Taking on angles
By Bob Ohm

For me the Quick Angle multipurpose tool is equivalent to the Swiss army knife. It is that versatile. The tool determines angles, scribes, marks notches and cutouts, measures roof pitch and serves as a compass.

Made of reinforced nylon, the Quick Angle consists of two wings, hinged to a center bar and a sliding plate, that swing out like an umbrella. The center bar has a scale that the sliding plate reads. The scale is in one-degree increments with even and odd numbers on opposite sides of the scale and is in logarithmic format, which means degree spacing will vary along the scale. The tool folds compact.

Measuring an angle

When it comes to angles, one of the most frustrating jobs I find is measuring for crown moulding. Walls and ceilings just never seem to come together at exactly 90 degrees and figuring out the angles can be an exercise in aggravation. This seemed to be the perfect test for this tool.

The room I'm working in has an unusual angled ceiling. With this tool, measuring an angle is easy. I snugged one wing of the tool against the wall and the other against the ceiling, tightened the locking knob on the center bar and read the degree on the scale. After transferring the reading to the miter saw, I cut the moulding and put it in place, only to find it was slightly off. I rechecked the measurement and discovered the miter saw was off, not the Quick Angle. I recalibrated the saw, cut the moulding and it fit.

The range of the tool is 22.5 to 270 degrees, allowing you to measure both inside and outside angles.

Other uses

I liked using the inserted pencil and ledged wing to scribe lines parallel to a panel's edge. The useful range is 1-1/2 to 6 inches from the edge. This comes in handy in many onsite applications where hand tools are the only option. I had a panel that needed 5 inches trimmed off one side. I inserted a pencil in the pencil holder, set the scale at 5 inches, set the ledge wing along the edge and scribed the line. In the past, I would have had to place marks incrementally and then scribe the line connecting those marks.

This multipurpose tool, with its price of $29.95, its compact size and good accuracy has found a permanent home in my tool box. For more information go to www.quickangle.com.

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