Using Your Smartphone as a Digital Angle Gauge
George VondriskaDescription
Setting angles on your tools can be a little tricky, and getting the angles just right is very important. If you’re doing something like stave construction, or any multi-sided item, being off just a few degrees on the set up can lead to disastrous results. But if you own a smart phone, the answer for accurately setting angles is at your fingertips.
Start with an App
Your phone on its own won’t be much help. You need to add an app that’s designed for reading angles. The app we’re using on an iPhone in this video is called Rotating Sphere Clinometer. If that specific app isn’t available for your device, there are lots of other angle reading apps out there. Get one for your phone.
Build a Jig
We need a very simple jig. The jig acts as a fixture that will hold your phone, and it also needs to have rare earth magnets on it that will secure the jig to your saw table and saw blade. Each jig will be a little different, depending on your phone, but some tips for making the jig are provided in the video.
Using Your Gauge
Once you’ve got the app and have built the jig, using your setup is easy. Zero the angle gauge to your table, then place the jig on your saw blade (with the saw unplugged) to determine the angle of the blade. Easy peezy.
Your Phone in Your Shop
There are a handful of helpful ways you can use your phone in the shop. Woodworking apps for your iPhone can definitely make your woodworking life easier.
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If you own a smartphone, we can turn this smartphone into a digital angle gage, to help you set your blade on table saw, miter saw, other places. It works great on the table saw, cause one of the things we're gonna rely on here are some magnets. So, here's the deal. I've got an app on my phone and we've got the source for ya. And what that app does is acts as a digital angle gage. Now, if the one that we have sourced, if you don't like it, if for whatever reason it doesn't work with your device, look for one that will give you a tenth of a degree when you're checking angles, cause that'll give you the highest level of accuracy. The other thing we're gonna need is a way to make our phone connect to the saw and that's what this is all about. So, this is gonna be idiosyncratic to your phone, but there are a few parameters here. What I did is, I made a half inch Baltic birch backer, slightly bigger than my phone. Here, there's a board. A little chunk of Baltic birch with two rare-earth magnets in it. The key to this is that, when this goes on the blade, this is two and a half inches long, cause most blades come out of the saw three inches. I want these two magnets to be on the plate without the set of the teeth of the saw interfering with the jig. We wanna make sure that we're right up against the steel, not being interfered with by the carbide. So, that's where this length and this placement comes from. Then, for me this was a pretty simple approach. The phone goes in and then I used a wedge, cut at a five degree angle. This board, of course, is glued. That's permanently fixed to the back. This is at five degrees. When I push that down, it seats my phone against that gizmo and then we're ready to go. Ready to go. It's pretty cool. What we can do is, first when we want to set the blade to an angle, set this so the saw table. And when I do this, within the app, I can zero this and that's important, cause right now the app like doesn't know where it is in the world and space, so when I hit that zero button and give everything a chance to settle, now I'm zeroed to the saw table. The other thing that's neat, with this app is when I pinch, what I'm doing now is I'm reducing it's accuracy. So, look at from zero to there is 15 degrees. When I reverse pinch, from zero to there is one degree. So, when I make changes, it's gonna be way more obvious what change I'm making. Then, so we're zeroed to the table. There. I take this whole thing and I put it on the saw blade. And the other thing, what the number on the bottom is showing me is, am I leaning back or leaning forward. So, I'm just pivoting this. That's at zero. Now, as I turn this and I'm headed for a 30 degree cut. 90 minus 30, I'm pretty sure that's 60, right? So, we can watch here, but if you watch here we're actually getting even more accuracy out of that. And it just, you gotta make a move, let it settle. So right there, I'm actually still at 60 and a half. Perfect. 60 degrees. Now, dose of reality. Here's what I did with this. My testing was, do everything that we're doing and set the blade to 90 and then take a really good quality square and see if it really is 90. Do everything we're doing, set it to 30. Take a really good quality square and see if it really is 30. And for me, with my setup and this app, it was. It was rock solid accurate. So, I have found that this works pretty darn well in order to set angles and get my blade perpendicular to the table, here on my table saw. So, make yourself a jig, try this app or other apps, see how it goes for you. The app is free so, you've got about 30 cents worth of material in there and a couple of rare-earth magnets. It's worth trying, check in our near shop so you can make your own digital angle gage.
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can you provide the company that made this app. I looked for it and couldn't find it. Tried US and Canada stores. If you provide the company, I can see if I can get it independently.
Since Apple is only 44% of the smartphones in the US, why do you only give info for iphones? For the rest of us who are android users, go to the Google Play store and look for "Rotating Spherical Inclïnometer".
The "Rotating Sphere Clinometer" app for the iPhone is not available in the US. At least, that's the message I get from the App Store when I search for it.
OK, I found one I would recommend for the I-Phone that I have. In the Apple App store it it called "Clinometer + bubble level" by Seasor Utilities. It costs $1.95 and is not free. No big deal. The indicator would tell me that it is very accurate--I wonder if its repeatability and absolute accuracy are as precise as the display would indicate, but nonetheless it has the angles indicated to the degree of precision that George has said is good to have, 1/10 of 1 degree plus other stuff. I like the display but have not used it yet. Clay
The app is not available in the United States, George! :) How about recommending one that is available on the Apple Ap Store and one for other non-apple phones?
I was a gold member here a few years back. I had some medical issues and had to step back. My issues are now in remission and now, I"M BACK. Just downloaded this app, love it, just this one tip was worth the fee.
Any chance George can try this on a mitre saw so a video can be viewed? Thanks
How do i see a link for this particular app? I am using an ipad to view it and can now select any the options on the right of the video.
When are you going to start using captioning/subtitles on EVERYTHING? I saw a video here not too long ago that had the subtitles and was perfect, and then poof! I'm not the only woodworking deaf/hoh person that misses information.
THIS APP does not work on my Samsung galaxy 6. all i get is a frozen clinometer that is scale adjustable but does absolutely nothing else, I did find other apps that work, but they don't give me the double-axis leveling action this one does. Just saying...waiting for a response from the app producer. Great idea though, I had no idea I could do this...could have used this type of app 100 times in the last 3 months.