Wasted $150 on a fancy digital angle finder that broke in 3 weeks

Bought a pricey electronic angle finder from a big box store for roof truss layouts. Worked fine for the first 10 days then the screen went fuzzy and it started giving readings off by 5 degrees. Anyone else had luck with the old-school magnetic ones or should I just stick to my speed square?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_schmidt979d ago

Yeah man I had almost the exact same thing happen with a digital level I bought. Screen went all crazy after about a month and started giving me readings that were just way off. I went back to the old magnetic angle finder and honestly I trust it way more now. Takes a little longer to set up but at least it doesn't conk out on you in the middle of a job.

caseys309d ago

Man, 5 degrees off? That's wild. I would have lost my mind if I was laying out roof trusses and it was giving me bad readings like that. Five degrees could throw your whole roof pitch off and waste a ton of material. I've never had that happen with a magnetic one myself, they just don't have the fancy electronics to go haywire on you. Sounds like that digital one was just a ticking time bomb from the factory. Stick with the speed square for the important cuts, that's what I do on any framing job.

patriciam228d ago

The magnetic ones are tough as nails for a reason. I had a digital protractor die on me mid job a few years back, not a cheap one either, and I got so frustrated I threw it in the trash right there on the concrete floor. That old school magnetic style just doesn't have the delicate little circuit boards to go bad or the screen to fog up on you. Plus if you drop it off a ladder or knock it off a workbench it'll probably still work fine where a digital one is toast. I keep my speed square for quick checks but a good magnetic angle finder is a solid middle ground. Your mileage may vary but I trust the ones with no batteries a lot more in the long run.