Question about using a laser level for hoistway plumb checks

I was talking with a retired mechanic at our union hall yesterday, and he said he'd never trust a laser for final inspection because 'you can't feel the air like you can with a plumb bob.' But then he showed me his old notebook from 1998 where he had to redo a 30-story guide rail job in Chicago after his bob line got caught in a draft. I'm starting to think maybe the tech has gotten good enough to rely on. How many of you guys use lasers for your critical vertical alignments now?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamief671mo ago

Switched to lasers years ago after a similar mess. @samk77 is right, the new ones lock on and don't budge. Used a PLS last job, had cars running and everything, line stayed dead true. That old bob feeling air thing is just noise now.

samk771mo ago

That story about the plumb bob getting caught in a draft is exactly why I switched. I had a bob swing into a duct on a hotel job and we didn't catch it until the rails were set. My foreman made us use a laser after that mess. The new ones are solid even with the elevator running, they don't drift like the old ones did. I get the old school worry but the tool just works better now.

martin.riley1mo ago

That "old bob feeling air" thing jamief67 mentioned reminds me of a guy who blamed his bad cuts on a ceiling fan.