Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

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RFGuy
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Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by RFGuy »

On a thread recently, digital angle gauges came under scrutiny (viewtopic.php?p=287868#p287868). I own a Wixey angle gauge because it was the cheapest on the market and it satisfied my needs at the time. When I went to take readings with it for the other thread, I forgot at the moment that I own another device. I am a big fan of Klein (Crescent) tools, so when they came out with an angle gauge I added it to my wishlist. A family member bought it for me so it was sitting on my bench when I went to make measurements with the Wixey. I decided to remedy that this morning and snap a few pics to share in case anyone is in the market for an angle gauge. In the future, I will reach my Klein angle gauge first because it is so much easier to use particularly because it is so easy to read the display on it. Differences with the Klein product that I like:

It has a bright and easily readable display.
The display flips when you pass 90° so you know you crossed it.
It has the option of either 0-90° or 0-180° display (shown below) which is very handy.
It has a V groove on the sides so it easily stays in place on round surfaces such as waytubes, EMT, etc.
The display is always lit and bright, whereas the Wixey has a backlight you can turn on, but is dim otherwise.
It has one set of arrows, but also has an incline/level indicator as well.

https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/leve ... -and-level

P.S. Washers were placed under the Wixey in the pics below just to get a reading past 90° here for display purposes only. NOT to be confused with the other recent thread where washers were put on the base landing zone to move the tilt in drillpress mode.


Horizontal:
horizontal.jpg
horizontal.jpg (64.51 KiB) Viewed 2412 times
Vertical (0-180°):
vertical_180.jpg
vertical_180.jpg (61.06 KiB) Viewed 2412 times
Vertical (0-90°):
vertical_90.jpg
vertical_90.jpg (58.65 KiB) Viewed 2412 times
Tipped Past 90° with a washer (0-180°):
tipped_180.jpg
tipped_180.jpg (61.6 KiB) Viewed 2412 times
Tipped Past 90° with a washer (0-90°):
tipped_90.jpg
tipped_90.jpg (62.57 KiB) Viewed 2412 times
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edma194
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by edma194 »

That's got a pretty good orientation graphic on the display plus a rotation indicator. It's available at Home Depot and Amazon, and it has decent reviews. Not sure I want one, might end up obsessing on things being slightly off vertical.
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dusty
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by dusty »

edma194 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:11 am That's got a pretty good orientation graphic on the display plus a rotation indicator. It's available at Home Depot and Amazon, and it has decent reviews. Not sure I want one, might end up obsessing on things being slightly off vertical.
That is quite possible. I now have multiple gauges and have spent literally hours tilting back and forth between horizontal and vertical. I gotta get back to the must do list. Christmas is coming.
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RFGuy
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by RFGuy »

edma194 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:11 am That's got a pretty good orientation graphic on the display plus a rotation indicator. It's available at Home Depot and Amazon, and it has decent reviews. Not sure I want one, might end up obsessing on things being slightly off vertical.
Yeah it is only $30, same as what I paid for my Wixey. I love the display on it. It reminds me of those electro-fluorescent displays that test equipment used to have before LED took over. I have some DMM’s with a similar bright display to the Klein but those have OLED displays.
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dusty
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by dusty »

RFGuy wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:47 am On a thread recently, digital angle gauges came under scrutiny (viewtopic.php?p=287868#p287868). I own a Wixey angle gauge because it was the cheapest on the market and it satisfied my needs at the time. When I went to take readings with it for the other thread, I forgot at the moment that I own another device. I am a big fan of Klein (Crescent) tools, so when they came out with an angle gauge I added it to my wishlist. A family member bought it for me so it was sitting on my bench when I went to make measurements with the Wixey. I decided to remedy that this morning and snap a few pics to share in case anyone is in the market for an angle gauge. In the future, I will reach my Klein angle gauge first because it is so much easier to use particularly because it is so easy to read the display on it. Differences with the Klein product that I like:

It has a bright and easily readable display.
The display flips when you pass 90° so you know you crossed it.
It has the option of either 0-90° or 0-180° display (shown below) which is very handy.
It has a V groove on the sides so it easily stays in place on round surfaces such as waytubes, EMT, etc.
The display is always lit and bright, whereas the Wixey has a backlight you can turn on, but is dim otherwise.
It has one set of arrows, but also has an incline/level indicator as well.

https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/leve ... -and-level

P.S. Washers were placed under the Wixey in the pics below just to get a reading past 90° here for display purposes only. NOT to be confused with the other recent thread where washers were put on the base landing zone to move the tilt in drillpress mode.


Horizontal:
horizontal.jpg

Vertical (0-180°):
vertical_180.jpg

Vertical (0-90°):
vertical_90.jpg

Tipped Past 90° with a washer (0-180°):
tipped_180.jpg

Tipped Past 90° with a washer (0-90°):
tipped_90.jpg
Thanks for the additional information. Now I must resist the compulsion to get one for a comparison test. Since that previous thread I bought a Wixey. I needed to understand why I didn't understand what was being presented in that thread.

Is the Klein magnetic on three sides. The Wixey magnets are only on the bottom.

I do like the color and intensity of the display. I cannot say that about the older AngleCube display.

I am sorta neutral on the 90 vs 180 discussion. However the 180 degree feature should clear up the confusion about whether or not the Shopsmith passes through 90 going to vertical but it has not. Please try that with your two. I am curious.
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bainin
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by bainin »

Any comparison on battery life between them?

b
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dusty
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by dusty »

bainin wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:42 am Any comparison on battery life between them?

b
I can not provide anything other than an subjective opinion. The older AngleCube uses a 9 volt battery so comparing it to my Wixey which uses a AAA would not be fair. The new AngleCube is USB rechargeable and is not impacted by being left on the charger when not in use.
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DLB
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by DLB »

Klein also makes a higher-end version with Level and some additional features. I didn't find this on Amazon, not sure why. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools ... 9-23-12070 I had previously favored getting the next-higher Wixey with a level but I think this Klein may be the more attractive option. Also more expensive. I'm ruling out tools with 'cube' in the name that are hexahedrons. Though I kind of like the magnets on three sides that seem common to AngleCube. There are way too many choices and we have to have ways of narrowing the field.

- David
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by RFGuy »

dusty wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:20 am Thanks for the additional information. Now I must resist the compulsion to get one for a comparison test. Since that previous thread I bought a Wixey. I needed to understand why I didn't understand what was being presented in that thread.

Is the Klein magnetic on three sides. The Wixey magnets are only on the bottom.

I do like the color and intensity of the display. I cannot say that about the older AngleCube display.

I am sorta neutral on the 90 vs 180 discussion. However the 180 degree feature should clear up the confusion about whether or not the Shopsmith passes through 90 going to vertical but it has not. Please try that with your two. I am curious.
Yeah, I didn't need another angle cube. I already had the Wixey, but I liked the look of the Klein product and wanted to test it out (easier to do when it is a gift). It is my first electronic Klein tool since all my rest are hand tools. The iGaging AngleCube looks really nice, but it was more expensive when I bought my Wixey. I think most places online had it for $50 at that time. It may be superior to the Klein version. So, unfortunately the Klein is only magnetic on the bottom. Even though it has a V groove all the way around, the magnetic attachment is bottom only. I didn't follow the Wixey discussion that closely on the other thread until recently, but the Klein makes it clear on the 90° passing in my opinion. So, first of all it flips the display when you cross 90°, e.g. on raising the Mark V into drillpress you read it from the left side (right being upright) when 0-90°, but from 90-180° you read it from the right side (left being upright). So if you pay attention during rotation it is clear which quadrant you are in. When I forced it past 90°(with a washer) you can see that both types of arrow indicators flipped to register this. With the ability to switch between 0-90° or 0-180° modes you can double-check if you are near 90° and unsure (see last 2 pics I posted above). Note that the Klein doesn't match the Wixey for the washer cases, but this is because the V groove causes more of an angle when you put a washer under one end. The Klein takes 2 AAA batteries but I haven't used it enough to say how its battery life compares. The Wixey only needs 1 AAA battery.
Last edited by RFGuy on Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
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RFGuy
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Re: Klein Tools Digital Angle Gauge and Level

Post by RFGuy »

DLB wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:44 pm Klein also makes a higher-end version with Level and some additional features. I didn't find this on Amazon, not sure why. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools ... 9-23-12070 I had previously favored getting the next-higher Wixey with a level but I think this Klein may be the more attractive option. Also more expensive. I'm ruling out tools with 'cube' in the name that are hexahedrons. Though I kind of like the magnets on three sides that seem common to AngleCube. There are way too many choices and we have to have ways of narrowing the field.

- David
David,

Thanks. I hadn't seen that version either of the Klein. I wonder if it has magnets on just the bottom or on the other sides as well.
📶RF Guy

Mark V 520 (Bought New '98) | 4" jointer | 6" beltsander | 12" planer | bandsaw | router table | speed reducer | univ. tool rest
Porter Cable 12" Compound Miter Saw | Rikon 8" Low Speed Bench Grinder w/CBN wheels | Jessem Clear-Cut TS™ Stock Guides
Festool (Emerald): DF 500 Q | RO 150 FEQ | OF 1400 EQ | TS 55 REQ | CT 26 E
DC3300 | Shopvac w/ClearVue CV06 Mini Cyclone | JDS AirTech 2000 | Sundstrom PAPR | Dylos DC1100 Pro particulate monitor
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