That $40 digital protractor saved me from a total mess on a stair remodel

I was laying out stringers for a set of stairs in a house outside Nashville last month and my old speed square just wasn't cutting it. The angles were all weird because the floor wasn't level and the top landing had a slight slope. I bit the bullet and bought a digital angle finder at the hardware store for about 40 bucks. Honestly, it paid for itself in the first ten minutes because I didn't have to re-cut a single tread. The laser guide on it made matching the heel height a breeze too. Has anyone else tried one of these for framing or do you still go old school with a framing square?

2 comments

2 Comments

kaiharris6h ago

nah man i get what youre saying but a speed square works fine if you know how to use it right. digital stuff is just another thing to break when you drop it off a ladder or the battery dies on you.

luna55025m ago

Ha, I hear you on that! I grabbed one for a tricky basement stair job where the slab was off by almost an inch and it saved my back from hauling stringers back and forth. The speed square's great for quick cuts but not so much when you've got wonky floors and slopes throwing everything out of whack. Battery's still in mine from a year ago, guess I've been lucky so far.