Benchwork 2

There is an old carpenter axiom "measure twice, cut once". There's also an idiom "one step forward, two steps back". So it was in my initial wall construction.

I got the first two walls up using the compression-stud benchwork in my last post (http://modelingthewwsl.blogspot.com/2019/02/benchwork-1.html). I then went out and rented a laser leveler to locate the zero elevation line and mark the studs so I could then install the lrear lower level L-girder and the luan backdrops. I was able to quickly do two wall, the leftmost 30 foot wall and one 12 foot wall.

When i installed the 4x8 foot luan backdrops i noticed they didn't line up vertically as well as I expected. I pulled the 4 foot level out and ran it along the top of the backdrops and was surprised to see that they weren't level - the bubble wasn't close to center in the tube.

I went to the rental company and re-rented the laser leveler. This time I went to the web site and downloaded the instruction manual and read it. Imagine my surprise when I read on the last pages, that the laser was accurate to 5/8 inch at 50 feet. Review of other brands of laser levelers of varying prices revealed accuracies of 1/8 to 1/4 inch per 30 feet.

I discussed this with a contractor friend of mine who confirmed that level varies by price, and by the care of the leveler by the owner. His leveler was accurate to 1/16th inch in 100 feet, and he said it was well worth the cost for his construction needs. He expressed surprise that I had gone to the expense of a laser leveler for such a small area. He reminded me that a low tech high accuracy tool in my garage would do just as well - a chalk line and a torpedo level!

Being the friend he is, he brought his expensive laser leveler over and shot the new zero elevation line. Sure enough my 30 foot wall was 1/2 inch off - my chalk line and torpedo level 1/16th off.

I can accept a deviation of 1/16th inch. So back to deconstruction and reconstruction.