Super Accurate Precision Level

Super Accurate Precision Level

Ahoy, Homebuilders,

I had need for a super accurate precision level years some ago. They exist, but are costly.
For my needs, I took a 3/8" x 46" neon tube, plugged one end, filled it -w- mineral spirits and enough ATF to give it a bit of color, adjusted fluid for ~~ a 1" bubble, and sealed the other end.
I took an ordinary (good condition) aluminum builder's level, and fastened the tube to it, propped up the middle ~~ 1/16" to create a parabola.
You could pick the crater on the moon that you wanted to aim at.
Enjoy /s/ Bob

In the course of rigging my Fokker D.VII I found one of the most precise levels available was in my pocket:

Attachment 6412

The free phone app reads down to 0.1* and is as accurate as a high$$$ digital level I had in the shop.

I don't know how accurate you need a level to be.

My back ground is in formula car racing. When we level the alignment platforms, we commonly use a transit level and a machinist scale. With the magnification of the transit level, you can set the view line on the edge scribed line for the 1/64" scale. I used this system to level my 4' x 18' building table.

Anther very accurate level system is to use a clear plastic tube filled with water. Here the accuracy is limited by your ability to read the machinist and the water level in the tube.

The accuracy of a digital level is not accurate enough over the width of the race cars I work on. The accuracy is frequently stated in terms of repeatability of a measurement. 0.1 degrees over 65 inches (track width of a formula car) is a big number for my work.

I do like and use digital levels and a phone app. seems like a very handy tool.

What I find handy about a digital level and/or the phone app is how easy it is to set flying surface incidence. Regardless of whether or not fuse longerons are perfectly level, the app can be aligned with them then set to 'zero'. The required incidence value (for example, 2.5*) can then be directly read on the digital readout. In other words, the device is reading the difference in degrees between two components. It is much more complicated to complete this operation with levels that don't have digital indicators. The accuracy of these operations still depend on the care taken by the builder and a good straight edge is also useful.

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Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

What I find handy about a digital level and/or the phone app is how easy it is to set flying surface incidence. Regardless of whether or not fuse longerons are perfectly level, the app can be aligned with them then set to 'zero'. The required incidence value (for example, 2.5*) can then be directly read on the digital readout. In other words, the device is reading the difference in degrees between two components. It is much more complicated to complete this operation with levels that don't have digital indicators. The accuracy of these operations still depend on the care taken by the builder and a good straight edge is also useful.

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Absolutely can"t argue with handy. And I like the idea of an app. to do the job. I have a digital level, it is brilliant and way more than accurate enough for many jobs.