I got two of the same square shaped magnetic digital angle finders off Amazon for about $20 each and I can have them on the same surface and one measures +.25 deg and the other -.25 deg, and that’s too much for my ADD a$$ to be able to handle.
Where can I find a good but cheap-as-possible brand/model of these things that gives a more accurate angle measurement?
Replies
Get the Wixey. It is not as cheap as possible, but you've already taken that trip.
But be advised that the Wixey (and all the others in its class as far as I know) are still advertised as having accuracy of.1 degree. So you may repeat your experiment with a better tool and get the same type of result though with a tighter range. When we talk about plane shavings in thousandths, it can be hard to swallow only getting to tenths.
I believe tenths is all you can get from most of the better miter gauges and my box and frame corners seem to close up OK, so for me .1 degree is good enough.
I found the same thing. I see people on YouTube using them as if they were accurate as a Starrett and I don't know how they get acceptable results.
The Wixey is the most popular brand and if you check their website, they claim accuracy of (+ or -) 0.2 degrees.
That's a range of dang near half a degree! It's fine for setting the sharpening angle on my chisels, or building a deck or an Adirondack chair but not so great for picture frames.
Mike
The Wixey works for me but I keep the battery out when not in use cuz it tends to drain them. The next price-point up in quality is in industrial/machining angle finders.
I'm with Mike. My 2 Wixeys are semi-accurate and usually disagree with each other .2 degrees or so when I've tested them. I use them all the time, especially for setting the initial angle on my table saw before finessing with test cuts, etc, but not for joinery.
Since most angles are relative to a surface, zero to Guage to the surface. They tend to be pretty accurate from there.
They aren't accurate. They just aren't. If I'm setting my table saw blade, I use a square or 45. If I'm making 45'd frames, I finish with a shooting board.
The digital angle guages are great, as someone said, for checking angle on sharpening jigs and anything else where being within a degree or so is OK. But it is not a precision tool.
I respectfully disagree. While I would not bother with one for a 45 or a 90, there are times the digitals are the key. I have both a cube and a protractor. The front frame for the box in the photo is mitered and raked back at 45°. Parts had to be cut at a bevel angle of 30° and a miter angle of 35.3°. Both digital gizmos used for lefts and rights and they fit up perfectly.
You can see more of the process at:
https://www.tailspintools.com/small-dovetail-drawers-in-zebrawood/
Please forgive the disjointed writing, the SEO guys have to do their thing.
Here's my update and what I've found. I got the Klein brand for ~$30 each and both of them read within .1 deg of each other on every surface I've put them on. I went with Klein because someone who had both Klein and Wixey angle gauges said they preferred the Klein hands down...and I'm happy from what I'm seeing.
I use the Klein because it's easy to read, with larger white on black numbers. And it doesn't eat batteries the way the Wixey did. Every time I went to use the Wixey, the batteries were already dead.
Interesting comments. To set 90 and 45 angles I use plastic drafting squares, work fine, check for gaps with 0.001" gauge, when I get none, I set item. For small items like chess board banding, I use my miter trimmer set to 45. If I am off a bit I use, gasp, heresy,clamps. I may need 22.5 in the future and will look into the Klein unit.
Beall Tilt Box has been very reliable for me at the tablesaw, drill press, and anywhere else that a relative angle readout is of benefit. Despite reading to two decimal points, accuracy is .2 degrees IIRC. This would give nearly 3/64" of deviation at 12" of length so if that is outside what you are looking for, move on. I wouldn't want to set a dovetail joint angle with one but, to set most things it is fine.