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Protractor for You


jerry1939

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I am both old and lazy (High School coach said I had Chinese Rheumatism.  That's where all your blood turns into lead and settles in your A_____ .)   Too much work to bend down and accurately set the degree of table tilt.

I went to:  GOOGLE - PRINT PROTRACTOR and imported that into Inkscape.  Drew/traced the attached protractor.  Made it 2 1/4" high.  Next week I will go to a copy shop and have it laminated.  Next it will be glued to an 1/8" scrap for strength.  Will saw just below the bottom and sand to the bottom line.

Intended to be held behind a tensioned blade when tilting the table to a desired angle.  My newest version of Inkscape prints @ 100%.  IF anyone wants a copy, resize as needed.

 

jerry

ProtractorOne.pdf

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1 hour ago, jerry1939 said:

I am both old and lazy (High School coach said I had Chinese Rheumatism.  That's where all your blood turns into lead and settles in your A_____ .)   Too much work to bend down and accurately set the degree of table tilt.

I went to:  GOOGLE - PRINT PROTRACTOR and imported that into Inkscape.  Drew/traced the attached protractor.  Made it 2 1/4" high.  Next week I will go to a copy shop and have it laminated.  Next it will be glued to an 1/8" scrap for strength.  Will saw just below the bottom and sand to the bottom line.

Intended to be held behind a tensioned blade when tilting the table to a desired angle.  My newest version of Inkscape prints @ 100%.  IF anyone wants a copy, resize as needed.

 

jerry

ProtractorOne.pdf

works for me Jerry,I've been wanting a smaller one ,My Starret machinist one is a tad to big

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Some years back I found and bought a protractor designed for use on the scroll saw, It is clear plastic about 1/4" thick and 2 X 3 1/2" in size with a 45 deg angle cut on the left edge and the protractor degree marks are red silk screened on the face side. This little protractor has proven very handy for me to set the table of my scroll saw to any angle that I desire by just placing it on the table behind the blade and then moving the table while using the blade itself as a pointer on the protractor scale.  Unfortunately, I can't remember where I bought it. Has anyone seen these for sale anywhere? I have two friends that would like them and most likely some of the members here would like to have one as well.

A Wixey Angle Cube will work if you have your saw table already set and cutting at 90 deg.  Place the angle cube on the table of your scroll saw and  facing straight forward, zero it, and then tilt the saw table to the angle desired. To return to 90 deg , place the angle cube magnetic base on the saw blade facing straight forward (magnets on the bottom will hold it on the blade), zero it, and then place the angle cube on the table facing straight forward and then move the table until the gauge reads ) 90 degrees. The only problems with using this angle cube is that it's a bit big for use on the scroll saw, and it is designed to set one surface accurately to another.. If you don't face it perfectly to the plane (table) axis of movement, it will not produce an accurate reading.

I always check my blade 90 deg setting by cutting into a piece of wood just enough to mark it, then removing the wood and without lifting it, turn the woof around the blade to the back side and then look carefully to see if the blade fits in the groove perfectly from top to bottom.A thick piece of wood works best for doing this.  If it does, the table to blade angle is a perfect 90 deg. Another way is to cut slightly into a piece of thick wood near (about 1/4" from one edge) and then look to see if the cut line and the edge of the wood are parallel to each other. On a thick piece of  wood it's quite easy to see if the cut line and edge of the wood are even 1/2 degree off.of 90 degrees.

Charley

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5 hours ago, Dan said:

I have a simple and easy to see 90° jig to set the table to the blade.  Then I use the Wixey angle gauge to set the angle I need. 

Dan, why wouldn't you just use the Wixey angle gauge to set your 90* setting? I have my gauge set to the side of my saw by the magnets on its side, there's a good flat surface there that is plum to the floor. 

Len

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You can use the Wixey gauge to set any angle in relation to any other angle, but when you turn it off I don't believe the it remembers the reference plane where you zeroed it. For instance, when I want to set my table saw to a certain angle, I place the Wixey cube on the table saw table at right angle to the blade, turn it on, and then zero it. Then I place it on the the side of the blade, below the teeth and adjust the blade angle to get an accurate angle setting, which is in reference to the table. The table saw can be very un-level and the blade angle will be accurate to the table anyway. With a scroll saw, you have to place the Wixey cube on the blade for your reference setting, turn it on, and zero it to the blade, then place it on the scroll saw table and move the table angle with reference to the blade. Again, if done this way, the reading of the Wixey cubeshows the angle between the blade and the table and has nothing to do with how level the saw is. The Wixey cube turns itself off between uses and loses it's reference, so you have to zero it against some reference plane each time you turn it on. It's accurate because it is measuring only the angle between the two planes.

 

Charley

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Thanks Jerry. I like the design. I hope you don't mind if share a different version. I did the attached one in Autocad that takes a little different approach and laminated it to a piece of acrylic, but I have a separate one for the left and the right.  I like yours and see lots of other applications.

I did mine for inlays so I marked the 1/2 degrees at the lower angles.

I also have the Wixey, They have a newer version that uses three triple A batteries that last a couple of years. The old ones with the button battery was always dead when I needed it.  

saw angles-Model.pdf

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