spirit levels

[John Williamson]

Blimey, those last two are longer than our buses... :-)

[Brian Gaff]

I'm looking for one of those audible ones that used to be everywhere a few years ago. I found one and ordered it but nothing has turned up though I suspect the company has got my dosh. I feel a fight going on.

Brian

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

If you put a level on a flat surface, then lift one end very slightly, it's worth noting just how much the bubble moves by. Conversely, you need to be careful looking at the bubble to be certain it's properly aligned between the marks in the tube.

Do you have perfectly sharp vision? (I was soldering something small yesterday & found my reading glasses no longer show me things crisply enough...)

As a matter of course I've always used the longest spirit level that will fit into/onto whatever I'm levelling AND have always tried it in the reverse orientation as well, just to cross-check each reading.

Also in a lot of situations something that's technically level/plumb will look wrong if some part of the adjacent furniture/fittings is not perfectly level/plumb. It's not always clear what to do.

Someone else mentioned always using a level when eg fitting back boxes; I've seen people using a 6" level for that - I wonder if that's really accurate enough.

[neil]

But it would read back to front

[John Rumm]

> That was on yesterdays snagging list.

Can't you make it your problem and bill the client for a nice Multimaster Top to fix it ;-)

[Rick Hughes]

ooops a 0 too many ....

[docholliday93]

Some levels have a longer vial for horizontal than for vertical, which shou= ld make them more accurate. I'd tend to agree with the other suggestions, t= hough, and say it's not the basic accuracy but the setup of the vial used f= or vertical measurements that's out. You can usually adjust this, though so= me levels I've had are better than others...

[Onetap]

Do please tell me that was a wah. Please.

[ARWadsworth]

wah? way above head?

I just considered it to be a joke.

[ARWadsworth]

And one that Dave Plowman would usually comment on:-)

[The Medway Handyman]

But when do you need that degree of accuracy? Can't think of anything I do where 0.5mm over a metre would make any difference. You certainly wouldn't be able to see that with the naked eye.

[js.b1]

Buy a Bosch Quigo from Amazon or somewhere. Self Levelling Laser, paints a cross-on a wall, acrow, floor, lintel, door,= shelf, tiling, wallpaper, sockets, wood panelling, anything. Suspect it is= not good enough outdoors, but it is absolutely wonderful otherwise.

A good cheap spirit level is a Stabila 24", 0.5mm/m accuracy, german, about= =A312 delivered if you shop around (sometimes better).

The Quigo is a wonderful tool though.

[docholliday93]

I would argue that it can be a mistake to go for too accurate a level, as i= t reduces usability. My most accurate level is a Hilger and Watts level wit= h 0.05mm per metre divisions. It's great for getting say a large machine, w= hich has already been levelled with something cruder, to be as level as pos= sible - but it's absolutely useless for general work, as the bubble just zi= ps from one end of the vial to the other with an almost imperceptible movem= ent. The fact that the body is a couple of kilos of cast iron doesn't help,= either...

[whisky-dave]

That sounds serious, are you in love ;-)

[ARWadsworth]

No. It was pissing it down and I was starving. And rewarding good work is just as satisifying as bollocking them for lying to you.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

It's easy to check - place it against a vertical, then turn it around and try again - it should be the same.

[Fred]

Thanks everyone. Pretty much everyone said to turn it around and try it both ways, which I have never heard before nor thought to do. I shall do that from now on, thanks.

Yes, I will go and see if the vial can be rotated a little.

I'm probably about to ask another daft question but why is the bubble shorter than the gap between the two lines? I always try to get the bubble an equal distance from both lines and whilst I suppose that is easy to do by eye, wouldn't it be simpler to have the space between the lines the same width as the bubble, so that when level the bubble touches both lines?

Or do the lines signify something? Are they a 1mm/m slope or something? Why don't they put this information on the packets, to save me asking embarrassing questions on Usenet?

TIA

[John Williamson]

It's designed that way because the size of the bubble changes with temperature, and it's easier to judge the size of the gaps that way than if the bubble is bigger than the gap between the lines.

Oddly enough, the least accurate way to judge the position is when the bubble is exactly the same size as the interline gap.