Update: Bought a cheap digital angle gauge for setting up my table saw

I saw one on sale for about 25 bucks online and thought it was a steal. Used it to set the blade angle for some mitered corners on a cabinet face frame. Everything felt off when I did a test cut, so I checked it with my old machinist square. The digital gauge was reading 45.2 degrees when it was actually 44.7. That tiny difference meant my joints didn't close tight. I wasted a full sheet of nice maple plywood, about 90 dollars worth, before I figured out the tool was the problem. Now I only trust my old manual gauge and double check with a known good square. Has anyone found a digital angle finder that actually holds its calibration for more than a week?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilyr2521d agoMost Upvoted

Classic case of you get what you pay for. That half a degree is the difference between a perfect joint and a trip to the lumber yard for more wood. My digital one started telling me my flat workbench was on a 3 degree slope after a month. Now it just lives in a drawer as a reminder that sometimes the old tools are the best.

grace_white21d ago

My uncle's old steel square is the only thing I trust, it's outlasted three of those digital things. They just can't handle shop dust.

simon71716d ago

Exactly! My grandpa's old framing square is still dead on after 40 years. Those digital levels just seem to have a built-in expiration date.