Had some tiling to do, so I bought a cheap laser cross level from
Screwfix (code 28030) for £45
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...28030&ts=60961

Axminster also sell what appears to be the same thing
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=22023&recno=6

It's a useful gadget. It hasn't paid for itself quite yet on just one
job, but it's on its way to doing so. I certainly wouldn't set tiles
again without one.

This level consists of a pendulum self-levelling head with two lasers
and line-generator lenses. The casing is mounted on a tripod base with
three levelling screws and spirit level bubbles. You set the tripod
up, level the base roughly by hand, then let the pendulum do the rest.

The projected lines are bright in the centre and taper off in
brightness somewhat to their extremities. In a small bathroom they
gave around 4' of useful width/height. The line is easy to see and
although contrast goggles were included, they weren't needed.

Each laser is independently switched, although I generally used both
together. Power is from 3 AA bateries, which is probably more
convenient than needing a charger. There's no motor in this typoe of
line generator, so battery life should be good.

The great advantage of a line generator device, compared to a whirling
mirror, is that it can project both vertically and horizontally at
once. Although the whirly mirrors can be tilted, they rarely have two
independent heads and certainly not for under £50. Having now used
two lines, I wouldn't want to set tiles with only one.

Setup is pretty easy. The coarse levelling is quick and easily done.
There's also a small clamp nut that must be released to let the
pendulum swing free. Surprisingly the pendulum isn't fully locked
even when this clamp is used, so there's still some freedom to bounce
around in transit. Accuracy depends on the non-adjustable line
lenses, but this seemed adequate for general DIY use. There's also a
turntable in the baseplate, so that the vertical line can be swivelled
in azimuth and aligned.

Less impressive is the tripod. This is lightweight, but reasonably
stable. The drawback is its height, or lack of it - about 4' maximum.
As this limits the height that the horizontal line can be placed at,
that's a serious limitation on its usefulness. The tripod bush is
also not a standard camera fitting (it's around 3/8", rather than the
usual 1/4") so you can't just put it on an existing camera tripod you
might have. Height adjustment is crucial for alignment and this is
done through a rack and pinion on the tripod.

Overall, I'm impressed by this level and found it very useful, at a
very good price. I'll be making an adapter bush to fit it to a taller
tripod though.

Screwfix also offer a rotating head laser level for a similar price
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...51060&ts=60961

--
Smert' spamionam

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
Had some tiling to do, so I bought a cheap laser cross level from
Screwfix (code 28030) for £45
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...28030&ts=60961

Axminster also sell what appears to be the same thing
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=22023&recno=6

It's a useful gadget. It hasn't paid for itself quite yet on just one
job, but it's on its way to doing so. I certainly wouldn't set tiles
again without one.
snipped
Less impressive is the tripod. This is lightweight, but reasonably
stable. The drawback is its height, or lack of it - about 4' maximum.
As this limits the height that the horizontal line can be placed at,
that's a serious limitation on its usefulness. The tripod bush is
also not a standard camera fitting (it's around 3/8", rather than the
usual 1/4") so you can't just put it on an existing camera tripod you
might have. Height adjustment is crucial for alignment and this is
done through a rack and pinion on the tripod.

Overall, I'm impressed by this level and found it very useful, at a
very good price. I'll be making an adapter bush to fit it to a taller
tripod though.

Thanks for the review.
Jessops sell 1/4 to 3/8 adapters.
--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 00:18:13 +0000, Andy Dingley wrote:

The tripod bush is also not a standard camera fitting (it's around
3/8", rather than the usual 1/4")

3/8" Whitworth (16tpi) is european standard microphone thread.
Adpaters are available in either direction from a least Canford.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Andy Dingley wrote :
Had some tiling to do, so I bought a cheap laser cross level from
Screwfix (code 28030) for £45
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...28030&ts=60961

Axminster also sell what appears to be the same thing
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=22023&recno=6

That is the identical to the one I bought and reviewed on here a month
two ago. Mine cost £20 (well £19:99, I think), from Boyes.

Setup is pretty easy. The coarse levelling is quick and easily done.
There's also a small clamp nut that must be released to let the
pendulum swing free. Surprisingly the pendulum isn't fully locked
even when this clamp is used, so there's still some freedom to bounce
around in transit.

I think that all the transit lock needs to do is remove the weight of
the pendulum from its delicate suspension wire(?), to avoid it
breaking.


Less impressive is the tripod. This is lightweight, but reasonably
stable.

I found the tripod poor too and suspect it was not really intended for
this head. The level bubbles have little if any purpose because all you
need is the tripod roughly level. Providing the pendulum is free to
move, it will be level.


Overall, I'm impressed by this level and found it very useful, at a
very good price.

I agree, a very useful bit of kit!

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk