A few weeks ago Jeff at tools4cheap.net had a 10" .0002\10 level in his "Discount Close Out" section because "it could not be adjusted". The price was right [$60] so I took a chance on it.
When I got it I took a look at it and indeed, it did not look as thought it could be adjusted. Not in the sense that "there was not adjuster" but int he sense that "adjusting it did not make it work". I thought "this does not make sense" but did not have time to fool with it so I put it on the shelf for another day.
I guess today was "another day" so I decided I would take another look at it.
I knew that to fine tune the level I would center the bubble with the adjuster and then turn it end for end, but with a level that was (a) this sensitive and (b) this fare out of whack that the first thing I needed to establish was a perfectly level surface to use as a reference. Luckily I have an 8" .0005\10 level, one of the ubiquitous Grade B granite surface plates and three machinists jacks so I put the three jacks on the table, the surface plate on the jacks and using the 8" level proceeded to get the surface plate reasonably level.
I then tried to adjust the 10" level but was not able to do so. The adjustment nuts were at the very bottom of the adjustment screw which made them very difficult to access with the adjustment spanner and no amount of fiddling seemed to get the job done. I did a "Stop, Pause, Think" and came to the conclusion that if (a) the vial was not messed up and (b) the adjustment nuts were in the middle of the adjustment screw there might be hope.
I quickly moved on to the part that we all seem to do best ... I took it apart.
Below the left end of the vial you can see two small, pointed set screws that go into threaded holes, one on each side of the body of the level towards the left end. The vial holder is placed inside the body of the level and the points of the two screws will come in contact with the v-groove that is on each side of the vial holder. This provides the axis around which the vial holder will rotate as it is adjusted.
Below the right end of the vial you can see the long adjustment screw with two washers and two adjustment nuts. The adjustment screw goes into a threaded hole in the bottom of the level towards the right end of the level. The adjustment screw is long enough that it goes completely thru the body of the level and then threads into a hole on the top of the level ... i.e. it is long enough to engage the threads in both the top and the bottom of the level.
The adjustment screw goes threw the hole in the right end of the vial holder and a adjustment nut-washer-vial holder-washer-adjustment nut sandwich is formed on the adjustment screw.
The first thing I did was put the vial holder on the level reference to see if that might be the problem. The bottom of the vial holder did not appear to provide a viable reference so I shimmed the ends with tape until the vial indicated it was level. I then turned the shims and holder around 180 degrees and it still indicated level within what I considered the tolerances for level given the crudeness of the setup.
Having determined that the vial was not the issue I then started measuring stuff. Based on where the middle of the adjustment access hole was, the thickness of the vial holder at the adjustment screw end and the location of the v-grooves on the sides of the vial holder I came to the conclusion that the holes in the side of the level for the pivot screws were too low. I also noticed that the two holes were not at the same height ... one was too low more than the other one was too low ... as thought the two holes had been drilled individually by hand, and not in one shot.
I marked where I thought they should go and a trip to the drill press with a bit and a tap ended up with this ...
A little work putting everything back together and I was pleasantly surprised that the level was now much easier to adjust because the adjustment nuts were now in the middle of the adjustment access hole with plenty of movement available in either direction and lots of room for the adjustment spanner. It took very little adjustment to get it in the ballpark.
I'll need to move my adjustment station to something much more stable than the desk in the office. I could see the bubbles in both vials move [as I expected they would] as I walked across the floor but at least I now know that it was a reasonable level purchase and not a doorstop purchase.
When I got it I took a look at it and indeed, it did not look as thought it could be adjusted. Not in the sense that "there was not adjuster" but int he sense that "adjusting it did not make it work". I thought "this does not make sense" but did not have time to fool with it so I put it on the shelf for another day.
I guess today was "another day" so I decided I would take another look at it.
I knew that to fine tune the level I would center the bubble with the adjuster and then turn it end for end, but with a level that was (a) this sensitive and (b) this fare out of whack that the first thing I needed to establish was a perfectly level surface to use as a reference. Luckily I have an 8" .0005\10 level, one of the ubiquitous Grade B granite surface plates and three machinists jacks so I put the three jacks on the table, the surface plate on the jacks and using the 8" level proceeded to get the surface plate reasonably level.
I then tried to adjust the 10" level but was not able to do so. The adjustment nuts were at the very bottom of the adjustment screw which made them very difficult to access with the adjustment spanner and no amount of fiddling seemed to get the job done. I did a "Stop, Pause, Think" and came to the conclusion that if (a) the vial was not messed up and (b) the adjustment nuts were in the middle of the adjustment screw there might be hope.
I quickly moved on to the part that we all seem to do best ... I took it apart.
Below the left end of the vial you can see two small, pointed set screws that go into threaded holes, one on each side of the body of the level towards the left end. The vial holder is placed inside the body of the level and the points of the two screws will come in contact with the v-groove that is on each side of the vial holder. This provides the axis around which the vial holder will rotate as it is adjusted.
Below the right end of the vial you can see the long adjustment screw with two washers and two adjustment nuts. The adjustment screw goes into a threaded hole in the bottom of the level towards the right end of the level. The adjustment screw is long enough that it goes completely thru the body of the level and then threads into a hole on the top of the level ... i.e. it is long enough to engage the threads in both the top and the bottom of the level.
The adjustment screw goes threw the hole in the right end of the vial holder and a adjustment nut-washer-vial holder-washer-adjustment nut sandwich is formed on the adjustment screw.
The first thing I did was put the vial holder on the level reference to see if that might be the problem. The bottom of the vial holder did not appear to provide a viable reference so I shimmed the ends with tape until the vial indicated it was level. I then turned the shims and holder around 180 degrees and it still indicated level within what I considered the tolerances for level given the crudeness of the setup.
Having determined that the vial was not the issue I then started measuring stuff. Based on where the middle of the adjustment access hole was, the thickness of the vial holder at the adjustment screw end and the location of the v-grooves on the sides of the vial holder I came to the conclusion that the holes in the side of the level for the pivot screws were too low. I also noticed that the two holes were not at the same height ... one was too low more than the other one was too low ... as thought the two holes had been drilled individually by hand, and not in one shot.
I marked where I thought they should go and a trip to the drill press with a bit and a tap ended up with this ...
A little work putting everything back together and I was pleasantly surprised that the level was now much easier to adjust because the adjustment nuts were now in the middle of the adjustment access hole with plenty of movement available in either direction and lots of room for the adjustment spanner. It took very little adjustment to get it in the ballpark.
I'll need to move my adjustment station to something much more stable than the desk in the office. I could see the bubbles in both vials move [as I expected they would] as I walked across the floor but at least I now know that it was a reasonable level purchase and not a doorstop purchase.
