Are you one of those people who only need a spirit level once a year? Then there is a good chance that, just now you need one, you do not have a spirit level in the house.But no worries, if you still want to measure whether a table is level or a refrigerator exactly vertical, it is sufficient to do a spirit level yourself. to make. There are different ways to do this, the glass teapot can be used, but also a wire with a weight on it. Of course you can also quickly go to the hardware store, after all, a cheap spirit level only costs a few euros.
What is a spirit level and what is spirit level?
A spirit level is a measuring instrument that measures whether a plane of an object, such as a table, is exactly horizontal. A spirit level is mounted on a spirit level, this is a moderately curving transparent yellow or green tube containing a liquid with an air bubble. Since air weighs less than the liquid, it will always want to rise as much as possible. If the bubble is exactly in the middle of the bubble level between two marked lines, this is a sign that the spirit level is 100% horizontal. If the spirit level is not horizontal, the bubble will move very quickly to the left or to the right, as the bubble always wants to find the highest point. If the air bubble is in the middle of the dragonfly, then you speak of ‘level’. You can then say that the spirit level is exactly level, or that the surface on which the spirit level is located is exactly horizontal. At the end of a spirit level there is often a second vial, in which case the spirit level can also be used to measure whether an object is exactly vertical, for example a refrigerator, bookcase or washing machine. Spirit levels are for sale in the DIY store for a few euros, they are sufficient for the normal home-garden-and-kitchen-job.
Why is the bubble level curved in the spirit level?
If the dragonfly was not curved and it were flat, the bubble could end up in the center, left and right with an exactly horizontal position of the spirit level, because the bubble always wants to look for the highest position. However, this left or right position of the air bubble could easily be confused with a spirit level that is skewed, since the air bubble is then also located on the left or right side. For this reason, the vial has been curved: with an exactly horizontal position of the spirit level, the air bubble is always in the center of the vial.
Some easy ways to make your own kind of spirit level
In the absence of a spirit level in the house, you can make a kind of spirit level yourself, here are three ideas to do that.
Use a glass teapot as a spirit level
A transparent teapot can serve very well as a spirit level, it often has a wide surface, which increases accuracy. But before a teapot is suitable as a spirit level, it must first be calibrated, and we do that as follows. Fill the teapot with, for example, 500 ml of water. The surface of liquid water is always perfectly horizontal, but the teapot may not be due to a slightly crooked bottom. Now, when the water stops moving, mark the left and right side of the teapot at the water surface with a washable felt-tip pen. It could be that the teapot is not perfectly horizontal, we solve this as follows. Turn the teapot exactly 180 degrees, so that the left and right sides are interchanged. Now make two more lines with the marker. If the new lines come out exactly in the same place of the first two lines, your teapot was exactly level and you can leave the already marked lines. The teapot is now properly calibrated. If necessary, use a CD marker to make the dashes more visible and prevent them from being erased.
Is the second set coming ?? stripes are not in the same place as the first pair of stripes, then a total of two stripes are created on both sides of the teapot. If a new line is drawn exactly between those two lines with a waterproof felt-tip pen, then those third “set” lines are the correct reference points. The teapot has now also been properly calibrated. Because you had filled the teapot with exactly 500 ml, the next time you use this primitive spirit level you will know exactly how much to put in.
As an alternative to the glass teapot, you could also fill a plastic drinking bottle with water and stick it in horizontal position on a sturdy shelf with adhesive tape. The water level in the bottle will then be the same on both sides when the shelf is exactly horizontal. It also applies again that this ‘spirit level’ must be calibrated using the 180 degree reversal method.
Make a spirit level of a standing plank with rope and weight
When a piece of string is attached with a weight at the bottom to a plank that is upright (it does not necessarily have to be exactly perpendicular), then this string will always hang vertically downwards. It is convenient to mount this board, which can be, for example, the size of half an A4 sheet, on a supporting wide batten so that the board does not fall over. Then hit a nail or thumbtack in the plank and attach the string with the weight to it. This weight can be a marble or a stone. Then this homemade spirit level, just like the teapot from the previous example, must be calibrated again. Here again we apply the trick of turning 180 degrees (see also the explanation for the teapot).
Now place the board on a table top and place a dot on the board at the bottom near the string and near the weight. Now turn the self-made spirit level 180 degrees again, when the string ends up exactly at the drawn dot again, your spirit level was apparently already on a 100% perfect horizontal surface. If the string ends up at a different position, then the spirit level you made was on an inclined surface or it was the spirit level itself that was inclined. Put a dot again, the midpoint between these two set dots is now the perfect level mark, mark this third point and draw a line from this dot towards the nail or pushpin. Now you have drawn a perfect vertical line on the plank and the spirit level is suitable for measuring horizontal surfaces. You can also use a sturdy box or small box for this method, since then you do not have to attach a board to a supporting slat first.
Now the great thing is, if you draw a line from the position of the nail or pushpin with a protractor that is 90 degrees perpendicular to the vertical line, then the spirit level can also be used to measure vertical walls. And if you were to draw an oblique line at an angle of 45 degrees, then oblique walls of 45 degrees could also be measured. This self-made spirit level becomes quite versatile, it is in fact nothing more than a protractor with which all desired angles can be measured.
The spirit level with a long wire and weight
A long string with a weight on it can often also be used to measure vertical walls. You then hold the string in your hand and against the wall. It is then checked whether the weight is at the bottom or not. This method only works if a wall is leaning forward because if the wall is leaning backward, the weight will hit the wall or wall anyway, so you do not know whether the wall is exactly vertical or not. To solve this problem, you could attach the string to a stick (for example 15 cm) and hold this stick to the wall. If someone other than reads the distance between the weight and the wall or wall and checks whether it is also 15 cm, you know whether the wall is exactly vertical. This method is not very accurate and is especially suitable for quickly checking whether a bookcase is tilted or not.
Finally
Not all spirit levels from the store are exactly level. If you buy a spirit level in the hardware store, you now know how to check that it is 100% level, namely with the 180 degree method. Place the spirit level in front of you, look at the position of the bubble. Then turn the spirit level 180 degrees, the bubble must then be in exactly the same position, only then the spirit level is really level and properly calibrated. Incidentally, some more expensive spirit levels are equipped with adjusting screws with which the spirit level can be calibrated by the user himself.