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Warning: that cheap level from Harbor Freight will ruin your project
I spent 6 hours building a shelving unit last weekend and every shelf was off by a quarter inch. Turns out my $8 level was bent. I only noticed when I put it on a known flat counter and saw the bubble was way off. A buddy told me to always check new levels against a straight edge before using them. Now I test every level by flipping it end to end on a flat surface. Has anyone else had a tool fail like this and mess up their work?
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davidshah13d ago
Did you check it by flipping it end to end on that flat counter? I always do that now after the same thing happened to me with a crappy level. Learned my lesson the hard way too.
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abbyf7913d agoMost Upvoted
David, you just changed my whole mindset on this. I used to think people were being paranoid flipping levels around like that. Seemed like overkill, you know? But after I got burned twice with a cheap level that was off by a quarter bubble, I finally get it. That end to end flip trick is the only way to be sure your tool isn't lying to you. Now I check every new level as soon as I bring it home, no exceptions. Thanks for spelling it out so clearly, @davidshah.
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