To gloat or not to gloat...

[Brian Brown]

This isn't really a gloat because I am probably the last person on the planet to get one, but I got my Wixey angle guage today. THIS IS SO COOL!!! I WONDER WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG??? I really like segmented work, and the cheesey protractors I have used in the past are very questionable in the accuracy department, and require a microscope to read them. I checked the blade on my TS for square, and the best I could do with my old protractor was 7 tenths of a degree off, according to Wixey. That may not seem like much, but in segmenting, it is HUGE! If the accuracy is anything like the reviews I have read on this forum I'm going to love it. I even think I have figured out how to use it to check my segmenting jig.

My choice was between a $140.00 analog unit that is still hard to see (maybe I'm getting old), or a Wixey for $40.00 that even my grandma with cataracts can read! Tough decision. Now I have $100.00 left for more toys (don't tell SWMBO). Various family members ponied up cash for my birthday, and the Wixey was first on my list of new toys. I also picked up a bowl sander and a drill bit chuck. Both necessary, but they weren't as exciting when I opened the box. I'm hoping these new acquisitions will speed up my turning prep, so I can make more than 1 piece every six months. Now I just need to figure out where to buy about 4 extra hours each day. Anybody know a supplier?

Brian

[TYLER WOOD]

ohhhhhh very jealous! I've been looking at those wanting one to start segmenting with. That's on my to get list. Nice gloat!

[Robert McGowen]

Brian,

Please do not gloat anymore. You just cost me $40. :)

Diana
(Robert's wife)

[Doug Thompson]

OK Brian you got my intrest... could you let me know where you bought it. Matter of fact what is it! LOL

[Robert McGowen]

OK Brian you got my intrest... could you let me know where you bought it. Matter of fact what is it! LOL


"Wixey angle gauge" at Google will give you the Wixley home page as the first entry.

[Brian Brown]

OK Brian you got my intrest... could you let me know where you bought it. Matter of fact what is it! LOL

I got my Wixey at Woodcraft. It is an angle guage that makes it easy to accuratly set the angle of your saw blade, sander disc, etc. relative to the table or fence. This way, you can get very accurate angles. In segmented work this is important because a ring with 12 segments multiplies any cutting errors by 24 (2 cuts per segment). So, a cutting error of .10 degrees becomes a total error of 2.4 degrees. Thats a big error, but it can be fixed by carefully sanding the ends of your 1/2 rings (.60 degrees per half ring end) during assembly, and the error correction will likely not be very easily seen. However, an error of .70 degrees in cutting becomes a total error of 16.8 degrees, a huge error. It is unlikely that you can sand that much error out without it being obvious. Any amount of error will result in an "egg shaped" ring, the idea is to get the least amount of "egging". Here's hopping Wixey will greatly improve my accuracy. Eggs are for cooking, not turning.

Brian

[Jerry Allen]

I have a Wixey angle gauge and love it. I use it for any tool I can measure including saws, drill presses, jointer, band saw, etc. I got it on sale some months ago for $36.
Hartville has them for $29 right now. http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/12456

[Stuart Johnson]

I'm missing something. How are you using the angle gauge? I understand being able to set the blade tilt but don't see how you are using it to set the angle. I have one and use it very regularly to verify how square my jointer, table saw blade and so forth are but I use a Jointech sled for my segment angles.

[Jerry Allen]

Stuart,
I think he just means the blade angle. There are digital protractors though that would do what you are talking about. Never used one myself.

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

For what it's worth, there is another tool, for the same price, and perhaps even better, and it's sold by the Beall Tool Company. After all that Jerry Beall has done for the woodturning world, you might consider his device first. I had one of his proto-types during development which read to the 1/10 of a degree. His final device reads to the 100th of a degree. Great tool. I have no financial connection, just a lot of respect for his offerings. Here's a link to his tool:

http://www.bealltool.com/products/measuring/tiltbox.php (http://www.bealltool.com/products/measuring/tiltbox.php)

[Robert McGowen]

All of this brings up a question that sounds simple enough, but who knows. Usually you would use a sled that has the angle of cut, say 15 degrees, built into a fence and the blade on the saw is 90 degrees. You need a different sled or adjustable fence for each angle or different number of segments in a given ring. Could you make ONE sled that has a fence that is perpendicular, i.e. square to the blade, and use a device like the Wixley or Beall to change the angle of the blade? You would just have to place the piece being cut against the fence and cut it. You could cut a ring with any number of segments just by cranking the blade back and forth and reading the digital readout of the blade angle. It SEEMS like it would be very exact with a digital measurement, super fast to set up or change, and you would just need one simple sled for any number of segments in a ring. Am I missing something? Help me out here Malcolm!

[Rick Gifford]

For what it's worth, there is another tool, for the same price, and perhaps even better, and it's sold by the Beall Tool Company. After all that Jerry Beall has done for the woodturning world, you might consider his device first. I had one of his proto-types during development which read to the 1/10 of a degree. His final device reads to the 100th of a degree. Great tool. I have no financial connection, just a lot of respect for his offerings. Here's a link to his tool:

http://www.bealltool.com/products/measuring/tiltbox.php (http://www.bealltool.com/products/measuring/tiltbox.php)


Hartville Tool also has this on sale for $31.98
http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/12511

[Don Eddard]

Malcolm beat me to it. The Beall has slightly better resolution, too. It shows hundredths, not tenths of a degree.

Still, congrats on the new toys Brian. You'll like having the easy and accurate blade angles. The chuck and the sander will be real useful too.

[Jerry Allen]

Thanks Malcolm, Rick, and Don.
Think I'll get an upgrade and give the Wixey as a gift.

[Tim A. Mitchell]

It shows hundredths, not tenths of a degree.

It may show 1/100ths on the read out, but right in the write-up, it says it measures to the 1/10th.

From the link above: ". . . digital inclinometer that will read relative angles to an accuracy of +/- .1."

[Jerry Allen]

That's what both links say. Thanks Tim. I almost ordered thinking it was accurate to 36 seconds, not 6 minutes. There is something somewhere that says the resolution is .05, so perhaps that is the reason for the extra zero.

[Brian Brown]

I'm missing something. How are you using the angle gauge? I understand being able to set the blade tilt but don't see how you are using it to set the angle. I have one and use it very regularly to verify how square my jointer, table saw blade and so forth are but I use a Jointech sled for my segment angles.

Stuart,

I use the angle guage to set the blade angle, and I wanted to use it to set the miter fence on my segment sled. I figured I could just stand the sled on it's end, and set the guage to zero against the miter slot track on the botom. Then I could measure the fence on the opposite side. Some times the best laid plans crash and burn!, especially for me. The slot track varied as much as .2 degree depending on where I measured it. I spent over an hour trying to make this work. At some point, I should have gotten the idea that this just wasn't going to work, but not me. I even turned my saw on it's side (it's a portable) thinking that might work. Ok, this plan is going downhill fast. After a little thought, I came up with a new plan. Scary isn't it.

Warning!!! The new plan is so daring, dangerous and difficult that the average mortal man should not attempt it.:D Be warned that the stunts depicted in the pictures are performed by professionals, and should not be tried at home. :eek: After setting the saw and segment miter back up. I simply cut a new "largish" segment. Then I took Wixey and set it to zero relative to my workbench.

75447

Then, and here is the dangerous part, I put the freshly cut segment on the bench (same spot where Wixey was), and put Wixey on the edge of the segment, and measured the angle.

75448

If the angle was off a bit, I just readjusted my miter fence, and went through the whole process again until it was perfect. Remember that you need to cut 2 fresh edges on your new segment, not just one. There it is. Very simple. As SWMBO would say, leave it to me to make something simple so d**n difficult.

As for the Beall measuring guage thas has resolution to 1/100 degree, that is great if your tools are that accurate, and someday I hope for me and my tools to be that accurate, but right now, my toy budget only allows for tools that can be difficult to set in 1/10 degree increments. It just leaves room for new toys in the future.

Brian

[David Fried]

That's what both links say. Thanks Tim. I almost ordered thinking it was accurate to 36 seconds, not 6 minutes. There is something somewhere that says the resolution is .05, so perhaps that is the reason for the extra zero.

It may have a resolution of .05 but if the accuarcy is +/- .1, as stated on the web site, then I think the extra digit is really meaningless.

Don't get me wrong, +/- .1 would be a huge improvement for me and one of these is on my Christmas list. I'll just igmore that hundredths reading. :D

Also, thanks for the tip - I never would have figured out how to use it for the mitre angle - of course, it's obvious once you show us!

[Richard Magbanua]

I love my Wixie gauge! I use it to set my miter gauge by zeroing it on my tablesaw egde. Then I hang my miter gauge on the same edge with the bar vertical. I stick the wixie on the side of the miter bar without the adjusting set screws and adjust to my desired angle. It's so fast and accurate that I don't even use the numbers on my Incra V27 anymore. I also use it to check that my saw wings are coplanar, my jointer fence is square, bandsaw table angles (in relation to the blade), miter saw bevels, drill press, mortiser bits, and on and on and on. If you find any other uses, let us know! Also, about the Beall. I heard somewhere that even though it reads in thousandths, it only measures to tenths. Hope this helps!