On 07/04/2019 13:04, dennis@home wrote:
On 07/04/2019 12:33, Java Jive wrote:
On 06/04/2019 23:05, Java Jive wrote:
I can't seem to find a reasonably-priced laser device, say £50 or
under, that will do both ...
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Measure distances
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Throw out a cross beam
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* (horizontal & vertical, preferably self-levelling)
... and has good reviews in Amazon, B&Q, Screwfix, ToolStation, etc.

Is there such a beast?

I've seen, for example ...


Oops ...

Level:

Measu

Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*https://www.amazon.co.uk/Distance-BE...f=sr_1_17_sspa


X-beam:
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vorstek-Adv...f=sr_1_49_sspa


... but not both functions in one box.

Thanks for all the replies, I suspect I'll concentrate on the x-beam
for now, but it has been driving me mad trying measure up for the new
hot water tank and bath.Â* You'd've thought at 6'4"/1.93m that my arms
would be long enough, but what actually happens is that I hook the
tape under something, walk to the other end of the distance, and,
usually just as I'm leaning over to read off the distance, the other
end pops out, the tape winds up, on one occasion when I was too slow
to react even cutting my thumb sufficiently for it to bleed, and I
curse and have to begin again.

You need a better tape with more stand out.
then it will be self supporting over that sort of distance and have a
proper lock so it doesn't retract suddenly.
This one has a 3m stand out..

https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-f...-measure/9999k

I use currently a Stanley 3.5m PowerLock 33-215 tape, but find problems
with it.

As already indicated, it's forever coming off from whatever I try and
hook it on.

The catch plate on the end moves, as they all seem to do - I presume
that is to offset for the thickness of the catch plate itself, about 1mm
but nevertheless my measurements when translated into, say, a piece of
cut timber, can sometimes correspondingly be 1mm out - annoying if
it's a vertical stud, too loose and it's difficult to mount right for
nailing or screwing in, too tight and it won't go into the gap. For
this reason, I tend to prefer to measure from the 20mm mark, but of
course that's not really possible when measuring a distance that your
arms can't straddle.

More generally, I have previously been in the habit of thinking of
Stanley as being a good brand, but some of the reviews that I've read
recently on Amazon, B&Q, ScrewFix, and ToolStation for various pieces of
Stanley kit knock it as being cheap, shoddy, and therefore failing
early. Their x-beam levels are a case in point - some cheaper models,
including the one I linked above, have a 100% or near approval rating
for between 19 and 40 reviews, but the Stanley ones get as many as 50
thumbs downs in 200, 1 in 4 or 25% negative reviews.

Having read the negative reviews of these x-beam levels, they fall
mainly into categories:

:-( Model specific - build quality, etc
(no problem there, just buy different);

:-( Difficulty in getting the beam to be projected at 90 degrees to
the wall at the height that the work to be done requires;

:-( Floating beam wobbles, while ...
:-( ... difficult not to move beam off level when locking the device
to stop the beam wobbling;

:-( Dimness of beam in good lighting.

What are people's experiences of these issues?