digital protractor vs Tilt-o-meter

[Ken Platt]

Folks -

I needed to set my tablesaw for a 3 degree tilt today in order to bevel rip and didn't have any good way to do it directly. So, I thought I'd order one of those tilt box doohickeys from LV, but I noticed they also have a digital protractor, about half the price of the tilt box. It seems as though it would do more or less the same job, and perhaps be a bit more versatile since you could also use it to measure angles in odd places, on non-metalic objects, check miter angles, and so on. (My next job will be to rip wedges, also at 3 degrees, for the wedged tenon joint I'm making).

I thought I'd see if anyone had thoughts on which works better where or if the protractor is really sufficient.

I don't do a lot of angled work, but I'm thinking that for a few bucks, it's worth having one of these things around for times of need...like now.

Ken

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...78&cat=1,43513

[Bill Huber]

I have the Wixey 8" digital protractor and have not use the Wixey digital angle finder very much now that I have the protractor.

I like it better to set the blade on the TS with because it has magnets on both sides and will stick right to the table and to the blade which makes for a very good setting. Plus you can use it for a lot of other things, drill press, band saw, checking angels and so on.

The angle gauge you zero on the saw top and then move it to the blade this works fine, its just that I like the one operation.

So bottom line is I would get the digital protractor, can be used for a lot more things.

[Chris Friesen]

I got one of their previous digital protractors (was a special deal) and it work great for a year or so of occasional use but then the batteries died.

If that one really does run for 2000 hrs on a battery that would be much better.

[Josh Bowman]

+1 on the Wixey! I've never caught it being wrong. The battery ran down the other night (after a year of use) and I think enough of it to stop what I was doing and get another before swinging my TS back to 90 degrees.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I got one of their previous digital protractors (was a special deal) and it work great for a year or so of occasional use but then the batteries died.

If that one really does run for 2000 hrs on a battery that would be much better.

Same here, went to use it for the first time a few days ago and it was dead. My other digital tools (calipers,indicators, Smart Level, Craftsman Torpedo Level) all have had very good battery life.

[jason lambert]

I hate threads like this, something I don't have, just ordered one, had to! The 8". I have the little angle box and havent found that to be to accurate so maybe this will be better.

[Lee Ludden]

I have the Tilt Box from the Beall Tool Company. It has been very accurate and has an easily replaceable 9v battery (in case you forget to turn it off for a month or so).

[Ken Garlock]

Greetings Gentlemen.

I, too, have the Tilt Box protractor. It does a good job for what it is. I have no complaints other than going through the calibration step each time I turn it on. Yes I know that is pretty petty.

My go-to protractor is the mechanical dial Grizzly G9900 protractor. Once you calibrate it to zero dial reading, you don't bother with it again unless you drop it on the floor. Every couple months I do check it against a my Woodpecker precision triangle, but it is always on the money. AND, it does not use batteries. I have had it for about 6 or 7 years and I like it.

[michael osadchuk]

I have the Tilt Box from the Beall Tool Company. It has been very accurate and has an easily replaceable 9v battery (in case you forget to turn it off for a month or so).

+1 on the Beall for the above reason plus it is rugged; great for outdoor work, fits in work belt

Beall Tilt Box and same device from other outfits do some different things than a digital protractor - and vice versa; I have both and find more use for the Tilt Box

To me, the digital protractor is an update on the sliding bevel and the digital 'inclinometer' is an update on the bubble level with some additional features (eg. being able to reset the device to 'zero' regardless on the geographic horizon) and some downsides (eg. batteries die)....

biggest use I've found for the digitial protractor for layout work and transferring an found angle measurement (eg. a less than 90degree wall/ceiling juncture) to the piece of wood I need to cut to that angle - the sliding bevel will do the same but the digital protractor gives to a ditigal number that overcomes the problem of the sliding bevel measure 'slipping'.


btw, I don't do many table saw bevel cuts but find the Tilt Box simpler to use than a digital protractor - after zeroing out the meter on the saw top, I just stick in on the side of saw blade where it stays via the built in magnet and both hands are free to turn bevel wheel on the saw; with a digital protractor, I would have to keeping holding the device and ensure that one leg is continuing register on the saw top surface........ just a different view

apart from the views here you could go to the company websites and probably download their instructions for their respective devices and that way get some further sense of what each can do

good luck

michael