[Tool review] - Laser level

Had some tiling to do, so I bought a cheap laser cross level from Screwfix (code 28030) for £45

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also sell what appears to be the same thing
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's a useful gadget. It hasn't paid for itself quite yet on just one job, but it's on its way to doing so. I certainly wouldn't set tiles again without one.

This level consists of a pendulum self-levelling head with two lasers and line-generator lenses. The casing is mounted on a tripod base with three levelling screws and spirit level bubbles. You set the tripod up, level the base roughly by hand, then let the pendulum do the rest.

The projected lines are bright in the centre and taper off in brightness somewhat to their extremities. In a small bathroom they gave around 4' of useful width/height. The line is easy to see and although contrast goggles were included, they weren't needed.

Each laser is independently switched, although I generally used both together. Power is from 3 AA bateries, which is probably more convenient than needing a charger. There's no motor in this typoe of line generator, so battery life should be good.

The great advantage of a line generator device, compared to a whirling mirror, is that it can project both vertically and horizontally at once. Although the whirly mirrors can be tilted, they rarely have two independent heads and certainly not for under £50. Having now used two lines, I wouldn't want to set tiles with only one.

Setup is pretty easy. The coarse levelling is quick and easily done. There's also a small clamp nut that must be released to let the pendulum swing free. Surprisingly the pendulum isn't fully locked even when this clamp is used, so there's still some freedom to bounce around in transit. Accuracy depends on the non-adjustable line lenses, but this seemed adequate for general DIY use. There's also a turntable in the baseplate, so that the vertical line can be swivelled in azimuth and aligned.

Less impressive is the tripod. This is lightweight, but reasonably stable. The drawback is its height, or lack of it - about 4' maximum. As this limits the height that the horizontal line can be placed at, that's a serious limitation on its usefulness. The tripod bush is also not a standard camera fitting (it's around 3/8", rather than the usual 1/4") so you can't just put it on an existing camera tripod you might have. Height adjustment is crucial for alignment and this is done through a rack and pinion on the tripod.

Overall, I'm impressed by this level and found it very useful, at a very good price. I'll be making an adapter bush to fit it to a taller tripod though.

Screwfix also offer a rotating head laser level for a similar price

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Reply to
Andy Dingley
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Thanks for the review. Jessops sell 1/4 to 3/8 adapters.

Reply to
Malcolm Stewart

3/8" Whitworth (16tpi) is european standard microphone thread. Adpaters are available in either direction from a least Canford.
Reply to
Dave Liquorice

two ago. Mine cost £20 (well £19:99, I think), from Boyes.

I think that all the transit lock needs to do is remove the weight of the pendulum from its delicate suspension wire(?), to avoid it breaking.

I found the tripod poor too and suspect it was not really intended for this head. The level bubbles have little if any purpose because all you need is the tripod roughly level. Providing the pendulum is free to move, it will be level.

I agree, a very useful bit of kit!

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

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