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PSA: That cheap laser level from Harbor Freight almost cost me a whole slab
I bought the 'Chicago Electric' 3-beam laser for about $40 last month thinking it was a steal for setting forms. Used it on a 20x30 patio job in Springfield and the lines were off by a full inch over 20 feet after the first hour. Had to stop everything, send a guy to get a proper DeWalt from the supply house, and re-set all the forms. Has anyone else had a laser fail that bad that fast, and what brand do you actually trust for daily use?
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lisak266mo ago
Disagree with the idea that tools just lie to you. A laser being off by an inch in an hour sounds like a bad battery connection or it got knocked out of level. My old boss had a cheap one that worked fine for years if you checked it against a known line first. Simonp47 is right that bad tools trick you, but sometimes the trick is not checking your work enough. Would you really trust any laser right out of the box without a quick test?
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brooke5207mo ago
That "full inch over 20 feet" is brutal. It reminds me of a time my uncle tried to use a cheap stud finder that kept beeping at nothing. He cut three random holes in his drywall before he threw it in the trash. Sometimes the tool just lies to you, and you only find out after the damage is done. I'm way more careful now about what I trust for layout work.
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