Regardless of whether you are hanging a family photo on the wall or building a multi-story building, when performing work, you will inevitably have to face the problem of their correspondence to the level of the horizon and vertical. And if in the first case the skewed frame will cause only the smiles of others, then in the second the wrong eye can have fatal consequences.
To accurately determine the geometry of the planes, specialized tools are used - a plumb line and a building level. The basis of their work is the use of a parameter unchanged in direction in any place on the earth's surface - gravity.
Plumb - simplicity that creates harmony
One of the first measuring devices used by mankind of this principle of action is a plumb line. This simplest and still used device is a rope with a weighting agent at the end. In a suspended state, the weight pulls the thread fixing it, forming an ideal vertical guide. Over the millennia of application, only the shape of the load has changed - from a piece of stone to a spear-shaped tip. And if we attach a laser pointer-keychain to the rope, we get the simplest laser plummet, perfectly coping with the task of transferring markings from floor to ceiling (for example, when installing interior partitions).
The disadvantages of this method include a rather large measurement error associated with a too sharp viewing angle, and the difficulty of securing the load, especially in windy weather.
Bubble level
Another long and widely used device for checking the inclination of the surface in different planes is the construction level of the bubble type. It is a segment of a perfectly flat, most often aluminum profile with a window in the middle. It contains a capsule filled with frost-resistant liquid, on which a small air bubble glides. Positioning it between the marks of the eye, they achieve perfect correspondence to the surface of the horizon line.
On the edges of the rail there are additional windows for measuring inclined and vertical planes, which allows the use of a bubble level instead of the classic plumb. This is a quick and convenient way to apply marking on the surface, especially in a space with limited height.
The rack levels can be of various lengths, equipped with magnetic holders, have an electronic deviation metering system, but the air bubble in the liquid inside the measuring device will remain the standard for them.
Hydraulic level
Structurally, a different principle for determining the horizon line has a hydraulic level, which is based on the law of communicating vessels. It is a transparent flexible hose of arbitrary length with flasks at the ends.
Filling it with water (the absence of air bubbles along the entire length of the tube is important here), they achieve balancing water according to the marks located on the surface of the flasks. Markup, as a rule, is from one binding. This is perhaps the only way that allows you to transfer the horizontal plane even to adjacent rooms in the absence of direct visibility between the start and end points of the marked line.
Using a laser to build planes
Nowadays, the most progressive and accurate way to measure the inclination of planes to the horizon line are levels with laser markings (levels). Typically, they combine plumb, level and meter in one device.
Despite the relatively high cost, such meters are widely used among professionals for small errors (1 mm per 1 m), a large radius of the working space (15-20 m), tremendous time savings for marking (up to 60%), simplicity and simplicity in work. Depending on the tasks to be solved, the levels can be:
- Point - used to transfer the extreme points of size horizontally and vertically, work like a plumb line. These are the simplest of laser levels.
- Linear - allow you to beat off the line at an arbitrary angle along the entire surface and immediately start working.
- Rotational - are installed on a special stand (tripod) and cover the entire perimeter of the room with rays.
Nevertheless, despite the futuristic nature of this technology, modern Jedi builders set up laser pointers using the classic air bubble cone built into them before starting work.
We check the level using a smartphone
Another, even more modern than using lasers, level checking method can be found on your smartphone.
There are many mobile applications that provide users with the opportunity not to build with them Burj Khalifa (the world's largest skyscraper), but at least align the wall clock.