I suppose that's the difference between a Chartered Building Surveyor and a Chartered Structural Engineer, laser measuring is accurate enough for one, but not the other.
Laser Measure - which one to buy?
- Thread starter jonw1664
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Hi
If you think of the laser measure as a fancy tape measure and use it only where you would use a tape measure then it is accurate but not as accurate as a steel rule. Lasers are far more useful when they project lines onto walls and ceilings, so much better than the water level.
If you think of the laser measure as a fancy tape measure and use it only where you would use a tape measure then it is accurate but not as accurate as a steel rule. Lasers are far more useful when they project lines onto walls and ceilings, so much better than the water level.
Got a used (but hardly used at all) Leica Disto D2 off the bay for just over £100. It has a handy thing where it takes constant measurements. You can take a lot of guess work out of getting accurate readings where you can't be sure you're spot on level - you just use the shortest measurement. Makes a great cat toy too!
Bristol_Rob
Established Member
Exactly, British Standard tolerances are very different for both.
You make an excellent point worthy of genuine consideration by OP.
What tolerance is he trying to achieve as the Leica may be unnecessary. (Or not good enough and have to go up the range or elsewhere)
Bristol_Rob
Established Member
The Lecia has a minimum & maximum setting. It shoots the laser out taking constant readings and depending on the setting you choose gives the longest or shortest reading. You merely sweep the corner slowly with the laser.
Ollie78
Established Member
I see, I was imagining that you would measure while right next to the wall as with a tape measure, so the laser would be firing off to infinity.
So, you sort of step away a bit and it does the maths? Its cleverer than I thought.
Ollie
So, you sort of step away a bit and it does the maths? Its cleverer than I thought.
Ollie
Woodmouse
Established Member
I use the Stanley TLM99, which was a reasonable price and has done the job well. Not only does it do the usual measurements but it can also work out areas and volume.
As to accuracy it gives +/- 2mm, which for me was more than enough.
As to accuracy it gives +/- 2mm, which for me was more than enough.
It's this one (actually the older 40m range version).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MTB1N81/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_qKtMFbN62YXPDSo far as I can tell its laser, but I'm not sure if there's any obvious way to check.
To add, I tried taking a measure with the laser covered but the main window exposed and it failed, which suggests it's more than just a laser pointer.
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Well thanks for all the advice, I bought a Leica Disto in the end, it’s fantastic. I am doing a framing project inside a number of shipping containers and the accuracy of the Disto is great, the only fault I can find is that the button to fire the laser is completely smooth and so you can’t tell without looking if your thumb is on it or not ( when you’re balanced on a ladder looking at a red dot 5m away in the opposite direction!) a really minor niggle but I would have thought easy for Leica to fix, I haven’t used the clever functions yet and my next job will be the fit out of the containers so using its ability to transfer measurements onto the supplied software on my iPad to let me draw dimensioned plans will be the next learning point
Thanks for all the input
Thanks for all the input
pe2dave
Established Member
Yes, a piece of card or wood laid on the corner.
My only beef is laser visibility in daylight. Accuracy is good for me.
