Hi,
Have a look at something like this

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....ategory=12 68

I bought one of these and find it very good for this sort of thing. This
one's in Australia, but they should be elsewhere as well.

As far as the width of the beam goes, I dont think it matters if all you are
after is a straight line just mark to the center or edge of the dot or line
in this case.

I found a bit of two inch masking tap stuck up around the side of the laser
will stop it from throwing the laser in directions you don't want it to go.

This thing comes with shaded glasses, but they are to help you see the laser
in sunlight, not to protect your eyes, as like someone else posted this one
doesn't seem powerful enough to do any damage, just don't ask me how I
tested it! I think the rotary action is safer again for a given power laser,
because it is only blinking at you, not staring a hole in you.

regards,

John

take 'takethisout.' out to reply to my email
"Catherine Jo Morgan" wrote in message
...
I think a small laser level would help me a lot, but I'm not sure. Let's
say
that I have a curved surface, a rough hemisphere for example. I'd like to
cut the hemisphere in half, or at least slice it so the cut edge is
straight
and can be fitted onto a flat surface. Could a laser level lay a straight
line onto the curved surface, so I could mark it for cutting?

Perhaps there's a better way to do such marking? I know a laser level will
give me a pretty broad line at close range. Is there a way to distinguish
among the different models to find the one that will have the thinnest
line
at close range? Are the lines or dots always smaller the closer you are?

Also - would it be kind to my eyes to wear shaded glasses when using a
laser
level? I do know not to point the laser AT my eyes (or at anyone else.)
But
the line itself is pretty bright, right? So maybe shade 3 if I can find
some
clip-ons? TIA
--
Catherine Jo Morgan
http://www.cjmorgan.com
online artist journal: http://radio.weblogs.com/0120691/