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Laser level recomendation

cwr

By cwr
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SteamyTea Advanced Member

SteamyTea

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Posted (edited)

You can just put one mark on the wall at the height you want, set the laser up as close to it as you easily can.  Measure the distance from the laser line and the mark and the measured height difference, a distance away.

Then join the two marks.

Edited by SteamyTea
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MJNewton Advanced Member

MJNewton

Posted
Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 20:48, SteamyTea said:

You can just put one mark on the wall at the height you want, set the laser up as close to it as you easily can.  Measure the distance from the laser line and the mark and the measured height difference, a distance away.

Then join the two marks.

Expand  

 

It sounds like you are talking about something different.

 

We were discussing about the desire to be able to set a laser level on the floor and have some form of 'beam adjustment' to adjust its projected height so as not to have to raise/clamp the level itself at the desired height. You can't do this, or at least not without accepting the consequences (or breaking the laws of physics).

Nickfromwales Advanced Member

Nickfromwales

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Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 20:33, MJNewton said:

 

Absolutely yup.. 🙂

 

You can't project a horizontal line with a non-zero vertical inclination. 

 

Probably easiest to illustrate with a diagram, but quicker with trigonometry:

 

Let's say you want to hang perfectly level pictures 1.5m up on a chimney breast and in an adjacent alcove, 0.5m set back. With your laser level clamped to step ladders at 1.5m up, 2m from the chimney breast and vertical inclination at self-level of 0° then according to trigonometry vertical delta = distance from wall x tanAngle = 2 x tan0 = 2 x 0 =0. Keeping the level where it is, the vertical delta for the alcove = (2 + 0.5) x tan0 = 2.5 x 0 = 0. Both the same.

 

Now put your level on the floor, 2m from the chimney breast again and adjust its 'beam adjustment' (if it had one, which it won't! ;-)) to point up to the 1.5m point up on the chimney breast. The vertical inclination is tan-1(1.5 / 2) = 37°. That same line, projected into the alcove, will sit at a height of (2 + 0.5) x tan37 = 1.88m thus 38cm higher than on the chimney breast.

 

Sure, you can mitigate the offset by moving the level further away, but even 5m away if you're keeping it on the floor then the lines will still have a 15cm difference in height.

 

(Saturday night's eh? Rock and roll!)

 

Edit: Figures updates since first post.

Expand  

Crikey. I need more beer. That’s more maths in that paragraph than. I’ve encountered in the 30 years since I left school :D Blue Peter badge on its way as we speak lol.

 

No, it’s still a NOPE. Take it from someone who has owned and used a range of lasers for a very long time.

 

For clarity, before we get our handbags a-swinging…..

The question was about lifting the line up / down, and with some lasers they come with a bracket with a rack and pinion mechanism which allows you to fix the bracket and then tweak the beam up or down + / - 40mm ( whilst not tipping the laser back or forth ). You are correct that the beam would give 3 different plains, sides and front climbing, levelling, and climbing back down again.

 Why do I know? Because I bought a cheap laser back in the day and tiled a bathroom ( a bloody big bathroom too ) and the chuffing laser ( el-cheapo ) hadn’t levelled itself as the manufacturer promised it would. Tiles ran uphill 25mm over 6m. I kept quiet, and I imagine they’re still the same today. Oh, to be young. The room was so long and narrow it was lost in the natural perspective and nobody noticed, complimenting me on my laser and how cutting edge I was………..

SteamyTea Advanced Member

SteamyTea

Posted
Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 20:51, MJNewton said:

sounds like you are talking about something different

Expand  

Maybe.

But if I wanted to easily set up a new level without moving the laser, below is what I do.

Just measure a distance and displace it to the left or the right.

Resize_20220507_220022_2628.jpg

MJNewton Advanced Member

MJNewton

Posted
Posted

 

  On 07/05/2022 at 21:01, Nickfromwales said:

Crikey. I need more beer. That’s more maths in that paragraph than. I’ve encountered in the 30 years since I left school :D Blue Peter badge on its way as we speak lol.

Expand  

 

:D I never did get one as a kid.

 

  Quote

No, it’s still a NOPE. Take it from someone who has owned and used a range of lasers for a very long time.

 

For clarity, before we get our handbags a-swinging…..

The question was about lifting the line up / down, and with some lasers they come with a bracket with a rack and pinion mechanism which allows you to fix the bracket and then tweak the beam up or down + / - 40mm ( whilst not tipping the laser back or forth ).

Expand  

 

Yes, absolutely. But as you say what you're doing there is adjusting its vertical height but without changing the angle...

 

However, *this* was the suggestion/desire being stated (apologies @Temp, this isn't personal - what you said would indeed be a great feature if it could work!):

 

  On 07/05/2022 at 11:37, Temp said:

The main feature missing from the cheap ones like mine is the ability to move the horizontal line up and down. This means if you want to level a curtain rail the laser level has to be mounted at the same height on a tripod or similar. Some come with a bracket for fixing to a wall or similar but it would be a lot easier if the level could be placed on the floor or a table and the beam adjusted to move the horizontal line up and down.

Expand  

 

If the level is on the floor then it's going to be quite some rack-and-pinion mechanism to lift it up, say, 1.5m in my picture scenario! To get it that high up you'd need to change the beam angle which, as I illustrated, has knock-on consequences hence why no such feature exists.

 

MJNewton Advanced Member

MJNewton

Posted
Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 21:03, SteamyTea said:

Maybe.

But if I wanted to easily set up a new level without moving the laser, below is what I do.

Just measure a distance and displace it to the left or the right.

Expand  

 

Yes, absolutely. And of course that method would work if the level is on the floor in my pictures scenario but you'd be measuring 1.47m (assuming the laser sits 3cm above its base) up from that skirting-level mark which then likely introduces other issues!

SteamyTea Advanced Member

SteamyTea

Posted
Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 21:15, MJNewton said:

but you'd be measuring 1.47m (assuming the laser sits 3cm above its base) up from that skirting-level mark which then likely introduces other issues!

Expand  

I would use a decent rule, not the ruler in the picture (that is one I had at school, so probably 50 years old now).

Accumulative error is a problem, but this is for a house, not precision engineering.

If you fit, say that curtain rail dead level, it would show that the ceiling isn't, or the windows.

Really just a case of creating a datum and working from that as best you can.

MJNewton Advanced Member

MJNewton

Posted
Posted (edited)

Leaving the maths where it belongs and bringing my input back to something more constructive, a vertical 'trim' adjustment like @Nickfromwales's level has *is* one thing I do wish I had on mine. Whilst not essential given you can introduce a measured offset like @SteamyTeashows, my OCD does mean I am far more comfortable having the laser line on exactly my mark/hole/whatever and so I end up making minor tweaks to my clamp which is often far from ideal... Up a bit, down a bit, back up a bit, damn slipped beyond the max angle start again, type of thing.

Edited by MJNewton
MJNewton Advanced Member

MJNewton

Posted
Posted

My 1000th post!

 

(And to think here I am: Saturday night doing trigonometry on the subject of laser levels. Is this what my life's come to?)

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Nickfromwales Advanced Member

Nickfromwales

Posted
Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 21:33, MJNewton said:

My 1000th post!

 

(And to think here I am: Saturday night doing trigonometry on the subject of laser levels. Is this what my life's come to?)

Expand  

Times that by 22 and you’ll realise what a real problem you have……..

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Nickfromwales Advanced Member

Nickfromwales

Posted
Posted
  On 07/05/2022 at 21:48, Onoff said:

 

Is that on draught wherever you are? Only ever had it bottled. 

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Yes, yes it is.

There’s a magical, almost mystical fountain of youth that it pours out from. The more In drink, then less old I feel.,

”All hail the ale”.

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