Replies

1. 
   jim | Sep 12, 2005 01:44pm | #1

   Charnwood;

   I use the anglemaster from Bridgecity tools.  It is spendy but does a great job.

   Regards,

   Jim

2. 
   luther | Sep 12, 2005 02:11pm | #2

   You can purchase a precise angle protractor at any store that sells drafting tools.

   Even one from H.F. is very accurate & very low in cost. (3 S.I.Ls have these)

   I have a very old Starret metal protractor & the cheaper acrilic ones are on the nose at every setting.

   This is no longer-rocket science !

   woody/LUTHER

3. 
   hammer1 | Sep 12, 2005 02:22pm | #3

   I used to have a tilt top saw, an old Dunlap from the 50's. It got me by for a while but I don't miss it. I also used an old S. A. Wood in a shop I worked in. This monster had three 16" blades that you could crank around and a tilt top that had to weigh a ton. I have a Starrett machinists set with the combination square and protractor head. I use the protractor head to set a sliding T-bevel and reference that to the table saw. You could set the sliding T-bevel with any protractor. There are some very useful measuring tools available from drafting and art supply stores that aren't very expensive.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
4. 
   Ricks503 | Sep 12, 2005 04:29pm | #4

   I have a set of plastic drafting triangles and also an adjustable one - all from a drafting supply store and they are dead accurate.  Also, If anything happens to one it is inexpensive to replace.  Now,  I will also admit that I do have a couple of nice machinist squares along with a 45* one that were a touch spendy (starrett & Incra) that I also use but they are not any more accurate - just stand up on the saw better.

   1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
1. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 12, 2005 05:42pm | #5

   plastic drafting triangles and also an adjustable one - all from a drafting supply store and they are dead accurate...SO RIGHT... I use to work for a BIG Company (No longer in business)that made metal and plastic drafting tools and guages...The plastic stuff was dead-nuts-on.. Most of the time so was the metal ones...

1. 
   jkl | Sep 13, 2005 04:31am | #6

   But check them first! When my daughter was a high school freshman, she had a big year-end mapping project in her general science class that required producing a very accurate map of a segment of the school grounds. Weeks spent measuring were followed by long nights doing very careful drawings. Elizabeth grew very frustrated because things that should have come together didn't. I double checked her, and agreed something was screwy. I drew a striaght line, used her triangle to draw a "perpendicular" to it, then flipped the triangle over and tried to line it up to the supposed right angle -- must have been more than two degrees off. Took it back to the store and they offered to swap the triangle for another. The replacement flunked the same test right there by the cash register, so I took a refund -- and I'm sure the triangles ended up back on the shelves waiting for another buyer.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 14, 2005 06:41am | #10

   I hear you.. There is bad stuff of almost anything...
   I guess I was saying the plactic stuff we made that was to Spec.. was as good as and usually more accurate than the metal ones.. Well, NOT the really expensive metal ones..

5. 
   jeffs | Sep 13, 2005 09:41am | #7

   I bought one of those protractors from Anglwright a number of years ago... I don't use it often but it is very accurate when I do. I think any accurate protractor (drafting tools work well and would be much less expensive) would work as well in combination with a sliding bevel.  I think the orginal company is now out of business but am not sure about that.

    

   Jeff

1. 
   charnwood | Sep 13, 2005 12:58pm | #8

   Thankyou   Jim,Woody/Luther,Hammer(1) and Ricks503 who have replied to my inital question about measuring angles

    

   Regards Charnwood

   (Thought for the day In God we trust everyone else must document)

1. 
   charnwood | Sep 13, 2005 01:03pm | #9

   Dear Jeffs and JKL,

    Thankyou for your replies. Sorry I missed you off my original message of thanks

    

   regards Charnwood

6. 
   JohnWW | Sep 14, 2005 10:27pm | #11

   Charnwood,

   Setting the tilt of the blade with a highly accurate, specialized, and expensive tool still doesn't guarantee that the cut end of the board will be at the angle you want.  Tiny movements and inaccuracies of the blade. the arbor, the table top, and the stock will all affect the actual angle of the cut.  Because of this you are wasting your time trying to preset the tilt of the blade perfectly with a specialized tool.

   The best approach is to set the blade using the scale on the saw and then take a test cut, then measure the angle on the cut end of the board.  This cut, in the end, is what has to be exact.  If you are doing mitered corners, cut two test pieces and check that their combined angles are 90 degrees or whatever angle you need. 

   This still requires that you have a good square, or possibly a protractor head on a combination square for odd angles, to check the cut ends if the stock, but an accurate square is a basic shop tool that you should own in any case.  There is no need to buy an expensive tool, with very limited use, that still won't give you the accuracy of the method I just described.

   John W.

1. 
   charnwood | Sep 15, 2005 11:00pm | #12

   Dear Johnww,

      Thankyou for your  reply

   Charnwood