Anyone have digital protractor to review??

[miterset]

Hi,

The problem comes with the way these things work. With a wixey inclinometer or my preferred beall tilt box it has to stand to work. Picture tipping it over on its back and then trying to use it to determine angles. It just doesn't work that way.

I have to measure in that horizontal plane, so I need something that is a protractor to do what I need to have it do.

Protractors also work like the tilt boxes because they are still just measuring an angle.

So if you wanted to say set your miter gauge to 37.2 degrees, with a tilt box you would have to hang the miter gauge with the head down and keep miter bar in place. Zero the box to the miter bar then sit it on the head of the miter gauge and adjust it to 37.2 deg. However a protractor you would use on the table with one leg on the bar and the other on the head and adjust to 37.2 deg.

Does that make since? I can do up a sketch if not....

Ed

To set your miter gauge to 37.2° with the Standard Miterset do this.

1. Set the pins of your MiterSet to 35°.
2. Add 2° to this setting with the detent bar, giving you a setting of 37°.
3. Add a shim .0175 thick between the detent bar and the 00 pin, which will add .2° to your setting of 37°, making the total 37.2°.

This is the first time I have shared this operation with anyone, so I will explain how it works. The holes in the “Standard” Miterset are drilled on exactly a 5-inch center-to-center distance. At this radius one degree is approximately .08726 inches. Multiply .2 times .08726 and the product is .0175. For most applications you can round off to either .017 or .018 and use a regular feeler gauge for your final amount.

Remember the base number .08726 is equal to 1 Degree on the “Standard” Miterset, and you can come up with almost any setting you need.

Good Luck

Dick Pattee, Inventor of Miterset

[charlese]

Thanks for sharing, Dick! This makes setting any angle a snap:) Although I'm sold on the MiterSet as an extremely exact jig, I've yet to use it for anything worthwhile. Sorry, been too busy with other stuff.
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Just had another thought for a different use of a MiterSet. You could actually use it to accurately set a precise angle on the Shopsmith table.

Let's assume when your Mark V table is perpendicular to the blade - it is also level (perpendicular to plumb) You could set the desired angle on the MiterSet - set the MiterSet's pins on the rear rail (or a piece of MDF clamped to the table). Tape the left pin to the rear rail (or MDF extension) to prevent the MiterSet from slipping off. Then tilt the table and place a level on the top edge of the MiterSet. Adjust the table until the level shows level, and you've got the table angle setting you were after.

Let's say you Mark V was sitting on an un-level floor. You can ascertain the slope of the table by observing a level (bubble, or other) before tilting the table, then duplicate that level position after tilting the table.

Crazy? Maybe - but pretty darned close even using a level bubble. A lot better than bending over and trying to get my tri-focals to see the little lines on the Trunnion.