Grinder Angle Gauges

Setting the angle of the tool supports on the grinder is difficult without a gauge: it's very hard to get a protractor into the right position. Most books I've read recommend cutting the gauges out of cardboard. That seems like an entirely sensible option, but around the time I was thinking of this, my work had decided it would be a good idea to get a 3D printer and it would be a shame not to try this new toy out! The gauges are very simple blocks of plastic with the numbers "cut out" to show the angle relative to 90°. In use, they are held on the tool support and the angle of the support is adjusted until the gauge is flush with the wheel for a reasonable length.

The Gauges:

The holes in the corner are simply there to make it easy to hang them on a nail on the wall.

Using the 15° Gauge:

The gauges were modelled using the (frankly amazing) 3D CAD library OpenJSCAD.org. If you're using a modern browser (I've only tested this with Chrome and Firefox; it almost certainly won't work in Microsoft Internet Explorer), you will hopefully see a 3D model of one of the gauges below.

You can drag it around (left mouse button to rotate, middle mouse button to move) to view it from different angles. You can also adjust many of the parameters that make it (the angle parameter is probably the most interesting) and press update to get a new 3D model! If everything works, you can then generate an STL file that can be used with a 3D printer.

If the model below isn't working for you (it may take a few seconds to appear as your browser creates the model dynamically), send me a message with the contact form and I can email you an STL file for printing.

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