Replies

1. 
   bearmon | May 31, 2007 05:23am | #1

   Set it on anything, doesn't have to read level, but note where the bubble is.  Turn it end for end and the bubble should look the same.

   Bear

1. 
   drystone | Jun 01, 2007 05:49pm | #32

   If it dooesn't look the same I imagine the bubble is faulty.  Where can you buy a fresh bubble and can you get them in custom colors?  Is there any advantage in bulk buying bubbles, do they have a limited shelf life?  I must admit to being a novice in the bubble field.

1. 
   dovetail97128 | Jun 01, 2007 05:59pm | #33

   drystone, Bubbles? Try the re-runs of Lawrence Welk show ;-)
   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

2. 
   dovetail97128 | May 31, 2007 05:26am | #2

   Alley Al,
   Set the level on a flat surface, use paper or business cards to adjust the level at one end until it reads with the bubble exactly between the lines.
   Use a pencil to mark EXACTLY where the level is sitting.
   Pick up the level and rotate it end for end DO NOT TURN IT OVER , grasp it in the middle and spin it like a helicopter blade would spin.
   Set it back down exactly on the previous marks. If it is correct the bubble will be exactly in the middle of the lines.

   To check plumb set it against a vertical surface, note the bubble alignment , then rotate on it's long axis.

   See My drawing.

   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

   
   

   ---

   Edited 5/30/2007 10:28 pm by dovetail97128

1. 
   splintergroupie | May 31, 2007 05:49am | #3

   I hold it on the wall, level, draw a line along the edge. Flip it, line up the edge again with the line, see if the bubble's centered. If it is, you have a level line by which to guage all other levels as well. No shims, no muss, no fuss, and future benefits accrue.Now have a glass of iced tea...

1. 
   dovetail97128 | May 31, 2007 07:03am | #4

   splintie, DUH. Actually in my defense I was taught the method I use by my first boss and part of the instruction was that I could then define how much the level was out by measuring the stack of shim stock and dividing by 2. Besides in the days before Stabilia it was always fun to show the LY clerks just how far off at least 1/2 their new levels were by using their business cards.Would work with pencil lines as well though.
   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

1. 
   splintergroupie | May 31, 2007 07:26am | #5

   The trouble in my old shop was finding the damn line. My walls were part shopping list, part message board, part aphorism-catch all, and a lot of my patterns were drawn right on the walls because i'm pretty ADD and would lose them otherwise.

1. 
   JDRHI | Jun 01, 2007 06:35am | #30

   The trouble in my old shop was finding the damn line. My walls were part shopping list, part message board, part aphorism-catch all, and a lot of my patterns were drawn right on the walls....

   LOL. I often wonder why I took the time to paint my shop walls?

   J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements

    

    

2. 
   DanH | May 31, 2007 08:56pm | #12

   Yeah, I always (even when not actually purchasing one) check levels in the store, by checking one against another. Find two that read the same (stack one on top of the other), then flip one and see if they still read the same.Now, for drywall squares -- there's a real challenge.
   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

1. 
   dovetail97128 | May 31, 2007 09:40pm | #13

   Dan,

   I just buy Stabilias and don't worry about it any more.
   I own 10 of them in different sizes and for different jobs, and they all read the same , everyday , all day , year after year. Love the magnetic ones for steel buck doors!
   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

2. 
   Piffin | May 31, 2007 09:51pm | #15

   All my guys and myself have eityher the Stabilla or the Levelution.
   When Phil has his and I have mine, we could make a 18' stick level, not that we would... 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   dovetail97128 | May 31, 2007 10:08pm | #16

   Piffin, This thread has me thinking about an incident that i took part in years ago.
   gyppo saw mill operator I knew was putting in a new green chain. he had poured piers every 4' for 40' in 4 parallel lines to support the tracks.
   At his request I came out with my builders lever (Topcon, self leveling) and shot a grade for each steel support to be cut to to achieve a level plane for the tracks.
   We marked each pier with the correct length of post. He insisted I recheck it using my lazer Topcon as he didn't trust the builders level. Everything reads the same.. off I go. Two days later he calls in a panic screaming at me, my lengths are all wrong he says, welder is there and nothing is working out, gotta be my Topcons are wrong.
   I go over , welder is using a cheap new adjustable vial 4' level and setting it on top of the 12' length of rails and then then measuring down to the piers. Yep , ignore the lengths I gave , just trust that new level .. which was off by maybe 3/8" in 4', ... Rails were all over the place in terms of plane. "But It is Brand New, I just bought it today" Last I knew the level was looking a bit like a "Sherman Bowtie " hanging from the welders back bumper. Made me smile.
   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

4. 
   Piffin | Jun 01, 2007 01:09am | #18

   Yeah, I know, just a week ago here at BT I argued with an HO who was sure his wall was perfect simply because his level said so. Maybe he was right, but odds are not so, based on the countless times I have seen the same thing in person.the bow tie one - I had a decent AL Ibar type once long ago that read true. I had a laborer grab it to use for a pry bar! When he was done, you could have used it for a rocking chair pattern!Yes, I thought about using it over his head.... 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

5. 
   DanH | Jun 01, 2007 02:06am | #21

   Brings to mind my own home where every floor, wall, window opening, etc, is off by exactly 1/4 inch in four feet. I'm guessing that the builder's level was off that much.
   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

6. 
   Snort | Jun 01, 2007 02:22am | #22

   <the bow tie one - I had a decent AL Ibar type once long ago that read true. I had a laborer grab it to use for a pry bar! When he was done, you could have used it for a rocking chair pattern!Yes, I thought about using it over his head....>Oh man, I wish you had, because he came to work for me! My SIL gave me her dad's cast aluminum 4' masons level. Built like a 1950 Mercury...it was bulletproof til it met your ex-helper. I never could get it out of him how exactly he turned it into a pretzel :-( I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

   No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

   Well, she talks to all the servants

   About man and God and law.

   Everybody says

   She's the brains behind pa.

   She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.

   I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

7. 
   Piffin | Jun 01, 2007 03:22am | #24

   I can tell you the secret.I ws up on the roof, and the ladder was stuck deep in the mud down below. Might have even been frozen in the night before.So he jammed it in under the bottom rung about 18" and heaved. Had no clue he was hurting the level until the bottom rung of the ladder popped and crinkled! He was just backing off from his dastardly deed when i looked ofer the edge of the roof ready to come back down and saw the curled AL in his paws. He's the one who rejoiced when I first hired him because carrying two bundles of shingles at a time up two stories on a ladder would get him in shape for football.He didn't last long with me, but he did win States in wrestling and was a potential contender for the Olymics freestyle 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

8. 
   PaulBinCT | Jun 01, 2007 02:05am | #20

   I've got the Levolution set as well... everyone busts my chops because I refuse to take it on a job site. I've watched my new guy drop my 4 ft Irwin at least five times a week. Thank God it's built well,and adjustable.

   You know Levolution has gone the way of the buffalo, I assume?PaulB

    

9. 
   Piffin | Jun 01, 2007 03:16am | #23

   yeah, I first got impressed with it at a JLC Live several years ago where the guy who developed it was pushing it personally. He would demo it by whacking it on a post like he was beating the post to death and never hurt it or knocking it off.He also stressed how they would be in business untiol the sundon't shine so if there was ever a problem he was including free calibration for life.Then some other companyt bought him out just so they could take it off the market. It was so good it was cutting into their sales, I guess. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

10. 
    PaulBinCT | Jun 01, 2007 03:50am | #25

    yeah... the other company was Irwin ;)

    But they gave me a set of levels in a nice case, so I can't stay mad... well, yeah I can. RIP Levolution.PaulB

     

11. 
    Piffin | May 31, 2007 09:49pm | #14

    I'll make you a good deal on a DW square that is off no more than 3/8" or so...;) 

     

    Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

12. 
    DanH | May 31, 2007 10:47pm | #17

    Thanks, but I already have one that's better than that -- off by a full half.
    So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

2. 
   Mooney | Jun 01, 2007 01:47am | #19

   What Dovetail said. 

3. 
   user-209584 | Jun 01, 2007 05:23am | #26

    was wondering how to make sure the new level I bought is accurate?******

   Dovetail knows  ~ thanks :-) Bobbi

1. 
   dovetail97128 | Jun 01, 2007 05:34am | #27

   Bobbi,
   Well now you can go teach others...
   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

1. 
   1muff2muff | Jun 01, 2007 05:46am | #28

   Dropped scaffold onmy Stabila yesterday. Went to lumber yard and bought a Stanley Fat Max "Extreme" with a lifetime warranty if it goes out of plumb.

   "Just don't bend it", said the tool guy.

    

2. 
   user-209584 | Jun 01, 2007 06:19am | #29

   Bobbi, Well now you can go teach others...

   *****

    

   Or just mess with the guys at Lowes ? ;-) Bobbi

1. 
   dovetail97128 | Jun 01, 2007 07:16am | #31

   Bobbi,
   "Laffin" yea well there is that as well!!
   "Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

3. 
   jrnbj | May 31, 2007 08:12am | #6

   First buy a plumb bob and a big beam compass.........

4. 
   Piffin | May 31, 2007 11:33am | #7

   You have the answer already now, but next time, be sure to check it in the store first before you buy. Anywhere from a third to two thirds of the levels in most hardware stores are off from the git go

    

    

   Welcome to the
   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
    where ...
   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   Jer | May 31, 2007 02:02pm | #8

   "Anywhere from a third to two thirds of the levels in most hardware stores are off from the git go"Absolutely. You should have seen it when I went to buy a 6' and 4' stick. I drew a little bit of a crowd. As I recall the first 6' I picked out was good but I had to reject two 4' levels.

2. 
   Snort | May 31, 2007 02:17pm | #9

   Have you tried buying a framing square lately?<G> I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

   No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

   Well, she talks to all the servants

   About man and God and law.

   Everybody says

   She's the brains behind pa.

   She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.

   I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

5. 
   mike4244 | May 31, 2007 06:04pm | #10

   Screw a drywall screw into a board or bench, the length of the level. Place level on top, screws are flush with each end of level.Adjust one screw up or down til the level is exact.Turn the level end for end and repeat. If the level is perfect their will not be any variation. If you have a double vial, then do each vial same way.

   For plumb, same method except vertically into a stud or whatever is handy.

   mike

6. 
   Dave45 | May 31, 2007 08:45pm | #11

   Al -

   Bearman and Dovetail are both right..............sorta.

   Use Bearman's method to determine if it is (or isn't) accurate.  Use Dovetail's method if you need to know how much it's off.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 5/31/2007 1:48 pm by Dave45