pole barn squareness?

[BobReeves]

Here is what you need and the price is right, only problem is Sears is out of stock right now.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00948247000

My wife bought me one for Christmas, really cool.

 

[mopower440]

I did it, but hope i did the right thing, i went to the rental yard and got a rotating laser level with tripod, ok, the thing was octagon shaped and had what looked like a head sticking up on top, it is the laser and it spins slow or fast, when it spins fast, it shows a line instead of just a dot, the guy at the rental yard said it is used for shooting grade..is this still ok, meaning, the right tool? Also, i set it up on the tripod, then i set the levelness wich was weird, it had 3 little levels on it, 2 of them were normal, set it so the bubble is in the center of the 2 lines in the middle, but the 3rd one was weird, it had 0, +1, +2, +3, +4, im guessing this is for the grade, i kept it at '0' wich was all the way to one side instead of the middle like the other 2, is this right also?(hopefully), please let me know guys, it worked great! I still have it so if i didnt set it right by keeping the bubble at '0' on that one side, let me know.
thanks!

 

[pabelote]

set the tripod with both bubbles level then put a small level
on tripod that should tell you if the bubbles is true. i got
a dw 073 an my tripods aint got no bubbles so i dont no but if still not sure call place you rented from.

 

[mopower440]

Not happy at all!, I set the thing up in the house just to see if it is accurate, set it up and made it spin fast, walked over to one wall and measured, 31 1/4, walked to the other wall and measured, 31 3/4, walked to the other wall, 31 1/2, this thing aint right, they said it was accurate to 600 ft., this is ina 15x15 romm and its varying this much, so once again, i wasted my money and my truss supports still arent up, i dont know guys, really wished i hadnt jumped into building this thing..

 

[OhioTC18]

Carpeted room.....?? could your floor (or whatever you measured from) be out....??

 

[ewoss3]

It sounds like the unit is not calibrated /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Junkman]

I have a 1/2" difference in one room in my home and never knew it until we changed the furniture. The night stands are mounted to the wall and the vacuum cleaner will get under one and not the other. Then checked them both and they were on the same plane... the floor is off by 1/2" and we never knew it. My wife complained to the builder, but he just ignored her complaints... treats her just like the snow plow guy does... turns a deaf ear... Told her that it was out of warranty and that all houses have these type of defects. It was built by carpenters, not machinists....

I believe that the third bubble is for setting grades... Check the accuracy with a known good level by placing a level on the line that is projected around the room. Level never varies, but floors and ceilings do...

 

[ronjhall]

mopower440
I have a manual laser level that I use to set landscaping and small projects around my place. I have found that is only as accurate as my setup.
I copied the following quote from MY Tool Store FAQ about laser levels.

<font color="blue">
This simple example may dramatize the meaning of "accuracy" for you (it did for us!): When you are aligning the bubble with the scribed lines on the vial, if you are "off" by just the thickness of the scribed line, then when you are measuring something a hundred feet away that tiny difference will equal about three inches! </font> /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Hope this helps.

 

[mopower440]

well, i just layed a 2 foot level accross the kitchen floor and the floor is not level, so maybe thats whats wrong, are most of these grade shooting lasers like the one i rented usually right?

 

[em14]

Even your three foot carpenters level, as all measuring devices that are subject to hard handling, should be checked for level. I have found some to be off after a few years of use.
The one that works day in and day out is the water level ... and cheap to!
Leo