WEN 3 in. Steel Angle Gauge Block Set with Case (12-Piece)

This WEN 12 Piece 3 in. Steel Angle Gauge Block Set is very nice. It includes 12 precision machined 1/4 in. x 3 in. blocks from 1/4 degree to 30 degree angles. Though a bit hard to see, the angle is marked on each one. It is packed in a nice foam-lined wood case with cutouts for each block. The set arrived very well packed with cushioning foam, and each block lightly coated with rust preventative and individually wrapped with wax paper. This set is useful for calibration, and aligning pieces on a mill. I don’t own a mill (sure wish I did), but these will be a great assist in aligning certain pieces in the cross-feed vise for precision drilling/tapping operations on the drill press. WEN is producing some fine products, and I’m becoming more impressed with each one I try.

These are very nice solid steel angle gauges, all about 1/4″ thick. I plan to use these for setting up various cuts with my woodworking equipment, as they are much more accurate and reliable than the gauges on my saws or my miter-cutting attachments. The carrying case is nice for keeping them in order. The only drawback from my perspective is that I would like a couple of angles more to go all the way up to 45 degrees. These go in varying increments from 1/4 degree up to 30 degrees.

These are a nice addition to my shop for use with my table top mill. They came very well packaged in die-cut foam inside a wood box wrapped with high density foam inside a cardboard box. Each block was wrapped with oil soaked paper to prevent any rust. These have a very nice finish and compare favorably with a couple of Starrett blocks that I have. The reason that I only gave them 4 stars is that they are not labeled with the size on each block. It can be very difficult to tell a 1/4 degree from a 1/2 degree block and having the size etched on each one would be a very nice improvement.

The angles are as advertised, thus allowing me to set precisely set the 22.5 degree angle for a mobile table saw base constructed from 1.5 inch square tubing.

This is a good angle block set for the home machine shop. Blocks come wrapped oil paper and have a excellent ground finish to them. Make for easy vise setups or gauging machined angles. The price is marginal for these gauges. One thing I didn’t like was the edges. There was no chamfered or beveled edges. The edges were extremely sharp and subjected to burrs if dropped. Otherwise a good set of block for the shop.

Affordable and precise calibrated angles for both wood and metal work! My first use was a precision offset of wood derby car wheels to create the best amount of wheel camber when drilling axle holes. With 12 blocks in the set, from 1/4 of a degree to 30 degrees, just about any angle can be created. I wasn’t sure from the online description what was meant by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… but to be clear, this set comes with 1/4 degree, 1/2 degree, 1 degree, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 degrees (12 blocks). I did notice that the degree sizes are hard to distinguish, such as the quarter, half and full degree. One of my photos shows the engraving that is just barely visible, and actually on the “back” side of each block when stored in the case. My simple solution was to make labels (another photo) so that it’s clear both what the sizes are, and which way the block is oriented (it’s pretty hard to distinguish a quarter degree!). Intermediate degree angles can be obtained by stacking these precision ground steel references. For example, a 27.5 degree angle is achieveable with the 25 block, 2 block, and half blocks stacked. The wood case is nice, especially with the custom-fit foam cutouts. Not only do I use this with my drill press, but also with a small mill. It’s the second set of precision reference blocks I needed after buying a precision parallel bar set.