"Fixed" my Angle Unit
- Thread starter JayStPeter
- Start date
My experience of using the angle unit has always been good. I set the angle by direct measurement, then set the guide-rail in position, (clamp only if needed), lift angle unit off workpiece and just cut. I do this when replacing chip board flooring or cutting laminated kitchen work-tops. Personally I feel if you start to bolting the angle unit and guide-rail together you are asking for trouble as sooner or later the extra leverage created by the length of the guide rail will move the angle set.
After screwing a handful of cuts on fairly expensive ply, I also put mine on the self for a long while. Back in the fall, I decided it would be pretty handy to use just for 90* cuts. So, I clamped it to my WoodPecker 12' square, and used JB Weld to fix it at a right angle. Now I use it all the time.
Two thoughts about the angle unit.
First, except for short cuts it is simply the wrong way to set an angle. Any tiny error at the scale multiplies out to an unacceptable error over the width of a sheet of ply. For example, misreading or shifting the angle by 0.1 degree will cause an error of almost 1/10 inch at the far side. I don't know about you, but my presbyopic eyes can't see 0.1 degree on that little scale and my clumsy hands have trouble noodging the dial that small an increment. When I need an accurate 90 degree line, I use an 18 inch woodpecker triangle, which is good to more like a couple of thousandths over its length.
Second, when you use the angle unit with a long guide rail, the rail provides tremendous leverage around the pivot. No screw-down clamp is going to be able to withstand the sort of torque you can produce with a fairly gentle nudge at the end of a 75 inch rail. You have to expect the setting to shift and recheck it frequently. To me, that kills any timesaving the angle unit might have offered.
Steve
First, except for short cuts it is simply the wrong way to set an angle. Any tiny error at the scale multiplies out to an unacceptable error over the width of a sheet of ply. For example, misreading or shifting the angle by 0.1 degree will cause an error of almost 1/10 inch at the far side. I don't know about you, but my presbyopic eyes can't see 0.1 degree on that little scale and my clumsy hands have trouble noodging the dial that small an increment. When I need an accurate 90 degree line, I use an 18 inch woodpecker triangle, which is good to more like a couple of thousandths over its length.
Second, when you use the angle unit with a long guide rail, the rail provides tremendous leverage around the pivot. No screw-down clamp is going to be able to withstand the sort of torque you can produce with a fairly gentle nudge at the end of a 75 inch rail. You have to expect the setting to shift and recheck it frequently. To me, that kills any timesaving the angle unit might have offered.
Steve
JayStPeter
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- Jan 24, 2007
- Messages
- 399
I've used mine more in the few months since I've put the screw in it than I had in the 4 years before that. I really like it now and it has proven extremely accurate.
JayStPeter
Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2007
- Messages
- 399
I don't want to bring the arguments back or cause any controversy. I just wanted to update my results from this "fix" so anyone looking at this thread for a solution might know. Last summer I built a major project that went horribly bad. One of the problems was my long cuts were out of square because this fix has slipped over the years. I treat this thing like it's made of glass, so I doubt rough treatment was the cause. Whatever the case, even screwed through it didn't hold square over the long haul. Bottom line, large project hosed by non-square cuts.
Ultimately, this "fix" made the angle unit go from being completely unreliable to working well for probably a hundred or so cuts. One could argue that is pretty good and a simple check would've shown it to be out, and I would agree. But, I will also argue that it's still not reliable and I don't think it will be too difficult to do better. Bottom line: I can't trust this thing.
Ultimately, this "fix" made the angle unit go from being completely unreliable to working well for probably a hundred or so cuts. One could argue that is pretty good and a simple check would've shown it to be out, and I would agree. But, I will also argue that it's still not reliable and I don't think it will be too difficult to do better. Bottom line: I can't trust this thing.
