General Tools Contour Gauge 837 - 6" Angle Finder Tool for Home Improvement - Gadgets for Men

The tool is as expected and serves well it’s purpose.

This contour gauge is everything I hoped it would be. It creates a near-perfect replica of the shape you need. We recently remodeled several rooms and this tool did a GREAT job of getting the duplicate outline we needed to cut tile "just right." The metal rods are tight but not too tight. In my opinion, that's good, because they hold their shape better when you're tracing your outline. The key to success for me seemed to be to work it slowly. You'll see videos promoting similar products in which the user is pressing it quickly onto the shape needed. I found it worked beautifully if I took it just a tad slower.Side note: Because these metal rods can get bent if the tool is tossed about or thrown in a tool bucket, I strongly recommend storing it safely. (Ours now has its own place in my tool drawers.)Bottom line, the pricepoint is excellent, and so is the tool. Definitely five stars.

I wanted a metal one, as this is, because of the much finer resolution. I was concerned that it might not work well, because of all the negative reviews. Well, it is a bit fragile, it isn't easily adjustable if at all, and it's a little bit stiff, but it works fine.My recommendation is to baby this thing. I'll probably make a box for it. It's not going to stand up to rough use, and if it falls apart I can see it being miserable to try to get back together. But again, it works.My use for it? To get contours for various wood trim things or obstacles when replacing trim or making moldings. For that it should be perfect.

Yes, this is a niche tool that you may or may not use in your lifetime. But if you are renovating an older home, this tool comes in handy when trying to decipher the profile of an existing moulding in order to determine what to buy at the local lumber yard, or if you are a woodworker, what tooling would be required to replicate the moudling. This particular contour gauge is well-made, with the pins tight enough in the body to not readily fall out but loose enough to quickly and reliably take a measurement. The only trick with this type of gauge is to store them properly in a sturdy case when not in use since they are relatively fragile and kids like to play with them.

I've been wanting to try one of these contour gauges for a while now, and I selected this particular one because I do a lot of miniature/model building and it appeared to be a smaller size, plus I generally prefer metal tools over plastic ones for their longevity.After experimenting with this one, I can attest that it functions well enough to see the possibilities in one of these tools, but I have to admit that this version probably wasn't the best option for me, and I intend to continue looking for another one.Therefore, here are my observations about what I did and didn't like:The overall size is good in the respect that the length is short enough to accommodate smaller items.However, the pins are centered vertically within the middle bar that houses them, which means that if the gauge is placed against a short/thin object, the pins pass over the top and don't create a good impression. Also, even when placed against a taller item to create a better impression, tracing that result onto the material to be cut is tricky since that pattern doesn't lie flat against it. Therefore, I wish that this had a flat bottom with the pins lying directly on my work surface.Also, although metal tools are usually sturdier than plastic ones, I have serious doubts about the quality of this one, because it already had flecks of rust on many of the pins when I received it, so it's clearly made from very cheap materials.Therefore, my overall assessment is that this isn't necessarily a total waste if you're only looking for an inexpensive option to use for a couple of projects and aren't looking for a serious tool. However, I personally wouldn't buy it again or recommend it to anyone else.

I can't figure out why people don't like this tool. It works exactly as it should. I have owned several of these over the years. I have bought some expensive ones and this product worked the same as the pricey ones did. This is a delicate tool. You have to be careful to keep the pins from bunching up. As for the comment from the person who said the pins were in too tightly...obviously, if they were looser, they would fall out. Also, it is important that they stay exactly in the same position without moving when you finish taking your measurements.

You can get a “good one or bad one” with anything. Well, I got a bad one. I took it out of the package without really looking at it. The pins were all over the place. After I tightly slid the pins together, I was missing 1” of pins! So this should be advertised as a 5” Contour Guide, not 6” Lol If the pins are stacked tightly, they stay in place. If there is any space between the pins, they literally will fall out when you tilt it vertically. There are a lot of reviews about the pins falling out. This states there are 35 pins per inch. The reason they may be falling out is the lack of pins per inch. I counted these and if the pins stacked tightly together, mine has 32 pins per inch. According to the product description, there should be 35 pins per inch. Not enough pins will result in them falling out. It’s a quality control issue. They could have at least shipped mine with all the pins!