I have to admit that math was never one of my strong suits, and fi guring angles in the shop was always a challenge. Over the years I developed a crude shop math that was more trial-and-error than math. That’s why I am so impressed with the Eee Zee Miter angle divider by a company called Signs and Designs of Ontario, Canada. The Eee Zee Miter performs most of the functions of a sliding bevel gauge with the advantage of locking securely. Once you set the angle, you can move it from tool to tool without worrying about losing your setting.
The angle divider is anodized aluminum with solid brass locking knobs, and is very well made. The instructions indicate that you should oil the tool and then work it back and forth for a while to break it in, but mine came oiled and worked flawlessly.
The design is very simple and almost foolproof. The basic operation involves loosening the two locking pivots, then aligning the tool against the angle you want to replicate, tightening the pivots and then matching your saw blade to the divider. It works well with the table saw or miter saw, and I even used it as a miter gauge to cut angles on small stock on the bandsaw.
What’s nice about this tool is its accuracy and versatility. For example, on the table saw you can use it to set your miter gauge to the angle you’ve copied. The bar fits perfectly into a standard-size miter slot. Another nice feature allows you to accurately determine both the inside and outside angles of corners. (I checked several in my house and not one was exactly 90 degrees.) Using the setting on the divider I set the angle on my table saw blade and made perfect outside miters on base molding.
There are probably angles this tool can’t measure directly, but there are a number of ways to transfer an angle to it. Then you can use that setting for saw setup. Any way you use it, figuring and cutting angles just got a lot easer.
The Eee Zee Miter sells for about $47.50 (U.S.). For information, call (519) 758-8750 or visit signsanddesigns.ca/miter
—Now a woodworker, Tom O’Connor is a 25-year veteran of the Conn. State Police. He lives in Sedgewick, Maine.