Appreciation post: The $20 laser level I laughed at actually saved my butt on a site

My foreman handed me this cheap laser level from Harbor Freight last month on a job in Austin. I straight up told him I'd just stick with my string lines and level, figured it would die after one drop. But after marking out a 50 foot span for a tower crane base, it was dead on within an eighth of an inch every time. I still don't trust it for critical stuff, but has anyone else had cheap gear prove them wrong or am I just lucky with this one?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph5291mo ago

Bet that one good reading was just a fluke before it craps out on you tomorrow.

ray_mitchell1mo ago

Count on it being a fluke if you want, but these things run hot and cold by nature. I've had a cheap unit give me perfect readings for three straight days before it started acting up. The real question is whether it'll hold through the next temperature swing, not whether it can read right once.