I’ve always been looking for a quicker way to transfer baluster layouts up to the handrail. Today a carpenter brought in a PLS 3 laser and let me try it out WOW was I impressed! I could not believe how fast and accurate it was. It also will come in handy on rough ins leveling platforms and getting overall rises. So I ran home and got one on the way from Toolfetch for $191.
Have any of you all used this tool for this?
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yes !...
another cool thing..
laying out recessed lights...
snap your layout on the floor and project it to the ceiling
Mike, have you used a PLS3 ? I was amazed at how small it was. I always thought they where kinda bulky, like grapefriut sized.
that's the one we have.. about the size of a half a brick.. ours is about 6 years old
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Faster than a regular Baluster level?
don't know Robert I never tried one. It for sure is faster than my caveman method of using the old 4' bubble bar! Tell me about a baluster level.
http://www.ljsmith.net/products.asp
Bottom of the page, Tool accesories, lj3047.
Tubular alum. plumbs both ways. Has an adjustable tab to center it on the rail. Spring loaded punch marks the spot.
Basically you drill the tread for the bottom. Insert the point into the hole. Level it against the rail. Let the spring loaded punch go. Move to the next one.
Nothing LJ Smith is cheap but if you do stair rails with any regularity they are worth it. Some are anyway.
I use a PLS2 and a Robo 5-beam. Those two lasers have been all I needed for any job. The red glasses help in the sunlight.
Les,I have the Robo and about a yaer ago I had to set 12 8' Tapered colums under a second story deck and on top of the deck and I set the laser on the deck and the footings on the center marks and then shot the beam up to the girders and hit my centers marks for the columns at the top and they worked out perfect I didn't have to use a level.Joe Carola
The primary reason I bought the 5-beam was to transfer points on the floor to points on the ceiling. It's the perfect tool for that. I also learned it is versatile in other ways. Good tool for the price.Les Barrett Quality Construction
Les,It that RoboToolz? Bought by PC?How is the quality?The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
It's the same one, changed from yellow to gray. I am careful with all lasers, so I have never had a problem with calibration. The robo/PC can be calibrated in the field. I have used it laying out some fairly complex foundations for duplexes which were 80' long and 33' deep, not counting the garages. The trick to getting the most out of them is to understand that the center of the projected dot is the target point. As the distance from the laser increases, the dot grows bigger and dimmer, but the center remains true. A laser is great for projecting lines when foundations are offset, such as with a duplex where one apartment is set back ten feet behind the other. You can take your reading across the entire foundation accurately, even in the strongest wind. No string line can offer that. If I have some time this week, I will post some pics and techniques. The key to success with lasers is take care of them and understand their limitations. Once you know your laser's limitations, you can compensate and get extremely accurate results unachievable with other measuring tools, with the exception of builder's levels and transits which use optical methods. These too have their limitations.Les Barrett Quality Construction
It may not be the PLS 5 but I am very happy with mine, especially for what I have in it. Had to cut some shelves back and used it to transfer lines for cuts. Layed out a couple of walls in a 100 yr+ old church today.
In a situation where you need to nail boxing, ect, onto tall studs, where you might have two men snap chalk lines so that nails didn't miss the studs, use a lazer that projects a vertical line where you know a stud is and nail along the line. Works great.
I gotta a laser Im loving life with it. Not a PS2 but its a 5 beam laser by david l white got it a blowes..Man I'm haveing a hard time dealing with everything being level now. Just used it to lay out some stripes Im painting onna wall...life is good,....