laser Ultrasonic tape measures

[hajsaftar]

Hello all, If you remember last time I was here I was looking for advice on mitre saw and with the help of the forum memebers I made a decision to buy a makita.

anyway, I am now thinking about buying one of these ultrasonic tape measures (ones that you just point and gives you the distance measurement). my question is has anyone had any experience with using them and secondly will it be of much use for me anyway. I am NOT a surveryor and only do general house renovation work. But I have read that unless what you are pointing to a wall or something, the reading will not be accurate.

I will do little wall to wall stuff, but what I am most interested in if for example it will be any use in fitting a door, door frame, kitcken etc.. as I work on my own I could really do without the ritual of balancing the tape measure so that the spine does not break and stays upright! I understand you are not going to be able to replace the tape measure completely.

also there seems to be huge price bracket for these things. I have seen makita ones for 20 odd quid and some hilti models for over 500 pound.....

any help and suggestion is welcome.

thanks

 

[Fecn]

I have a Bosch DLE150 which is a laser one rather than ultrasonic - The laser ones are more accurate, but more expensive. IIRC, the bosch one I have is supposed to be able to measure up to 200M with only +-1mm of error. A lot of the ultrasonic ones have a laser beam so you can see where they're pointing, but they don't offer the same level of accuracy since you can't see what the ultrasonic sound bounced off. The non-ultrasonic laser ones use reflected light from the beam to measure the distance.

I bought my one when I was considering buying an unusual building and needed to make some accurate plans. Although I think it's a great device, and I can't fault it's accuracy, I rarely use it. It's good for measuring carpets, rooms, windows etc... but...

The unit itself is quite large and bulky and the smallest distance you can measure as about 30cm (length of unit plus enough distance for the laser optics to focus) - The laser beam comes from the centre of the lens which is a couple of centimeters away from the edges of the box, so you can't measure anything that's less than an inch tall. It's not always easy to get a perfectly straight line for what you want to measure, and whereas with a tape you can bend around a small obstacle with a laser measure, you just can't measure it. (take two measurements and add)

for example it will be any use in fitting a door, door frame, kitcken etc..

Useful for measuring a door opening in brick.. yes... useful for measuring individual parts of the frame.. no

If you were a surveyor, decorator etc then I'd say definitely get one, but it's not really so suitable for measuring bits of wood.

 

[RogerS]

A friend of mine lent me his Bosch DLE50 (£140 inc VAT in the Bosch Catalogue). It does length, area and volume plus other stuff that I've not got round to trying. Does it very very easily and well. So much so that I'm getting one myself.

He also raved over their digital bevel gauge. Particularly useful for walking up to a non straight wall, exactly measuring the angle and then adjusting the chopsaw to the same angle, making the cut in the timber and away you go.

 

[Shultzy]

I think most of the laser measure instruments are only usable for estimating quantities required. I wouldn't want to trust something that is only accurate to +/-0.5% which is +/- 5mm in 1m

 

[hajsaftar]

I have a Bosch DLE150 which is a laser one rather than ultrasonic - The laser ones are more accurate, but more expensive. IIRC, the bosch one I have is supposed to be able to measure up to 200M with only +-1mm of error. A lot of the ultrasonic ones have a laser beam so you can see where they're pointing, but they don't offer the same level of accuracy since you can't see what the ultrasonic sound bounced off. The non-ultrasonic laser ones use reflected light from the beam to measure the distance.

I bought my one when I was considering buying an unusual building and needed to make some accurate plans. Although I think it's a great device, and I can't fault it's accuracy, I rarely use it. It's good for measuring carpets, rooms, windows etc... but...

The unit itself is quite large and bulky and the smallest distance you can measure as about 30cm (length of unit plus enough distance for the laser optics to focus) - The laser beam comes from the centre of the lens which is a couple of centimeters away from the edges of the box, so you can't measure anything that's less than an inch tall. It's not always easy to get a perfectly straight line for what you want to measure, and whereas with a tape you can bend around a small obstacle with a laser measure, you just can't measure it. (take two measurements and add)

for example it will be any use in fitting a door, door frame, kitcken etc..

Useful for measuring a door opening in brick.. yes... useful for measuring individual parts of the frame.. no

If you were a surveyor, decorator etc then I'd say definitely get one, but it's not really so suitable for measuring bits of wood.

Thanks for some excellent points. This issue about a clear line of sight is sort of obvious when you think about it but I hadn't taken it into account. It basically means limited use as even in wall to wall stuff (say skirting board measurement) there is something which is bound to be in the way such as a radiator pipe.

Given this and other issues raised I decided to just forget about it and invest in a good tape measure with maximal "no snap extension"... so thanks for saving me a few bucks!!