Woodworking Talk banner

Wixey Digital Angle Gauge for Table Saw

1 reading
2.6K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  Quickstep  
#1 · (Edited)
I recently got the Wixey Digital Angle Gauge and tried it out on the table saw for the first time yesterday. I was making a triangle from multiple pieces and needed accurate 60 degree cuts. I put it on the table, zero'd it, then put it on the blade and cranked until it read 60 degrees. It's accurate to a 10th of a degree, so you can really dial in the angle. I made my six cuts and look at these joints! I should have bought one years ago.

421607
 
#3 ·
I have one. I use it often. It is one of my favorite "gadgets" in the shop. I find new uses for it often. The Rockler store near me had two models for sale, both Wixey brand. I bought the WR365 model because it has a digital earth level as well as the standard relative angle measurement. It also has a tilt display, which isn't that useful to me. The less expensive WR300 model does not have an earth level or tilt display, but it includes a backlight, which the WR365 does not have and would have been nice.

There are so many brands available now for much less money. I do not know if there is a difference between the less expensive brands and the Wixey models like mine. Highly recommended. You will find many uses for it.
 
#5 ·
maybe it's just me... i hate those little gimmicky handy tools with tiny hard to find/replace batteries
i've worked with peoples that swear by digital calipers, but every time i used them the battery is dead
if nasa could build spacecraft with vernier and dial calipers, i can hack together furniture with them too
for woodwork i use vernier calipers, they read to 10,000th, nothing i own can cut to that
my new son-in-law bought a digital angle gauge and dropped it on day one, never worked again
i handed him my sliding t bevel that i've owned since the 70s and said "use this"
for woodwork i use vernier calipers, they read to 10,000th, nothing i own can cut to that
 
#6 ·
I'm with you on the calipers that have the unusual size battery that die at the most inconvenient time. The one good thing about them though is that it's easy for my old eyes to read the display. Igaging makes a dial caliper graduated in 1/64ths. Easy to read and no batteries. I wish I could find a similar one graduated in 1mm increments.

That's another good thing about the Wixey digital angle gauge - it takes a regular ol' AAA battery.
 
#9 ·
...Igaging makes a dial caliper graduated in 1/64ths. Easy to read and no batteries. I wish I could find a similar one graduated in 1mm increments.
I just ordered one of these from Banggood. I also prefer dial over digital for most measurements.
 
#7 ·
Not sure why anyone would have difficulty in finding a place to purchase these batteries now days. Yes, I mean the various thin wafer style batteries. The shelf life is incredible, until the seal glued onto the battery, is removed. Pretty easy to keep a spare(s) on hand.
Car remote, fish weighing scale, digital calipers, garage door opener, drill press digital readout, garage entry door keypad, dust collector remote, trolling motor hand remote are just a few of items I own which use them. On average I replace a battery in any one device, about once every two years.
About the only thing I have which still uses a "AA or AAA" battery is a LED headlamp. Even then, most of my more powerful headlamps use a rechargeable 18650 battery.

If one really does not want a digital caliper, a dial caliper is a huge step up from trying to read the thin lines on a vernier caliper. IMHO One plus to a digital caliper, is the ability to instantly switch from imperial to metric and back, at will. So many project plans and designs out there that are in metric dimensions.
 
#14 ·
Not sure why anyone would have difficulty in finding a place to purchase these batteries now days. Yes, I mean the various thin wafer style batteries. The shelf life is incredible, until the seal glued onto the battery, is removed. Pretty easy to keep a spare(s) on hand.
Car remote, fish weighing scale, digital calipers, garage door opener, drill press digital readout, garage entry door keypad, dust collector remote, trolling motor hand remote are just a few of items I own which use them. On average I replace a battery in any one device, about once every two years.
About the only thing I have which still uses a "AA or AAA" battery is a LED headlamp. Even then, most of my more powerful headlamps use a rechargeable 18650 battery.

If one really does not want a digital caliper, a dial caliper is a huge step up from trying to read the thin lines on a vernier caliper. IMHO One plus to a digital caliper, is the ability to instantly switch from imperial to metric and back, at will. So many project plans and designs out there that are in metric dimensions.
i'm with you on the batteries. i have 10 of every battery needed for all the stuff i have. i guess i just don't use calipers often enough to justify replacing batteries every time i need to measure something. i've had the vernier calipers since the 70s and the dial calipers since the 80s. the dial calipers were given to me by my boss, he asked for calipers to measure something, i handed him the verniers, he had no idea how to read them. i doubt a set of digital calipers would last that long.
 
#10 ·
Two observations/questions.
1) Using a digital angle gauge ... what if you're table saw isn't sitting perfectly level? I am assuming the gauge read angle based on gravitational level, like a bubble? If your table saw is sitting on a 2 degree depression in the floor, your angle is off by 2 degrees, no?
2) From a machinist's point of view, calipers, whether digital or vernier, are basically glorified rulers. They cannot be trusted for measurements smaller than 0.001" or 0.05mm. You can change the reading more than that just by varying thumb pressure. For measurements smaller than those, you use a micrometer. Just because a digital READS in thousands of a millimeter, or 10,000ths of an inch, doesn't actually make it that accurate. Granted, the more you use it, and the better you are, the closer you can get, but they just aren't that accurate.

As has been stated, woodworking doesn't require measurements this small. I'm just voicing opinions.
 
#11 ·
1) Using a digital angle gauge ... what if you're table saw isn't sitting perfectly level? I am assuming the gauge read angle based on gravitational level, like a bubble? If your table saw is sitting on a 2 degree depression in the floor, your angle is off by 2 degrees, no?
Your assumption is wrong. The blade angle measured by a digital gage is referenced to the table surface. No different than closing the jaws on a digital caliper and zeroing the display. The angle gage is set on the table surface and the display is zeroed. The blade angle is then calculated from that zero reference of the table.
 
#13 ·
All of the digital angle gauges support relative angle measurements, where you zero the angle on the table and then stick the magnet to the blade to get your blade angle for a table saw or miter saw, as @Dave McCann described above. They are so cheap, accurate, and easy to use, I would recommend one to everyone who tilts the blade to cut bevels on their table saw or miter saw.

Some other digital angle gauges include an extra readout in the display, where they also show you the angle from earth level - like a small bubble level with digital accuracy. Mine has an image of a bubble in addition to the digital readout. I have seen others with a glass vial bubble level included, too.