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Thread: Dual axis inclinometer?

  1. #1
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    Dual axis inclinometer?

    Does anyone have input to a 2 axis angle finder (digital)? I am working toward making a low stool (or two if things work out). I am interested in pairing a hand drill (pneumatic or manual) with a digital angle finder to make accurate holes (X and Y at the same time).

    I am targeting green wood from some of the trees that have been blown and/or cut down in my part of Oklahoma in the last week. I have a huge hackberry log in my truck right now and a sharp froe in the shop.

    I see some cheap ones online but none of them are brands (if they have brands) that I am familiar with. I've never owned a Wixey but I have heard good things about them. I do not see where they even make a dual axis (simultaneous X,Y) reader. I'm happy to try this with a protractor but if there was a $50 tool that will help get it fast, repeatable and exact I would be happy.

  2. #2
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    Adjustable bevel gage on a 45°? Calculate angle with trig, then use tilting table on drill press? Just thinking out loud here...how did guys make stools in the olden days before the digital age? I'm betting their method was surprisingly simple and elegant...
    Last edited by Jacob Reverb; 05-30-2019 at 2:33 PM.

  3. #3
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    I don't know of a two axis unit, but I'd be tempted to try rigging up two wixey units at 90 degrees to each other. What I don't know without playing around with the one I have is whether it would thrown off by being tilted in two axes...

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Devon Prescott View Post
    Does anyone have input to a 2 axis angle finder (digital)? I am working toward making a low stool (or two if things work out). I am interested in pairing a hand drill (pneumatic or manual) with a digital angle finder to make accurate holes (X and Y at the same time).

    I am targeting green wood from some of the trees that have been blown and/or cut down in my part of Oklahoma in the last week. I have a huge hackberry log in my truck right now and a sharp froe in the shop.

    I see some cheap ones online but none of them are brands (if they have brands) that I am familiar with. I've never owned a Wixey but I have heard good things about them. I do not see where they even make a dual axis (simultaneous X,Y) reader. I'm happy to try this with a protractor but if there was a $50 tool that will help get it fast, repeatable and exact I would be happy.
    You don't need a 2-axis angle finder.

    Take a dowel, put it on your miter saw, put a 10 degree angle on it. Now put it on your stool and mess around with the splay until TLAR (That Looks About Right). Mark the insertion point, where the dowel touches the slab, and drop a plumb from the end of the dowel. Connect those two dots. That is the drill line. Put your drill bit on that drill line, and elevate to 80 degrees, which you can measure with the Wixey/protractor. Drill. BOOM! Lather/rinse/repeat.

    Drake

  5. #5
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    Low tech is a fine option. That is one of the reasons I am asking before experimenting.

    This is going to sound crazy but its hard for me to leave 90 on a drill job. I have spent so much time trying to ensure that my freehand drilling operations were at 2 right angles to the work that I get anxious about skewing up. I made some practice cuts last night in green wood with my (original) Powerbore bits and it gives me creeps to skew off 90. I may be looking for training wheels when I should just get on the bike and ride.

  6. #6
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    Drake,

    I think I read (maybe C. Schwarz?) describe a method like this. Its something I need to try before I "get it". My mind is not very flexible at modeling new processes but my hands always seem to know what to do.

  7. #7
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    Devon,
    You could make a drill guide block from wood. This might be a block of wood with a round hole with bushing to keep the drill bit centered in the guide. You would clamp the guide block to your material to drill your holes at the correct angles. Let me know if you need more of an explanation and I will draw up a sketch for you.
    David

  8. #8
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    David, I thought about this. Boeing used to issue a very cool clear acrylic drill guide block with hardened steel bushings inside of it (all 90, of course). I was looking at one of these (my parents both used to build 747s) in my shop and wondered if I could cook something up. My shop is full of surplus Boeing tooling from plant closures and "down cycles" in WA and KS. This would work great on my stool project - less good if the angles changed on taller stools or chairs (I am NOT ready to build reliable chairs - let me be clear about that). But a quick wooden guide would be easy to fab up (again and again as needed).

    I appreciate everyone's replies. I may take a chance on a no-name dual axis unit and report back (if I can find one for about $50 shipped).

  9. #9
    If you have a smart phone you have a 2-axis inclinometer. There are a bunch of levels/inclinometer apps out there. I like the Physics Toolbox ones on Android devices.

  10. #10
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    A chair maker would use a sight line, a square, and a bevel gauge to position the drill bit. There will be one plane of rotation where the drill bit will be square to the seat -- the intersection of that plane with the seat bottom defines the sight line -- draw that on the seat. Next, place the square on that line so that you can determine if the drill bit is in the correct plane. Next, the angle of the leg is set on the bevel, and set that so that the leg of the bevel guides the correct angle for the drill bit. Voilla! Drill away.

    BTW, I find a bit and brace to work just fine.

    Mike

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