The tool for November is the Wixey Digital Angle Gauge (featured in Video Episode 14) from Professional Woodworker Supplies.
In simple terms, you place this tool on one surface, zero the scale, and then move the gauge to another surface to find (and possibly set) its angle relative to the first. Hmm – thought I said simple terms.
For example, here I am zeroing the gauge on the bed of a planer, as I want to ensure the planer fence is exactly at 90 degrees. It doesn’t matter if the planer itself is level or not, so long as the angle between the bed and the fence is 90.
Next, I move the gauge (which is magnetic) to the fence of the planer to check its angle.
Here I can see the fence is 90 degrees +/- 0.05 degrees.
It seems a simple concept, even a novelty, but within a very short time I found it to be invaluable. No longer relying on the coarse gauge on the tool (where you’d often be lucky to get within a degree or 5), you can set extremely accurate angles.
Some examples that come to mind – the angle of the table relative to the blade of a bandsaw, or the table to the drill bit of a bench press, the angle of the blade relative to the table of a tablesaw.
It is an apron tool – one you keep in the pocket of your shop apron it is that useful.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Calibration, Professional Woodworker Supplies, Wixey, Wixey Digital Gauge
