All bent out of shape: seeking square advice

[reubenjames]

And do I need to calibrate the digital protractor with a square I trust so I can trust the squares I'm checking with a digital protractor? This seems a little chicken and egg...

[JPG]

I recently decided to buy a new combo square. I decided to take my Wixie digital protractor with me to test them. I went to our local hardwood and tool supplier and proceeded to test them. The only one that was right on with every square we tested was the Starretts. We tested three and they were dead on. All the other less expensive ones were hit and miss. Now here is the irony. I decided to go by HF on the way home and test a few of the " junk ones" they sell and to my suprise the majority of them were also dead on. I bought two of them, one 12" and one 18" just to see how long they stayed true. This is now a year later and they both have remained true. The only drawback on the cheap ones is the locking mechanism which is not even close to the quality of a Starrett or Stanley. I did compare the HF ones against a Starrett rule I have for linear accuracy and found no difference. The one difference that I can only speculate on would be a drop test. The cheap aluminum ones I doubt would survive as well as a solid steel one as far as squareness is concerned. I highly recommend picking up a digital protractor. I use mine a lot and love it.
Paul

Which Wixey device do you use for this sort of test?

When using your Wixey as the test tool, what do you consider to be "right on"?

And the 'test procedure' if you please.

[masonsailor2]

The digital protractor is accurate to 0.1 degree. I considered right on to be 90.0 degrees.

[masonsailor2]

The test procedure was to put the protractor on them and measure the angle. Easy to do with the all steel ones because the Wixie is magnetic.

[masonsailor2]

And by all means one needs to check the digital protractor for accuracy. I have checked mine several times and it is dead on. I just put it on the jointer table and press the calibrate button before I check it. It's magnetic so both ends stick to the table which makes it easy to zero.

[masonsailor2]

Just took a picture.

[dusty]

And by all means one needs to check the digital protractor for accuracy. I have checked mine several times and it is dead on. I just put it on the jointer table and press the calibrate button before I check it. It's magnetic so both ends stick to the table which makes it easy to zero.

I gotta do some research and maybe even order a digital protractor.

My Wixey Digital Angle Gauge and my iGaging Angle Cube are seldom right on. I can zero either of them and to a certain extent move them around and get similar readings but never right on.

The Angle Cube seems to be more reliable but I bought the Wixey first and got used to using it and it seems to be my go to device. The Angle Cube and the Wixey, when user side by side are definitely not of equal quality.

[reible]

I think we might be over thinking this need for setting up the bandsaw..... They need to be close but that is about it. If you are spending more then 15 minutes on squareness it is too much.

The best way to make sure the cut is at 90 degrees to the table is to take a 4" x 4" block of wood and make a shallow kerf then turn off the saw and take the block to the back of the blade and match the kerf to the back of the blade.... if they match you are all set, if they don't you aren't square enough.

The only other squareness you have to think about is to the miter gauge and that is pretty much a guessing game due to the blade involved. In that case a smaller metal machines square is what I use, I think it is a 5" or 6" and it would have to be way off to make much of difference.

BTW here is another tip for you:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewt ... ck#p167319

Bandsaws are fun but I would never want to have to dial it in to fractions of a degree, its not going to work any better, it is what it is.

Ed

[reubenjames]

I think we might be over thinking this need for setting up the bandsaw...

Thanks, Ed. You are correct, it *is* over-thinking for a bandsaw. The bandsaw issue merely highlighted a deeper concern, which is my alignment tools in general. If you read my other thread on saw blades, there are concerns over my SS alignment, which is what is next on my list. I want to make sure I'm getting reasonably close when I align the table saw, etc. to see if that reduces the issues I am having.

[reible]

Shopsmith sells a dial indicator and for a while they were all the rage here. I even got one to keep up with the other folks. I personally didn't find it helpful for the alignment but it is nice to check how well you did after you are done.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... icator.htm

The key is to align the table to the "blade" I use a master plate but a blade will do. You need to mark a tooth on the blade so you align to the same point on the blade on the in feed and out feed side of the blade. A miter gauge with the extension rod or a allen wrench clamped to it works really well. I shoot for with in .005" and most time I do better then that when I come back to to the check with the dial indicator. This is well with in the use able range of any blade you have in mind.

Once the miter slots are aligned then you can do the rip fence. I tend to like to use my rip fence to the right so I align to neutral or with the back of the rip fence slightly farther to the right so the wood will not bind. Again you can get with in a few thousands using the miter gauge and rod but if you want to check the dial indicator works for that as well.

Dusty is are resident dot all the "I's" and cross all the "t's" guy on alignment so look for some of his posts on the subject.

I'm sort of old school on the subject but it has work since 1976 when I first got my shopsmith.

Ed

I think we might be over thinking this need for setting up the bandsaw...

Thanks, Ed. You are correct, it *is* over-thinking for a bandsaw. The bandsaw issue merely highlighted a deeper concern, which is my alignment tools in general. If you read my other thread on saw blades, there are concerns over my SS alignment, which is what is next on my list. I want to make sure I'm getting reasonably close when I align the table saw, etc. to see if that reduces the issues I am having.