[fansg]

Hi,
I am getting ready for my first kitchen installation exercise. Been thinking about buying a laser level, something like this:

Amazon.com: Black & Decker BDL210S Sight-Line Multi-Function Laser Level: Home Improvement

I thought that it would be a handy tool around the house for various tasks.

The specs say that it has a "Class III" laser, which made me wonder how safe it would be and what precautions are needed while using it (apart from the obvious of not looking in to the laser emitter).

Anybody who is using similar a device and is willing to give some comments?

thanks

jk

[Tigratrus]

Well, class III lasers are strong enough that you *should* be careful when using them, they can definitely cause damage to your eyes if you look directly at the laser or a clear reflection of the laser. Personally I've never never seen/heard of anyone getting hurt by one, basic awareness of the threat and simple precautions (be aware of any mirrors in the room where you're using the level etc) are probably sufficient. If you want to really be safe, you can buy Laser Safety glasses from Amazon at varying prices.

For details on the class levels you can see a breakdown on Arizona State U's site.

I would take a second look at the particular model you linked to there though, there's only one review on Amazon, but it's not exactly heaped with praise.

James

[fansg]

Thanks James for the comments.

I did not really pay attention to the review before though. I happened to see this at a local store and had a feel for it. Particularly I did not really try to check whether the thing will fall of from the wall mount. There is a magnet at the bottom of the unit and it seem to fit snugly in to the mounting adapter which need to be fixed to the wall with a nail.

I liked the idea of being able to mount it on a tripod. That is what interested me as I thought that it will help me with alignment issues at various wall heights.

My use of it will be purely for DIY tasks.

I am in Singapore and we do not get much variety when it comes to these kind of DIY help gadgets/tools as I guess there aren't many DIY enthusiasts over here, so the market may be small :-) From what I have seen lot of people seem to be paying for assembly service for IKEA furniture as well :-)


jk