I have a project coming up where one of those laser self levelling projecting cubes would be quite handy.

there are tons of Chinese knock offs on amazon for £30ish or more established brands for twice that.

Anyone used one of the cheap ones? Or is it buy cheap, buy twice?

I bought one on Amazon, don’t think it was expensive. Has worked for every shelf I’ve put up since and they all look straight enough. You do ideally need a camera tripod too.

@jam-bo Got one of these earlier in the year, proved so good for shelves and pictures I bought one for a mate as a house warming present. About £55 on eBay, I would pay the extra and get a Bosch one as it comes with a clamp on holder and the levelling works very nicely.

Bosch Quigo III Self Leveling Cross Line Laser Level & Multi Clamp, 0609663500

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392409386783

I was ‘gifted’ on a few Christmas back as part of a set where the 90 degree angle wasn’t square and the metal ruler had a twist along the length. Yes, you can guess the quality.

It did come with a little, smaller than a computer mouse, mouse shaped thing with a horizontal and vertical bubble tube and a laser light.

Amazingly that actually worked and was the only part of the pile of shite tools I got that was vaguely accurate. + or – 2 mm over 4.8m.

Not sure if this helps but hey, it is STW so when did answers need to match the questions?

I’ve got the Bosch quigo and it’s great. Gives a good line. Nice and level. The clamp lets you mount it easily, I put it on all sorts of things but on a ladder is good to get certain heights. Not seen the knock offs but if they are similar I’d take a punt if it was cheap enough. The clamp is pretty key to usability though.

Ive got a Bosch Quigo too, super accurate. My only complaint is it came with a tripod and not the gorilla type clamp referred to above. It becomes a feat of engineering to get the tripod elevated any higher than chest height, usually balanced on a chair or table. Clamp on a ladder or pole in the corner would be much less hassle.

Quigo was one on the list. Don’t mind spending a little more for something that works well.

is the green laser worth the extra. Got done outside projects coming up too.

and I assume the mount is a standard camera thread?

I’ve also got a Quigo and really rate it.

Not sure I’d bother with a green laser version – I wonder if you’d need eye protection to use it and in that case you wouldn’t be able to see the line.

I have Dewalt. About £100 I think. Red laser. It’s good sometimes hard to see in daylight outside. Green is better. When surveyors come on site they have green. But more money. You will use a lot if doin lots of building work. Buy a cheap light stand with camera tripod thread on top.

I bought a laser level and a distance measurer from Amazon for peanuts for a project last year. Both more accurate than I am with a tape and spirit level.

I have the Magnusson one from Screwfix.
It’s very lasery and levely.
Happy with it.

is the green laser worth the extra. Got done outside projects coming up too.

Not tried a green one but the red quigo is not that bright outside. Its OK if it’s dull out but in sunlight it doesn’t really work. Not the end of the world, I either work with it close to the wall or transfer some lines to the wall at dusk then work off those. It is more of an indoor tool but you can make it work outside

I’ve got one of these recently for £25, the red beam one, and it works perfectly. Comes with tripod mount and removeable magnetic base. Very handy.

Got an Aldi one for a tenner a couple of years ago and its been brilliant. Easily as, if not more, accurate as i could ever be with a bubble level. one of those tools that you dont need, but if you’ve got it you use it all the time. the hardest thing is finding somewhere to mount it. I got a little clamp with mine, and Door frames tend to be my go to, as they are in every room and give you most of the vertical adjustability you need

just ordered the green laser version for a £7 more of the one that cp linked to. should be here tomorrow so will report back…

anyone know anything about pocket hole jigs or do I need a separate thread?

You should get this Magnusson one.

It’s on another level.

anyone know anything about pocket hole jigs or do I need a separate thread?

Yeah. Kreg.
Been using mine a lot this week.
It has little indented stops on it, which the likes of the Axminster UJK one doesn’t.
Great for repeatability.

I’ll get your coat kayak23, oh that coat rail is very level.

😂

I have the exact same laser level and pocket hole jig as kayak. Another vote in favour of both.

I’d probably recommend the kit box of kreg screws to get you started too.

The main issue with laser levels for me is they do not correct for the earth’s curvature, whenever I survey large rivers or bays for my projects I then have to work out not only the earth’s natural curve at that exact point but also the magnetic pull from the moon. More often than not I will normally use a string line and get one of the lads to hold the other end.

i’m only building a little pond so I should be alright…

the magnetic pull from the moon

Don’t be daft, everyone knows cheese is not ferromagnetic!

I bought the Bosch Qubo for doing some work in the garden and was disappointed when I switched the laser on and realised I could not see it in daylight…
I looked into it and a green laser instead of red might have been better.

The main issue with laser levels for me is they do not correct for the earth’s curvature, whenever I survey large rivers or bays for my projects I then have to work out not only the earth’s natural curve at that exact point but also the magnetic pull from the moon.

Yep, that damned 200mm per mile error is why all my shelves look wonky to the eye.
And indeed, cheese is not magnetic, but it does every a gravitational force on water (which is also not magnetic) and shelves.
I’m almost tempted to work out the force you’d need to pull on a string line caternary to have less than 200mm per mile error…

I also bought a cheapy Bosch laser level wasted on me as I can’t see a sharp enough image so indoors a 2b pencil and a Stabila
Outdoors I’ve a Spectra ll300 laser but at £600 it works great but the staff must be held plumb both ways to be 100% accurate
The optical Leica comes out occasionally and is bang on but needs two to use
Maybe the laser eye surgery 20 years ago is the reason I can’t get on with the Bosch or maybe it’s only £40

I’m almost tempted to work out the force you’d need to pull on a string line caternary to have less than 200mm per mile error…

Now you’ve suggested it, I am too… but it would be a long process going round and round substituting heavier string to take the force, then more force to pull out the heavier string, etc, and then finding that no string strong enough exists.

I could not see it in daylight… I looked into it and a green laser instead of red might have been better.

Lasers are something NOT to look into!

there is a beautiful moment in ‘Behind the Curve’, the documentary about flat earthers.

the guy sets up an experiment along a long straight waterway with a huge laser and target and the moment on camera of him internally processing what it means is about the best bit of the film…

There are spirit levels available that make a beep when the level is spot on, rather than relying on a simple bubble.
I think with the tripod type, its reliant on the floor being level to begin with. Not sure, never used on though

A good quality laser level self levels itself on the tripod