# Wixey gage & calipers



## jomonto (Dec 28, 2015)

I am going to purchase a Wixey digital angle gage - but I also want to purchase a digital caliper --- any suggestions?

thanks,

john-


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

The Wixey angle gauge is a must. It changed the quality of my woodworking. On the digital calipers, be prepared to be constantly irritated that every time you want to use it, the battery will be dead. As much as possible, I have gone back to dial calipers. Have found several for good prices in a local pawn shop's tool section.

Its not just calipers that are a problem, battery life with the flat, quarter sized batteries, is brief on all digital measuring devices that don't have an off button.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I have to agree with Tom. I bought a $180 Starrett digital because I needed instant readout for the job I was doing but I can't keep a battery in it. My go to caliper is a fractional mechanical one I bought from Lee Valley maybe 15 years ago. It doesn't take that much to read one accurately enough and it will never wear out or need batteries.


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## wormil (Sep 6, 2012)

I have an iGaging and like it considerably. Battery life seems okay, it lasted the summer and fall but is getting weak now. I am planning on buying a dial caliper when I happen on a good deal.

-- Rick M


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## DonkeyHody (Jan 22, 2015)

I've had the angle gage for over a year now, and I wouldn't be without it. The stated accuracy is plus or minus 0.2 degrees, but I believe it's better than that. It's been plenty accurate for anything I've ever asked of it. I used it to cut a 32 sided stave cylinder that was dead on the first time. I also have an angle measuring contraption that uses a dial indicator which claims to be much more accurate, but it's too fussy and time consuming to set up. If my Wixey quits today, I'll be ordering another before the sun goes down.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

I'm more of a dial guy for calipers...


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

I bought a digital caliper a few years ago but gave up on it. Not because of battery life, rather because it measured to 128th of an inch and I always had to spend too much time trying the think through the closest usable value to something like 81/128ths. I switched to a fractional dial caliper and my measuring life has been easy ever since.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

We use a lot of calipers at work, a mix of dial and digital. The dial calipers are starrett or mitutoyo, the digital calipers are all cheap ones. The nice thing about them is they are both metric and standard, and they are "disposable" if damaged.

The cheap digitals seem to be as accurate as the expensive ones, I haven't found good cheap dial calipers.


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## herrwood (Apr 19, 2014)

I have the wixey angel calc and no complaints I have a General digital calc and no problem with batteries .
However in general I do find that the accuracy for want of a word is confusing to me.
I want to know if something is a 1/4" .025 would be fine but as Gaffboat said above _"it measured to 128th of an inch and I always had to spend too much time trying the think through the closest usable value to something like 81/128ths"_ it is annoying to have to get it to standard measurements.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

None of my digital calipers show fractions, they are all in thousands of an inch.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

here ya go...
6" Fractional Digital Caliper
Blindman's Fractional Electronic Caliper - Lee Valley Tools

I like this way better than the Wixey..
takes a normal 9V battery that lasts for years...
Tilt Box II Digital Inclinometer for Tool Setting - Lee Valley Tools


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

I agree with the "go cheap" on digital calipers. As many know, I'm an accuracy and precision guy but have yet to find a difference between cheapo and expensive digital calipers. My go to unit in the shop is a cheap plastic set that I found at the bottom of a box of stuff I bought at an auction about 5 years ago. It goes 3+ years on a battery set and is always within a couple of thousandths of an inch of the more expensive ones. I've got about 5 digital gauges and they all have multi-year battery life.

As for the wixey angle gauge, I went with the higher end one and use it to set up a number of tools including table saw, band saw and drill press. It's awesome. That said, I think they are all pretty much the same in terms of accuracy. I'd look at features. The most important one I wanted was relative measurement. Put it on the table saw table, hit relative and then put it on the blade. They all have that one, I believe. I've had mine for almost 2 years and not needed to change the batteries yet. I believe there was an earlier version that wasn't quite as good on that front. [edit" one complaint about the Wixey, takes AAA batteries but the cover isn't super secure. drop it and the cover pops off with the batteries close behind. Yeah, I know, don't do that.]

There are so many disposable items in our shops, I just see batteries as another one of those things. I try to keep spares of the ones I use in the shop. Not much different from running out of sand paper or mineral spirits.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I go with the Harbor Freight digital and dial both. I have 3 and they are as accurate as the expensive ones. For wood working plenty good. The battery life on the digitas is a hassle sometimes, but that is why I have the dial one. All my digital read in metric,fractional inches and decimal inches.

Herb


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

I use digital calipers all the time. Work and "play", and I don't ever remember changing out a battery. My work digital caliper is a Mitutoyo. Been through 2 of them, the last 16 years (at my present job) and the only reason I've had two, is I lost the first one (left it on the job). And I've never changed a battery once. Never turn them off myself, always let them go off automatically.

My digital calipers, at home in my shop, is a General (I think). I first tried one from HF, but they felt like they had sand in them. Really rough sliding action. Brought them back. Found this set a Lowes, and not only did it feel as good as my Mitutoyo at work, but it also had FRACTIONs. That's right, decimal, Metric and Fractions. I've had it for about two years now and still works great!! And on original battery!! ;o)


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

Talk about coincidence. I have a wixey height gauge on my router table. Yesterday it started getting flakey. So, I changed the battery (about 15 months now) thinking that was the problem. It wasn't. It was sawdust on the slider part. So, now I'll never know how long those batteries last. Heh heh.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Herb Stoops said:


> I go with the Harbor Freight digital and dial both. I have 3 and they are as accurate as the expensive ones. For wood working plenty good. The battery life on the digitas is a hassle sometimes, but that is why I have the dial one. All my digital read in metric,fractional inches and decimal inches.
> 
> Herb


I am with you Herb. I have a cheap dial caliber that I have had for years. Like others have said wood working isn't rocket science.


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## jomonto (Dec 28, 2015)

Ok ----


Apollo 13 - was solved with slide rules, pencils and paper.
I failed to appreciate a manual dial vs. a digital device.

That said --- the ONLY reason I want calipers that measure down to .001 of an inch, is to square up the fence on a cross cut sled.
Basically a one time use.... I agree.... for my craft projects, I don't need this detail / perfection on a day to day basis.

I do like the idea of a manual / dial protractor now... so will shop for the most cost effective solution.

Now as far as an inclinometer - that could be much more useful and I will spend the cost difference in this device.


Thank you all for the great input.


john-


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

jomonto said:


> Ok ----
> 
> 
> Apollo 13 - was solved with slide rules, pencils and paper.
> ...


art/drafting store...


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

My brother was an engineer at the plant where they built the Apollo, and later worked on the Voyagers. It was all done with slide rules. But they don't do that anymore.


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

Then you will like this. A cheaper solution for squaring your CCSled fence is to use a feeler gauge set (which you may have in your tool kit already).  William Ng shows how he does it here. He is a bit long winded in explaining why his "5 cuts" method works but I suppose there are some that need it that way. But none-the-less, he gets within a mil or so with some pretty old school measuring devices.



jomonto said:


> Ok ----
> 
> 
> Apollo 13 - was solved with slide rules, pencils and paper.
> ...


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

Now, @Jonomoto, I don't see this is as a mechanical vs digital argument at all. It's about the ease of use to me. In some cases it's a wash. But in some cases, there is no question. For example, I have a lift mounted wixey digital height gauge for my router table/lift. The manual/mechanical solution is something like setup bars or a depth gauge (mechanical, digital, whatever). However, I've found that the wixey is vastly easier to use - no stooping and peering while turning the crank. I'm sure there are some that would prefer to have to stoop down and peer to see when the top of the bit kisses the limit. I used to do that but would never want to go back. It's pretty accurate too. Every now and then I spot check it - still accurate to a couple of mils. Height setup on my RT is a breeze now.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I have a few digital devices in the shop and battery life can stop a project in it's tracks. I keep a tray full of replacement batteries on hand in the sizes I use most. You can buy these at huge savings on Amazon, often with free shipping.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Mike said:


> I have a few digital devices in the shop and battery life can stop a project in it's tracks. I keep a tray full of replacement batteries on hand in the sizes I use most. You can buy these at huge savings on Amazon, often with free shipping.


And I see you keep a little volt meter in there too . Great idea Mike


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## wormil (Sep 6, 2012)

A little off the subject but I have one of those Empire pocket calipers and use it all the time. It measures in inch fractions and millimeters. I'd like to have a higher quality version, Starrett makes one but they don't give them away.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Mike said:


> I have a few digital devices in the shop and battery life can stop a project in it's tracks. I keep a tray full of replacement batteries on hand in the sizes I use most. You can buy these at huge savings on Amazon, often with free shipping.


I do the same...but I can't tell you how many times the one battery that I'm looking for seems to be missing!


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