digital level... recomendations please ?

[knighty]

after watching project blinky on youtube (car modding videos) I've been thinking I should get myself a digital level

seams nice/quick/easy to put a little box smaller than my mobile phone onto something and have it beep if it's level... or tell you how far out you are if you're not


but a quick google and there's loads to pick from... and they all look like cheap junk :-(


any recommendations ?

 

[Shox Dr]

Wixey are reliable

 

[nickk]

2nd the wixey

 

[Chris Stevens]

Even the very cheap ones work fine.............have been using a cheapy for 4 years, and its only just failed due to being dropped.

Mititoyo make them, but think they are in the £200-300 range...............

 

[Gareth0123]

Agreed, the cheap ones are good. I have four digital protractors from ebay. There about 150mm long have a tube/pipe groove top & bottom, the bottom groove is magnetic (although I have been known to use elastic bands on Stainless steel and copper piping).

I mainly use them when I have to do very accurate multi orientated tube bending, usually on hydraulic pipes made to drawings for a particular bespoke hydraulic systems specialist company.

Once a year I take them over to a local precision engineers and have the zero and square checked on their surface table, and they've never been out.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Agreed, the cheap ones are good. I have four digital protractors from ebay. There about 150mm long have a tube/pipe groove top & bottom, the bottom groove is magnetic (although I have been known to use elastic bands on Stainless steel and copper piping).

I mainly use them when I have to do very accurate multi orientated tube bending, usually on hydraulic pipes made to drawings for a particular bespoke hydraulic systems specialist company.

Once a year I take them over to a local precision engineers and have the zero and square checked on their surface table, and they've never been out.View attachment 85581 View attachment 85582 View attachment 85583 View attachment 85584

I have one of those, and its maybe 12 years old and still works fine. Seems like a direct copy of Mititoyo ones................

 

[Shox Dr]

You shouldn't need to do that, they are usually selfcalibrating. The 3 I have all do.

 

[Gareth0123]

but how do you know for certain that the self calibration is totally accurate?

 

[rtbcomp]

I've got a spirit level app on my Tablet and it's rubbish.

You calibrate by putting it on a near-level surface, tap a button, turn it through 180 degrees and tap the button again, but afterwards when you put it on the same surface you get different readings depending which way round it is.

 

[Shox Dr]

but how do you know for certain that the self calibration is totally accurate?

Make sure you do it correctly. It's not hard

 

[Chris Stevens]

Surely the main purpose of a digital protractor is measuring comparative angles? To check for level maybe a spirit level is more effective?

 

[Paul G]

A 3rd vote for Wixey

 

[Wallace]

4th vote on the Wixey for general workshop use unless you need minutes and seconds.

 

[Pete.]

A seconds-reading level will change depending where you stand on the floor next to the bench it's on.

 

[Wallace]

Apprentices don't know that when levelling machines!