Rant: I dropped $400 on a fancy digital angle finder and it's been a total waste

I mean, I saw all the ads and thought it would be a game changer for setting up my miter saw and checking cabinet frames. It's this little magnetic thing with a screen that shows the angle to a tenth of a degree. But in my shop, it's just not practical. The battery dies if I leave it on the metal saw for a few hours, and honestly, my old school bevel gauge and a sharp pencil get me just as close, way faster. I used it on a big built-in job last month and kept second guessing the readout, going back to my manual check. For that kind of money, I could have bought a really nice set of chisels or a stack of ply. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of these digital tools are solving problems we don't really have. Has anyone else bought a shop gadget that just collects dust?

4 comments

4 Comments

holly_reed553mo ago

Totally get that feeling! It's like the fancy coffee maker with 15 settings when a regular drip pot makes the same cup. My kitchen drawer is full of single-use gadgets that seemed essential online. The avocado slicer is the worst, a knife does it better and you don't have to wash a weird plastic thing. Sometimes the simple way is just the right way.

ray3563mo ago

What's the most useless gadget you still keep around just in case?

michael66926d ago

Kept my old GPS unit from like 2010 in the glovebox for years. Phone maps work way better now but hey, no signal in the boonies and that thing still chugs along on batteries.

seth_singh203mo ago

My 1998 Palm Pilot still has my old contacts and notes. It's basically a brick now but I keep it charged because what if I need a phone number from 2003. That weird stylus input was way ahead of its time.