Wixey WR300 Type 2 Digital Angle Gauge with Backlight


Cliff

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It took one use for this thing to be my new favorite tool ever. For $30, it does exactly what it is supposed to and made setting the jointer fence a billion times easier. Holding the square to make sure it stays square while beating the lock with a dead blow is annoying. I always find myself second guessing squareness of stuff. Even more so when there is a variation in the metal or whatever that I'm holding the square against. 

It was also very intuitive. I didn't read any instructions. I just put it on the jointer table, hit zero then put it on the fence. 

I did still test the squareness of the test board with a starrett square afterwards and it was good to go.

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I had to cut a series of strange angles to follow some plans a client had for a set of 4 speaker cabinets. 47 1/2 degree angles and a bunch of other angles that added up to a spiral chamber within the speaker cabinet.

 I bought a wixley angle box to help set all those angles quickly. I did a fair amount of testing and checked the angles with my Starrett protractor head. I had to use my jeweler's magnifying head band to see the tiny increments clearly.  It was so easy to spin the wheel until the numbers were right, lock it down and cut.

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3 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

I had to cut a series of strange angles to follow some plans a client had for a set of 4 speaker cabinets. 47 1/2 degree angles and a bunch of other angles that added up to a spiral chamber within the speaker cabinet.

 I bought a wixley angle box to help set all those angles quickly. I did a fair amount of testing and checked the angles with my Starrett protractor head. I had to use my jeweler's magnifying head band to see the tiny increments clearly.  It was so easy to spin the wheel until the numbers were right, lock it down and cut.

Yep, can be used on non-metallic items as well! I was discussing this cool tool with the manager at Rocklers and he told me that you need to unplug any electrical item you use it on or it could screw it up. I had used mine for a year or so without unplugging before he told me. I now unplug, just because he warned me. One of my favorite un-sharp tool in the shop as well Cliff!

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9 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Yep, can be used on non-metallic items as well! I was discussing this cool tool with the manager at Rocklers and he told me that you need to unplug any electrical item you use it on or it could screw it up. I had used mine for a year or so without unplugging before he told me. I now unplug, just because he warned me. One of my favorite un-sharp tool in the shop as well Cliff!

 

Rockler guy sounds nutter butters to me. I have no proof, but the magnet on that thing can't possibly be powerful enough to cause a problem with any electrical field unless it is placed on a crucial part of the motor.

I will now wait for someone to come tell me I am wrong.

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4 minutes ago, Cliff said:

 

Rockler guy sounds nutter butters to me. I have no proof, but the magnet on that thing can't possibly be powerful enough to cause a problem with any electrical field unless it is placed on a crucial part of the motor.

I will now wait for someone to come tell me I am wrong.

I think it has more to do with the field from the electrical in the tool effecting the meter not the other way around. Electricity can create a very powerful magnetic field.

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5 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I think it has more to do with the field from the electrical in the tool effecting the meter not the other way around. Electricity can create a very powerful magnetic field.

Oooooh I read that as "it would blow up your jointer" not that "it would blow your angle gauge up." Both seem unlikely but one far more than the other :D

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4 minutes ago, Cliff said:

Oooooh I read that as "it would blow up your jointer" not that "it would blow your angle gauge up." Both seem unlikely but one far more than the other :D

Your right i highly doubt a little magnet is going to do anything to your jointer. In that case the motor sits a decent amount below the work surface but in the case of a cabinet saw the motor is right there under the table and it could induce a magnetic field on the massive cast iron top. With the meter being super sensitive I'd think it'd just mess with the reading not destroy it, i could be wrong there though. With magnetic fields distance effects power on the inverse square law.

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3 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

 With magnetic fields distance effects power on the inverse square law.

I used to know those laws. My high school accomplishments of blowing the bell curve on physics have completely been for naught!

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6 minutes ago, Eric. said:

I've never found the need for that particular toy but I'm glad you got the fence issues resolved.  You got the fence issues resolved?  This is why I once considered putting a few welds on that bastard.

We'll see on the fence. It seems like you can tighten it forever. I bet I banged it a full turn past where I had it before. If that doesn't do it I'll go further. But yeah I'm with you. No reason to ever have my fence out of 90. Welding would be a great solution.

The belt slipping off.. moved the motor by about 3/16" - might be fixed. Just that issue with the thing being hard to set up right. Especially with not removing the fence (lazy, I know, I should take it off when adjusting belts and motor.)

 

11 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

As distance increase power decreases by 1/ x^2

doubling the distance decreases power by a factor of 4.

Yeah I remember the gist of it. Though I thought it had a fancier name. Everything left over from that time of my life has been condensed down into names: "Grahams Law of Diffusion, Boyle's Law, etc"

Once upon a time I considered a career path in physics :) I basically stick to astronomy and particle physics now for reading fun, and I never was really into electricity so it was a weak spot for me.

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I have that gauge and it has been sitting in a drawer for years.  I actually forgot about it but I could see it being useful.   I have a wixey depth gauge I use for my router table and like it quite a bit.  I am usually a "sneak up on it" kind of guy but sometimes gettig within a millimeter without fussing is worth it.   

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I also have the Wixley digital scale for my UniSaw . The accuracy is great but it can be kind of fussy to use. You have to zero the scale with the fence against the blade and sometimes if you move the fence too fast it skips or looses track of the scale.

Sometimes the math  for multiple parts comes up to a decimal point that's not a fraction equivalent. The scale will show fractions, decimal inches or millimeters. It's also helpful late in the day when it's harder to focus on a tiny scale.

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8 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Leave it to me to start a rumor. I pulled up the instruction manual and the only reference I found about unplugging the table saw was in the Safety section. I e-mailed Wixey technical dept. questioning them about this. I promptly received the following reply from Barry Wixey :

Hi ken;

 

Thanks for your question. This is actually quite interesting. That warning is put out there for one reason only. Believe it or not we have gotten many reports over the years of people who use the gauge to set their saw blades and then forget to remove it. They then turn on their saws and the gauge becomes a projectile and flies across the room. Luckily we have never heard of the gauge hitting anything except walls. But we had to cover ourselves from being blamed for selling an unsafe product and not warning people.

 

By the way which of the forums do you follow?

 

Barry Wixey

Wixey

 

That is awesome! They must be a pretty small company if you got a response from what I presume is an owner. 

Also, he should consider changing his name to Baron. Baron Wixey sounds amazing.

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I had to go thru several channel's to get a message to Mr. Wixey, until he found out who was inquiring, then he put me staright thru?

Actually, I think he is the proud owner of a fine company that makes a great product that wanted to clear the air before I started something. Great PR!

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It's a nifty gadget to have. The only thing is, the batteries it uses are far from common. You need to keep those annoying little button cells around. They should make it use a AAA or a small little rechargeable lithium. I'd pay 15 bucks more for a rechargeable version. 

I picked mine up at Woodcraft when the new model came out. The only difference was the new one had a backlight and a slightly different look. Old model went to clearance for 20 bucks. It's helpful for those who have digital readout OCD.  

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