Laser Levels

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

Searching through the forum I found four laser levels which were recommended:

PLS180
Leica Lino
Stabila Lax200
Dewalt DW-something-or-other

There may have been others but I can't remember...

The posts are all at least a few years old now, so I'd like to hear some more opinions on what's good and what's bad.

My budget is maybe £180 and I would consider secondhand (unless it's not a good idea - do they go out of calibration when dropped)

I'm renovating a house and the first job will be to level floor joists, though I have a lot more things lined up for it.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi,

I've used an entry-level model from the Stanley FatMax range for a few years. I've used it for tiling and setting out wall units and floor coverings indoors, I've also used it fairly extensively outdoors (which is not easy - I made a reflective "target" out of some shiny laser-etched red decorative card - this helps a lot to find the line/dot in sunshine which would otherwise hide it) for setting out and taking spot levels for drains, patios etc. They're very useful things, but visibility outdoors is a challenge.

For general DIY use, I think they're all much of a muchness until you get into the £200 plus arena. My minimum requirements would be:

1) Self-levelling and accurate to at least 0.5mm/m
2) Horizontal and/or vertical line
3) Some kind of detector/target/reflector (which can be home-made) to improve line-finding in sunlight.

Hope that's of some use. Cheers, W2S

PS a tripod is almost essential too

 

[kostello]

I have a pls180 and it is brilliant..

Had it about 10 years...

Do not drop it....

If I was buying again I think I would save some money and get one of the green bosch ones....

There is one for about £100 that does it all I think...

Sent from my E2303 using Tapatalk

 

[Mark A]

Thanks for the advice!

I spent 3 or 4 hours this morning researching the various options out there, and just a moment ago bought the below laser after discussing my requirements with the chap:

http://www.laser-level.co.uk/products/f ... level.html

It appears Fukuda manufacture lasers for PLS, and since that's a well-regarded brand I reckon I'll be okay with this one. The stated accuracy of +-2mm is nothing to baulk at either.

I would have preferred to spend more time on it, but an electrician is due on the 27th to begin the first fix and I've yet to even measure up for timber, never mind actually strengthening/replacing the floor joists in preparation for him...

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Rob5589]

I bought a Geo Fennel laser for about 150, Its only a cross line laser but has an excellent beam and range and also 2mm/m accuracy however I really wish I had spent the extra on the DW889. A few people I work with have this laser and it really is the best you can buy, I found it online for 225 but I couldnt really wait for delivery as I NEEDED one for a job on the monday so bought my cheaper one. The main advantage of the DW889 is the fine adjustment on the top which is excellent and the ability to use it for making 90 degree angles, great for setting out!

All that said I'm very happy with my laser, for the money it really is excellent and the beam is fantastic!

 

[blackrodd]

I bought a Geo Fennel laser for about 150, Its only a cross line laser but has an excellent beam and range and also 2mm/m accuracy however I really wish I had spent the extra on the DW889. A few people I work with have this laser and it really is the best you can buy, I found it online for 225 but I couldnt really wait for delivery as I NEEDED one for a job on the monday so bought my cheaper one. The main advantage of the DW889 is the fine adjustment on the top which is excellent and the ability to use it for making 90 degree angles, great for setting out!

All that said I'm very happy with my laser, for the money it really is excellent and the beam is fantastic!

I hope it's not accurate to 2mm/m, The norm is over an industry standard of 30 metres, so hopefully that's a typo..
Use the top of the laser line as Normally, the laser line is crisp and sharper at the top edge, and "woolly" or "fuzzy" on the lower.
It's easiest, I found to set and mark a datum line, say 100mm above finished floor, and work at that.
For outside work, in sun, you'll probably need the green cards which ought to be in you're kit,
They're easier on the eyes, I found.
Only rely on a tripod for ground floor or concrete floor siting, because on a timber floor, or other trades working around you, the laser will be in constant re setting mode or very inaccurate through vibration.
And if it hasn't got a safety chain or strap, then get and use one, I've see a couple of auto rotary units fall from the so called secure wall fixing at £3,000 a time, plus loss of work time.
HTH Regards Rodders

 

[chippy1970]

I've had the Stabila lax200 for years, a great level.

I upgraded to a Bosch gll 2-80 just before Christmas. It has two 360 degree lines. I paid £240 from ffx. Highly recommend it.

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[Eric The Viking]

I have an old B+D, but although it was originally pretty good and has never been dropped or banged hard, it's no longer very accurate. I don't know what happened to it. It's this type:

It's just a magnetically-damped pendulum.

Two problems:
1. It needs a properly-vertical surface to fix-to.
2. The line doesn't fan out very far and shiny surfaces half way along cause interference.

It is adjustable, bu doing so is very hard, so I haven't tried to correct it. Also, it has two lasers, so presently one side is OK-ish, the other is miles out.

Not a good design, best avoided, IMHO. I am reading this with interest as I'm intending to replace it when I can.

You can only really check them against a water level, BTW. 1mm per metre is pretty rubbish compared to a water level, so don't treat them as 'gospel' just because they emit photons. People do this with long spirit levels too - even less accurate. Water levels can be a pain, but their accuracy is reasonably independent of distance.

 

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

I've tried out my new Fukuda level a few times since it arrived it but I've have yet to fully use it. The first big job lined up for it was the laying out for floor joists in the house I'm renovating, but that's been pushed back until the lintels have been replaced and a new doorway opened up.

The unit feels solidly built and the stated accuracy of +/- 2mm over 10m is the best I found anywhere in the same price category. I probably should have ordered the tripod at the same time, but me being me, I was adamant I could find something cheaper online. Turns out the mounting screw is not a common size for cameras so unless an adapter's available I think I'll have to go back to the same retailer.

This is my laser: http://www.laser-level.co.uk/products/f ... level.html

 

[Eric The Viking]

Do they really mean 5/8" ???

Looks like a typo to me.

3/8" (Whitworth) is the larger standard tripod thread, and has been for well over 100 years. It's standard on medium/large format cameras, and video kit of all sorts, and microphone clips and stands and mounts, and smaller bits of lighting kit.

5/8", 26 or 27 TPI is an old USA microphone thread. It's horrible, and thankfully seems to be dropping out of use.

If it is 3/8" Whit, there are plenty of adaptors available to take the female thread down to 1/4" Whitworth (as commonly found on SLRs and more compact cameras, both chemical and digital). 1/4" Whit is the thread most often found on small photographic tripods, and probably of most use to you. Note that a quick search of Amazon only brings up mic. thread adaptors in 5/8" size. These will be either 26 or 27 TPI (if they're correctly made!), and won't solve your problem (if the problem is really 5/8 11 tpi).

Bluntly, if it is 5/8" 11 TPI, I'd be tempted to just glue something in the hole - the thing is self-levelling after all so it doesn't have to be perfect. What would possess someone to design it that way... ???

 

[Mark A]

Yep, definitely a 5/8" thread. The laser also came with a 5/8" to 5/8" adaptor which I guess acts like a fine adjuster for when it's mounted on a tripod.

I could epoxy a 3/8" or 1/4" adaptor in but it would be a shame to lose the ability to adjust the height precisely.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Mark A]

 

[blackrodd]

That'll be ok for smaller, domestic type ceilings or any datum lines, but by the time it's set up as a cross section lazer,
and as it's literally in the line, marking the indicated partitions out by pencil, and etc will probably be slower than a level and straight edge.
And they're always best mounted on the wall and next to useless on a tripod set on the wooden floor and people stamping about.
The secret to accurate partitioning, and setting out of doorways etc, is just set one plumb partition line in each direction, and
set out the floor etc, square and by measurement, and then just transfer and measure details to the ceiling and than the uprights and studs.
I've set out and fixed ceilings and partitions in hospitals, banks, supermarkets shopping centres, office blocks etc, etc, and many, many houses.
Regards Rodders

 

[Eric The Viking]

Mark A, I sit corrected!

I'd love to know whose 'industry standard' that is... so I can avoid them in future!

That said, it looks like a Whitworth thread form, so you might find something from the world of plumbing.

Or alternatively, You might improvise a thread adaptor fairly easily by turning a 5/8" external thread, then drilling+tapping to 3/8" internal, then cut a slot across it so it can be inserted/removed. Mic adaptors are done that way, but they're 5/8 27 to 3/8 Whit. Should be readily do-able with some brass bar stock of the right diameter (3/4"?).

Sadly, I don't possess a lathe, otherwise it would be an easy project.

E.

PS: Is that one solid piece? If so, you might just drill a 3/8" tapped hole in the bottom of the 5/8" one! You'd still need to do it on a lathe to centre it nicely, but quite an easy task... or cut it in two (parting-off tool) and tap both ends to 3/8" Whit, then you can join it with a piece of 3/8" studding and separate it to go on a 3/8" tripod. That would look very neat and wouldn't spoil the functionality one bit.

 

[Rob5589]

apologies, it was indeed a typo, it was meant to be 0.2mm/m

 

[hemdale]

I've had the Stabila lax200 for years, a great level.

I upgraded to a Bosch gll 2-80 just before Christmas. It has two 360 degree lines. I paid £240 from ffx. Highly recommend it.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Hi Chippy,

Any reason why you left Stabila laser levels (but I'm assuming because the don't have cross-line 360 lasers) ?
What made you choose the 2-80 over the 3-80 ?

Thanks

 

[chippy1970]

I've had the Stabila lax200 for years, a great level.

I upgraded to a Bosch gll 2-80 just before Christmas. It has two 360 degree lines. I paid £240 from ffx. Highly recommend it.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Hi Chippy,

Any reason why you left Stabila laser levels (but I'm assuming because the don't have cross-line 360 lasers) ?
What made you choose the 2-80 over the 3-80 ?

Thanks

Hi I bought the stabila a few years back as out of all the levels it was the most accurate and worked over the furthest distance. What I didn't take in to account was the beam angle. IE to do a stud wall layout I had to put it one side of the room run marks around and then move it to the opposite wall and go again.

With the Bosch it fires a line all the way round which saves so much time.

I went with the 2 beam rather than the 3 beam as I didn't need 3 and it saved me money.

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[MBcarpentry]

I'm a fan of the Leica laser levels I have the LEICA LINO L2P5 LINE + DOT laser which is a superb piece of kit it has 360* vertical and horizontal lasers a 5 dot lasers at 90* to the line lasers and both up and down so it can be used as a plumb bob and for setting out, I also have a large Leica rugby 55 roatory laser level which is great for larger jobs but the Lino L2P5 is my go to laser for most things. I think the rrp is around £260 so might be over budget but there are other lasers in the Lino range with less features which would fit your budget.