Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Dave wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

It's often impossible to read a spirit level accurately because you
can't get an eye square on to it.

Use a small mirror to read it.

In the particular instance which prompted this post it was rather dark
inside the place I was trying to get a level so I was already holding
a torch. An LED readout would have solved both those problems.

So are those digital readout ones any good -

As most of you are aware, I used to work in the aerospace industry
and one of the jobs I used to do was check the taileron angles
(taileron is a half of a tail plain that can be at any angle,
independent of the other half. Unlike a tail plane that has to be at
the same angle as the other side and creates the roll by using
ailerons on the wings.)

In the old days, we used to use pantographs to measure the angles,
which were quite accurate. Then we moved on to digital angular
measures. They became the biggest pain in the arse. 0.1 degree could
be the difference between pass and fail for the test.

Make your own mind up about them, if you want that much accuracy.

Most spirit levels are only as accurate as the person reading them
anyway - so I wasn't looking for super accuracy.


No Dave,

Spirit levels are only as accurate as the actual bubble.

If you get a poor quality level then the 'bubble' seldom 'touches' the line
and *that* leads to guesswork and inaccuracy - or simply a level that isn't
long enough for the job.

As a matter of interest, good quality levels usually have bubble adjustment
screws fitted as standard.

Brian G