General Tools Angle Protractor #17 Stainless Steel Square Head - Measuring Tool for Carpenters & Woodworking Hobbyists

Quality, product easy to use

My job field uses this protractor a lot. Even when I went to school for my current job this was the only protractor that was used. For what we do there really is no replacement for this tool, people have tried to make quick reference cards with the angles needed but there really is no replacing this protractor especially with the squared head.

I ordered one of these to keep around the shop and the first one arrived with an inaccurate scale off by about 1 degree, reading 89 degrees when checked against a verified-accurate machinist's square. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR GAUGE AGAINST A MACHINIST SQUARE BEFORE USING IT FOR ANYTHING. Obviously when you're using this to transfer angles for replication or to create the inverse of an angle, where you won't be actually measuring the angle and are just using it as a transfer tool, then this becomes a non-issue but when using it to actually measure an angle it's frustrating. Needless to say, that unit gets one star. However I decided to give the manufacturer/Amazon another shot before leaving my review, and I contacted Amazon about the issue and a replacement was sent immediately, arriving 2 days later. They didn't request the original back so that one can still be used for just transferring angles, and I handed it off to a co-worker with the warning about the scale so he can use it for a transfer tool.The replacement is accurate! Note that this isn't a "precision scale," as the marking for reading the angle is itself is about 0.5mm wide and that presents wiggle-room in the potential for mis-reading the scale very slightly, but it gets you in the ballpark, and on the replacement it actually lands on 90 when measured against a machinist's square.It's a solid little tool, and very simple. Provided that the scale is marked accurately, there's really not much that can go wrong with this tool aside from being crushed/bent/destroyed through negligence or accident. It is low-tech and perfect for work where "good enough" certainly is; I'd advise against using it to design a space shuttle or something where the difference between 45 and 44 degrees might be a life-or-death situation, though I don't suspect folks doing such things are looking to pinch pennies on angle gauges. It was a bummer that the first one's scale wasn't precise but given how quickly and easily the issue was rectified with absolutely no fuss, I don't feel I can exactly fault the item for that sour first experience. I'd say that if you're in the market for an item like this and trying to keep the cost down, go ahead and take a shot if you're buying from a company that's easy-breezy with returns/replacements: in my experience, if you catch any accuracy issues quickly Amazon and/or General Tools will take good care of you.

I use a Mitutoyo protractor which is almost identical but much more expensive. I wanted a second one for another area of my shop. I was wary about the General Tools version but it appears to be as precise as the Mitutoyo. The “fit and finish” is as expected with the much cheaper tool but it functions well. (It has the same precise indicator method missing from some of the cheaper machinist’s protractors.

Rarely needing it, I had forgotten that we had this in the shop.At the moment of writing this review, we really really need this tool.So, I am walking over to the tool crib and getting it.What a relief to know that our product design is moving forward faster because of a dumb little metal tool that is just amazing at what it does.

This product is what it is. Lightweight metal and functional.

I purchased this to help set the angle my CV carburetor float shuts of fuel. Now that I have it there a load of other applications for an easy-to-read protractor. Checking the angle I was sharpening knives was one of them.

Good tool that should be in every machinist box for rough angle verification. Decent quality for what it is a guesstimate. If you wanta acurite better buy a optical comparator or a cmm!!!