Replies

1. 
   Waters | Mar 18, 2008 03:35am | #1

   Get yourself about 20' of clear 3/8 tubing and fill it with water.  Put red food coloring in it if you wish.

   Now you have two bubbles.

   She whom must be obeyed holds the one end where she wants the shelf, and stays put.

   You go around and mark with the other end/bubble.

   Cheapest truest lazer level ever.

   "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing..."

    

1. 
   Henley | Mar 18, 2008 03:49am | #3

   I feel it's my responsibility to add-
   don't fill hose from a tap with an aerator. Don't ask

1. 
   calvin | Mar 18, 2008 04:07am | #4

   To the O.P>

   And while the red coloring would view easier-if any of it geiser's out, you'll be obeying the dog out in his house.  Use clear water and get bifocals.

   don't ask me either.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   http://www.quittintime.com/

    

2. 
   hughmus | Mar 18, 2008 03:38am | #2

   PLS 180. http://www.plslaser.com Mount it in one corner and go to town. You'll find lots of other uses for it too.

3. 
   brownbagg | Mar 18, 2008 04:14am | #5

   harbor freight
4. 
   Hudson Valley Carpenter | Mar 18, 2008 04:21am | #6

   "Shelf height will be 86 inches to the bottom."

   Assuming that the ceiling is at about eight feet and nominally level, that you have a tape measure and a straight edge or chalk line; measure down ten inches at various points around the room and strike/draw lines between those points.

   Lasers, dumpy levels (aka transits) and water levels are for places where there is no constant from which to measure. 

1. 
   calvin | Mar 18, 2008 04:34am | #7

   I'm waiting to find out what happens when he finds the windows and doors are not the constant one would hope for.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   http://www.quittintime.com/

    

1. 
   Hudson Valley Carpenter | Mar 18, 2008 05:29am | #9

   You'd hope that he'd have the sense to measure all those points before deciding on the exact height.  But I've been wrong about such assumptions before...often. 

1. 
   calvin | Mar 18, 2008 05:47am | #10

   Experience teaches us alot of things.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   http://www.quittintime.com/

    

1. 
   Hudson Valley Carpenter | Mar 18, 2008 06:25am | #11

   Then again, some people are just too dense to get it, no matter how simple and clear you make it for them.

   I remember an employee who'd been on my crew for about two weeks, someone who didn't always follow instructions very well. 

   It happened that I had to send him with another, more reliable, guy to do a simple one-day job, many miles from where I'd be. 

   So I thought for a moment about what he might screw up, if I didn't give him exact instructions. 

   His only responsibility was to mix mud in a big steel box, something he'd done before, and give the other guy a hand, when asked. 

   I'd managed to keep the mixing box very clean over the years, so that it remained light enough to carry overhead, single handed.  It was important to my established methods so I quietly took Steve over to the box and said, "Steve.  Do you see how clean this box is?" 

   "Uh-huh."

   "Good.  That's the way I want it kept." 

   All he had to do was stand it up when he was done mixing and rinse it out with the hose he'd been using.  But he couldn't be bothered.  And he couldn't believe that I'd fire him over something like that. 

   I gave him the choices of cleaning all the hardened motar out of it, on his own time, keeping it and buying me a new one, or getting fired. 

   He decided he'd rather not work for someone who reminded him of his father. 

   His next job was in a car battery factory on an assembly line, graveyard shift.  He fit right in there, doing mindless repetitious work. 

   The lesson for me is to recognize and embrace freedom and personal responsibility willingly, with enthusiasm.  The two are closely aligned.

    

    

   Edited 3/17/2008 11:27 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter

2. 
   Pierre1 | Mar 18, 2008 07:41am | #12

   Good story. 

3. 
   Hudson Valley Carpenter | Mar 18, 2008 09:59am | #13

   Thanks Pierre,

   I see that you live in B.C.'s Rockies.  Any place we might've heard about?   I'm thinking of a trip I took to Alaska a few years ago.  Drove down the Cassier Highway on my way back.  Some grand mountains along that road.  Met a crew of carpenters who were building a heli-ski lodge in a particularly beautiful place. 

4. 
   skidkid | Mar 19, 2008 12:16am | #14

   Many thanks for all the suggestions.

   On our budget it looks like the plastic tubing is in favor.

   Can we substitute Guinness for the red dyed water?

   She who must be obeyed did manage to find a piece of clear rubber hose (with a funnel attached); not nearly long enough I said; omitting that I had thrown out the rusted bedpan associated with it a long time ago.  No siphoning here.

   The window and door heads are ""reasonably"" level but not good enough.

   There is no ceiling; open trusses.

    

5. 
   Henley | Mar 19, 2008 02:08am | #15

   Home despot actually sells something they call
   a "Water Level" Don't know what all is in the kit but it's like $12.00 Or any Hardware store will sell the tube by the foot- $8.00 You don't need any colorant, keep it simple.

   Edited 3/18/2008 7:08 pm ET by Henley

6. 
   Pierre1 | Mar 19, 2008 06:50am | #17

   The Cassiar Hwy, now that's big country.

   I live in S.E. BC, in an area I call the powder triangle. If you checked out a heli-ski lodge in the making, then you've probably heard of this place for we usually get BIG snowfalls hereabouts.

   HVC, do you live near New Paltz?...If you do, then you too live in a beautiful setting - I climbed at the 'Gunks a couple times. 

   :-) 

7. 
   brownbagg | Mar 19, 2008 03:14am | #16

   Then again, some people are just too dense to get it, no matter how simple and clear you make it for them.I cant understand the water level either. I understand the prinipal but never saw one or played with one.

5. 
   JTC1 | Mar 18, 2008 05:04am | #8

   For a one shot use I would use the water level as suggested by Waters in post #2.

   Additional tips:

   - get 50' of tubing and you will be able to do the entire room from one benchmark where "she who must be obeyed" holds her end of the tube.

   - suggest you fill a gallon container with water add a little rubbing alcohol and a capful drops of Chlorox - the addition of these seems to cut down on surface tension and makes the level respond faster. You will only need slightly more than a quart to fill 50' of 3/8" tubing.

   - Let the mixture sit overnight and work the air out.

   - Fill the tubing via siphoning from your container - outdoor activity.

   - When you carry your level be sure to keep both ends together and higher than the tubing coil. Don't ask how I know this.

   - Be prepared to "humor-up" the line - those windows and door elevations will probably not stand up to close scrutiny.

   Jim

    

   Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.