Just curious what everyone’s favorite angle finding tool was (or technique if you don’t use a tool) when they’re working on finish trim.
jt8
When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues. — Honorý de Balzac
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I got the Starret angle finder from Amazon about a month ago. Haven't used it alot yet, but it seems robustly made and accurate. I think it was $39.95.
good luck!
The Sarrett is in an article in JLC this month I think its in 'toolbox', Mark Shapirro designed it, and wrote the article.
The neat thing is that it has the miter saw conversion, so you dont have to go back and change from waste to saved angle. -miter saw being 0 when its really at 90 degrees
I havent seen the bosch, Ill have to check that out.
-zen
My current one (which I've misplaced) is just one of those wooden handle with metal blade connected by a wingnutted bolt. Don't know if they have a name. But I think it was a couple bucks.
I was considering the Starrett, but hadn't worked myself up to paying $40 for an angle finder. If enough people like them, I might go ahead and get it though. Looks like it would be harder to misplace. ;)
jt8
When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues. -- Honorý de Balzac
They are called a sliding bevel square
Edited 1/24/2005 3:18 pm ET by reinvent
bevel square to find the angle. transfer the angle to a scrap piece of wood. bisect that angle with ur compass and then readjust ur bevel square to the bisected angle, transfer it to your miter saw and, poof,... an airtight fit!
set it to the MS...
read the angle...
work from there..
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
set it to the MS...read the angle...work from there..
You mean for $100+ it doesn't have a wireless uplink to the miter saw that automatically sets the angle on the saw as I'm walking back across the room? :)jt8
When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues. -- Honorý de Balzac
No 6$ bevel square does that I know of..
you just may have an idea there..
gotta get that invented be fore Greencu does...
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
No 6$ bevel square does that I know of..
you just may have an idea there..
gotta get that invented be fore Greencu does...
Well the Bosch is halfway there with digital readouts and such. Just add a button and wireless connection. You measure the corner, and then hit the 'set/send' button. It gives you maybe 90' range. Sends the signal to the saw, which adjusts to the correct angle, so by the time you're back at the saw, its ready to cut.
I realize it sounds like the lazy man's miter setup, but I've heard a lot of the house builders on BT talking about saving a couple seconds here and there... Well that would do it. Multiply the couple seconds by however many miter cuts there are in a new house's trimwork.
jt8
I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. -- Diane Ackerman
bozer
I was wondering if anybody else did it that way anymore.
Seems like you got to get some fancy tool to do it or your just not cool! :)
That's the only way I have ever done it, bet I can get the angle as fast as any of those other tools.
Doug
They are called a sliding bevel square
Thank you. I was thinking "t" bevel, but that wasn't right, cuz it was "L" shapped, not "t".jt8
When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues. -- Honorý de Balzac
My illustrious ex Marine DI shop teacher called it a 'sliding T bevel' and if you argued with him you got an eraser up side the head... Somehow that's what I still call it today.
My illustrious ex Marine DI shop teacher called it a 'sliding T bevel' and if you argued with him you got an eraser up side the head... Somehow that's what I still call it today.
While an undergrad, I had a course taught by a Marine artillery major. He had deadly accuracy with a chalkboard eraser. He could launch it without even pausing his lecture. If he was annoyed with you, you got it in the chest. If he was pissed at you, you got it in the forehead. Dozing off in class was a forehead offense. The offender was instantly awake in a cloud of chalk dust.
Turned into a very attentive class.jt8
I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. -- Diane Ackerman
Bosch makes a very good one..
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Bosch makes a very good one..
What, you think I'm made of $$$? Isn't that Bosch one like $100+?
Are you saying its the best angle finder you've used?
jt8
When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues. -- Honorý de Balzac
Edited 1/24/2005 12:41 pm ET by JohnT8
my Starret in half degee units is better and cost more.....
Piffen has one also....
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
The Bosch is great if you do a bunch of crown and will really pay for itself in non 90º angles.It has an on board computer/calculator that lets you put in the craown angles and get a perfect cut.I don't do that much of that sort of work and have found the Starrett GREAT! One of those tools I'll evetutally get 2 of as it's handy on the site and the shop.Notrix
Just so that I know we're all on the same page, this is the Starrett in question? $39 on Amazon or $44 on Lee Valley.
Starrett 505A-12 ProSite ProtractorOther products by Starrett
jt8
When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues. -- Honorý de Balzac
Piece of paper.
If anybody ever said
That I give a damn,
Well they damn sure told you wrong.
I've had ramblin' fever all along.
- Merle Haggard
I use paper too. How do you do yours?
For an inside miter, just crease the paper to fit.
If anybody ever said
That I give a damn,
Well they damn sure told you wrong.
I've had ramblin' fever all along.
- Merle Haggard
I've been doing the same thing for years and can even do outside corners. Just cut the paper about halfway through the sheet on the long edge and lay against the corner until the end of the cut meets the corner. Crease the paper to the two sides of the corner. Fold over the creases then fold what's left exactly in half aligning the two edges all the way to the point. It works well on those days I left the wrong tool at home...
That's exactly what I'm referring to.Great tool!N
I second the Bosch angle finder. It may be a bit pricey, but........aren't we worth it?
Rod
pricey.... NO...
worth it.... YUP...
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Edited 1/24/2005 3:29 pm ET by IMERC
I know this seems silly but I use my Bosche angle finder to cut timbers!
if you figure on just half degrees like the stareet one you will be off by enough that it shows..
If you look up at the peak of my roof you'll see what I mean. The great room was done with the Bosche and the billard room was one with a simple angle duplicator..
there are visable gaps in the peak of the billard room, sometimes at the heal of the angle sometimes at the toe of the angle but all of them were done by me so faults that are visable are mine.. if you look at the great room you'll be struck by how accurite they are, measure them and you'll find they are all exactly 54.4 degrees. believe me tenths of a degree matter!. You can't put a sliver of paper in the joints in the great room..
scraps of trim ...
one set .. left leg and right leg ... cut at 45 deg.
one set at 46 each ...
one set at 44 each ...
mark them so U don't get mixed up ...
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
I have the Bosch and use the Starrett.
i got the bosch as one of those "show special " deals. i think i bought one thing and they threw in the angle finder
anyways... i don't do much crown.. but it sure is great for a lot of other things.. like frenchie's rafters..
in remodeling we're always trying to fit to out of square , out of level, and out of plumb..
since the bosch also has plumb & level vials you can measure any pitch..
looks like the starret would be better for crown...... maybe... but the bosch is more useful for general purposeMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
I paid over a hundred bucks for mine so that was a nice freebe.. I shouda gone to that show.
LS1013 and see all those offcuts on the floor.
I got the Starret and really like it. Saves so much time transfering angles etc. I knew of the Bosch, but, like, I'm not made of money.
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada
Here's my all-time favorite:
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?DeptID=2090&FamilyID=3658
Use this thing to measure and inside or outside angle, slip it apart, set it on your mitre saw, adjust the saw to line up with the guage-- and cut away.
Automatically bisects the angle, and it is about as idiot proof as anything can be.
I have been using a sliding T-bevel with my compass for so many years now, just as theBozer said, that I'm as fast and accurate with that as anything. I've got my eye in that Starret though.
Yer basic angles for finish trim are 22½º... 45º... 90º.. or 15º... 30º....60º.
For a tight fit, either or, you set your saw + or - of those cuts. I haven't pulled out a sliding T bevel for years. Cut a couple of sample blocks for your pouch to find out the + or -. Make edjumacated guesses and remember if you make more than two trips to the saw, you or the customer is losing money.
Stair runs are a different problem, I use a digital smart level to find the correct angles of stair cap and handrails. Paid for itself years ago. If the angle finders mentioned above will give you degrees of run as well as inside/ outside corner angles?
Buy it.
I've found that my plastic angle finder's arms, at 12" long, do not span enough wall length to give me a really accurate reading for say, a baseboard outer mitre.
I've taken to placing lengths of straight material against the wall, on either side of the corner, and placing my angle finder against that. The measurement is then much more representative of actual site conditions.
Edited 1/25/2005 2:28 am ET by Pierre1
I have a simple tool called an angle divider. About $10.00, works perfect for inside miters, need a bevel square for outside corners, then divide angle with angle divider.The degree marks on this tool are not accurate, don't use them. I line the outside of the mitersaw insert, not the sawcut with angle divider.
haven't used the fancy gismos that starrett and bosch make.
mike