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Spent $80 on a digital angle finder and it changed how I set up my miter saw | Carpenters - Opinions Matter

Spent $80 on a digital angle finder and it changed how I set up my miter saw

I was doing a lot of crown molding work for a client in the North End and kept having tiny gaps at the joints. My old magnetic angle finder was just not cutting it. I bit the bullet and bought a digital one for about eighty bucks. The difference was huge. I could zero it on the wall, then transfer the exact angle to the saw, down to a tenth of a degree. No more guessing or shimming. It saved me hours of test cuts and filler work on that job alone. Now I use it for setting up any compound cut, even on deck framing. Has anyone found a good way to keep the battery from dying at the worst time? Mine seems to go out right when I need it most.

3 comments

3 Comments

sandrashah6mo ago

Eighty dollars for a digital angle finder is a serious chunk of change. I'm stuck on the part where you said it was for a job in the North End. I've done work up there and those old houses are never square. I can't believe you got by with just a magnetic finder before that, those things are basically guesswork on plaster walls. The battery thing is the worst, mine always dies in the middle of a cut list. I keep a spare 9-volt in my tool bag now, it's the only way.

robert_rodriguez665mo ago

@sandrashah that spare battery trick is solid, I started doing the same after i realized almost every tool failure I've had was battery related not the tool itself lol. It's funny how we'll spend on the fancy gadget but the real fix is just a $5 9-volt.

casey_lane736mo ago

Honestly, that part about old houses never being square is so true. I read a tip online about checking your battery with a multimeter before a big job. Tbh, those little 9-volts can show full but drop off fast under load. Ngl, I started doing that and it saved me last week when one read weak. Just a quick check tells you if you need to swap it out before you start cutting.