Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Steven Lane photo
1 Level
760 Review
70 Karma

Review on Arssilee Widen Contour Gauge 10 Inch Profile Duplicator - Green - Perfect Fit, Easy Irregular Copy Ruler for Woodworking, Template & Shape Measuring Tool by Steven Lane

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Very smooth contour gauge

I use a contour gauge when making guitars. I use to measure and duplicate the left and right sides of the heel and the left and right sides of the transition of the neck to the head of the peg. While this tool is great for outlines, it was unable to create a left and right MIRROR image on the same 3D shape layer (guitar neck heel) due to its geometry at the fingertips: please read on. I was hoping to replace my metal dipstick with this one. Due to the way the fingers are made, this sensor does not display a left and right "image" so it was not designed for my application and will not work. However, it is a very functional contour sensor that moves smoothly and each segment is more or less independent of its neighbor. The surface of the "fingers" where they slide against each other has a very fine texture so they don't tend to stick together and crowd out their neighbors. When this actually happened, fine-tuning was easy with a free finger, the sensor was so smooth. It also has an easy to read scale on both sides in inches and mm. The problem with using this sensor for my application is that the designer also created the opposite sides with opposite geometry which confuses the usage in my application because I rotate the sensor side by side. To compare the left and right sides of the guitar heel contour, the instrument must be rotated 180 degrees about its longitudinal axis. Due to its toe/fin design (unlike pins) it cannot touch the heel in the same place when rotating like a metal pin sensor does. So I can't use it to measure the symmetry of a 3D shape, like e.g. B. a glass with a terribly rigid pin gauge. For that reason I'm only giving 4 stars (I hope it's fair, it's not the contourometer's fault). If it worked as I imagined, a clear 5 stars. Ideal for simple contours.

Pros
  • Hands-free operation
Cons
  • Very expensive