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Digital inclinometer review for you woodworking folks.

Discussion in 'The DIY Room' started by fishingpol, Feb 15, 2014.

  1. fishingpol

    fishingpol

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    I am by no means an exacting woodworker. I like to make my finished pieces better than good enough, but not enough to fret over being perfect. I have many shop tools older than 10 and even 20 years old. I always have had the challenge of setting saw blades to 90 degrees or any other desired degree to the table. I have experienced tightening the handles down to set a table and having it move at least a degree off. My older tools work great, but are not cutting edge technology in terms of accurate angle measuring. The needle on the angle gauge of my table saw can be moved with your finger to "set" it.

    I have been looking at digital inclinometers in tool catalogs and bought the Tilt Box 2. This small digital tool can be set on saw blades and tool tables to set any angle. It has rare earth magnets on three sides to hold securely to the tool or blade. It has a "zeroing" feature to begin setting the angle.


    This picture shows my chop saw is not level to the floor, which is no big deal. I zeroed it in to level and then checked that the blade is perpindicular to the table.


    IMG_7009.JPG


    After zeroing out on the base. No adjustments needed. Over 10 year old Porter-Cable with thousands of cuts under its' blade.

    IMG_7011.JPG

    Test on 10 degree angle on the chop saw.
    IMG_7012.JPG



    Table saw before zeroing out.


    IMG_7013.JPG


    Tilt Box on saw blade to make it perpindicular to table. It must be set to just below the saw teeth that protrude a little more than the width of the body of the blade.

    IMG_7015.JPG



    Lastly, the band saw has a fixed blade and the table tilts for the angle. Zeroed out stuck to the side of the blade.


    IMG_7017.JPG

    Table set to level from the blade. This is excellent for re-sawing boards as the perpindicular cuts reduce passes through the planer to finish them off. Less planer time is a good thing.

    IMG_7018.JPG

    Overall, this tool is very good. I have only used it for a few days, but for what I have seen, it works well.

    I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to have accurate angles.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 15, 2014
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  2. rookie1

    rookie1

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    Nice job. You should get paid for all that. Thanks for sharing. :thumbs:
     
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  3. papadave

    papadave

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    Right where I want to be.
    I've been eyeing one of those for quite a while.
    "Less planer time is a good thing"
    Amen to that statement.
    No bandsaw yet, but resawing is something I've needed to do a couple times and ended up doing it on the TS. Too much wasted wood and doesn't do a great job.
     
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  4. fishingpol

    fishingpol

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    Exactly. While resawing, if the angle is off just a little, the thickness of the board can be off, requiring more passes through the Planer to get an equal thickness.

    I did a lot of table saw ripping but between the waste and having the blade buried in the stock, it was time to use the band saw.
     
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  5. papadave

    papadave

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    Right where I want to be.
    I need a bandsaw.
    I need a Kreg jig first though.
    More practical applications for that right now.
    I need a Tilt Box.
    You don't wanna' see the rest of the list.:D
     
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