
He said he tried to induce error that way and found no error developing.

And

I emailed Beal with the same question this was the reply:



So apparently they (Beal) haven't got a mechanism to correct for cosine error but rather they expect that you'll visually place it accurately enough.

Maybe some consistent physical vertical reference like a square along the front or back as you place it might be a good idea.

It almost sounds like you're looking for a problem with the Beall that doesn't really exist. Are you just trying to make a point that there is the possibility of error or have you actually experienced the problem? I've used mine for a while now and I haven't had any problem at all with keeping the unit in the same position. I don't even really think about it. I zero it, stick it to a blade, crank the blade over, read the numbers. Tilting it forwards or backwards a slight amount won't cause any significant error. I really don't see the problem. If you don't think it will work well then you probably shouldn't buy one. But if you do buy one I'm fairly certain that you'd be happy with it if you give it a chance. To each their own I guess.

Bruce

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I just ordered one.

Normally I am not a gadget person but what the hell~~~~