Shopsmith Forums

I've heard several mentions here of the Wixey Angle Gauge, so I looked it up. It looks really cool! But Amazon suggests I might also want to buy the digital calipers and digital protractor.

What Wixey measuring tools do the experts here recommend?

videobear wrote:I've heard several mentions here of the Wixey Angle Gauge, so I looked it up. It looks really cool! But Amazon suggests I might also want to buy the digital calipers and digital protractor.

What Wixey measuring tools do the experts here recommend?

Which ones do you really need? I would suggest that you not buy any of them unless you believe you need them.

I have the Wixey Angle Gauge and a Digital Caliper. I contend that I use both very productively but I would also agree if told I don't need either.

For wood working you absolutely do not need them.

For accuracy in alignments, I believe a Dial Gauge is extremely valuable but again is not needed - not for wood working.

I do believe that you need a good set of feeler gauges and a set of gage blocks.

I believe you need a good combination square and a good set of straight edges before you need any of those items discussed already.

dusty wrote:Which ones do you really need? I would suggest that you not buy any of them unless you believe you need them.

Wup... save your money for wood if you don't think you need it.

If you do buy Wixey products you usually find the best price NEW directly from them with free shipping. Their website

While on the Wixey subject a few months ago I saw on eBay a table and fence upgrade don't recall if it was
510 or 520 but it included a Wixey Saw Fence Digital Readout. Has anyone here ever used one on their Shopsmith?

lightnin wrote:
Wup... save your money for wood if you don't think you need it.

If you do buy Wixey products you usually find the best price NEW directly from them with free shipping. Their website

While on the Wixey subject a few months ago I saw on eBay a table and fence upgrade don't recall if it was
510 or 520 but it included a Wixey Saw Fence Digital Readout. Has anyone here ever used one on their Shopsmith?

I got one off of ebay a few months ago. The basic concept was that they made some aluminum brackets that attach to 5' table tubes. Then there is an adapter bracket from the shopsmith tubes to a secondary tube where the wixey track is mounted.

damagi wrote:I got one off of ebay a few months ago. The basic concept was that they made some aluminum brackets that attach to 5' table tubes. Then there is an adapter bracket from the shopsmith tubes to a secondary tube where the wixey track is mounted.

Have you used it? What'd ya think of it? Got pictures how it attaches?

videobear wrote:I've heard several mentions here of the Wixey Angle Gauge, so I looked it up. It looks really cool! B...

This is a BTW alert:
I got a version of the Wixey angle gauge on sale from Incra. It's from Igaging. not Wixey. As far as I know it is essentially the same thing. HOWever, one big disadvantage is that the Igaging is more accurate, or to be specific, more intense.
It gets down to .05 degree as opposed to 1/10.
Now some would say (wouldn't you Dusty?) that 1/20th of a degree in most things is a bit much. (of course if you're setting up your home centrifuge it comes in handy.)
Imho you are right. But just TRY to measure an angle and ignore that last digit after the decimal. I dare ya.
I was measuring the slope of my lanai with this thing and when I realized I was getting all upset because I was getting variances, at different places on the patio, of two tenths of a degree. Like your glass of lemonade is going to careen off the dang table if you're at .7 instead of .65 degrees!

Anaway, it's a good device. Toy. Instrument. just gotta ignore that last digit.
---and I was just re-reading the info blurbs on both of 'em, and am reminded of the other additional features of the Igaging model. It is better deal for the same price.

keakap wrote:This is a BTW alert:
I got a version of the Wixey angle gauge on sale from Incra. It's from Igaging. not Wixey. As far as I know it is essentially the same thing. HOWever, one big disadvantage is that the Igaging is more accurate, or to be specific, more intense.
It gets down to .05 degree as opposed to 1/10.
Now some would say (wouldn't you Dusty?) that 1/20th of a degree in most things is a bit much. (of course if you're setting up your home centrifuge it comes in handy.)
Imho you are right. But just TRY to measure an angle and ignore that last digit after the decimal. I dare ya.
I was measuring the slope of my lanai with this thing and when I realized I was getting all upset because I was getting variances, at different places on the patio, of two tenths of a degree. Like your glass of lemonade is going to careen off the dang table if you're at .7 instead of .65 degrees!

Anaway, it's a good device. Toy. Instrument. just gotta ignore that last digit.
---and I was just re-reading the info blurbs on both of 'em, and am reminded of the other additional features of the Igaging model. It is better deal for the same price.

WOW! Accurate to .05°. I gotta look into that.

dusty wrote:WOW! Accurate to .05°. I gotta look into that.

No, no!!
Oh my, what have I done...

keakap wrote:No, no!!
Oh my, what have I done...

Nothing bad yet. I have not ordered that. Thanks for the reminder.

I have a Wixey. It is a battery hog. There have been posts on other forums concerning the Wixey vs the Igaging. The Igaging doesn't exhaust the batteries any where near what the Wixey does. I take the batteries out when I don't use it so it's a bit of a pain to have to "load" the batteries if I'm going to be using it. I'd buy the Igaging just because of the battery situation.