I know some of you guys are using a transit for pipe fitting but I guess I'm having a hard time grasping the concept. Part of it may be due to my inexperience using a transit period. I've seen the set up at the home store, Bosch has the $600 kit but I'm trying to picture it in the mechanical room and how I would set it up to get measurements so I could build most on the ground and leave myself with two tie in welds.
I guess I'm trying to figure out how versatile it actually is to warrant the $600 cost. I do a bit of this type of work due to some connections in that particular industry and if I could in some way speed up the fitting it would save my client some money. Obviously it will cut some off my end but in the end he'd be happier for the savings.
So, just wondering what type of setup ya'll have, basic idea on what it looks like set up. Thanks for any info/education.
I don't use a Transit so much as I use a Level. Sometimes people call them the same, but they are not. I primarily use it to get a Benchmark or to make sue my base is "Dead Nut" before I start. That way it all ends up straight and square. Bosch has the level setup for about 400 with tripod. You can either get a Digital or an Optical. The difference being, An Optical takes 2 people to work it right and a Digital can be used by yourself. Hope this helps.
I have a laser level and a Bosch 5 way self leveling laser. Its not a transit but its really handy. You do have to check the calibration on it every few uses or you will get burned. As long as you have a steady base to set it on it works great. A lot of pipefitters still swear by string lines and plumb bob's but, I can pull the same measurements in a lot shorted time. There are still a lot of times when a transit or a level like cactus has will be needed but, If you are just trying to run some shorter lines inside a room (chill water). Take a look at the 5 way laser.
Take Care,
Tim
Watch lasers. The accuracy on some of the cheaper ones is plus or minus 1/8 inch in 50 feet.
Nothing you would see hanging a picture but 300 feet you are WAY out. And they do not have any way to adjust them if they are out of calibration.
Lasers need to be checked frequently. Just had a concrete contractor spent 4 days grinding a ringwall because the laser they used in construction had not been checked in over a year. A third party survey company checked the ringwall for API 650 compliance and they were off 3/8 of a inch in 30 feet in several spots. 160 MH to grind the thing to where it was acceptable.
Even transits need to be checked periodically especially if they spend a lot of time in a tool box traveling down lease roads.
I don't think I would trust it past about 25' but, they can be very useful for shorter lines in boiler rooms or on compressor skids. The size of the laser (or the dot) gets a lot larger the farther from the level you get. Cheap lasers are bad about having a dime size dot at 75'
If I was in the concrete and/or excavating business I'd have a "total station". They are expensive but if you subtract 160 MH from the price they get a lot cheaper.
I have a builders level.. I was raised calling them a transit but yes it is very different to a transit..
A transit is awesome for shooting grades up hill or down hill.. You can square things up with them shoot a grade% with them and allot of other cool things that I don't know how to do..
A builders level is a must for building anything perfectly level over any distance.. Mine is not very high end but it will shoot within +/- 1/8 at 100ft. They have some that will shoot within 1/32 every 100 feet up to 400ft I believe.. I need to get a new one..
Anyway they are well worth the money..!! When you start using them you will start figuring out new ways to use them and they become your right hand..
I carry two strong strong magnets with me.. I will hook my tape to one end then hook the bottom of my tape to another.. This lets me go back to my level, read the measurements I need then move to the next one. It also lets me hold my tape still in high winds which can be tough to do..!!
In my opinion they are a must..!! Google Transit level and you will see a ton of them ranging from $80 to $900..
You can calibrate most of them yourself without too much problem.. I do not like the self leveling ones..!! I have seen them screw up too many times..!! I like to manually set mine..!!
RC
I vote for a builders level, used to use one all the time on the big jobs.
Good thread......I am still stuck on the plumb bob, kite string, you cannot have too many nice torpedoes world....then of course I have my highly calibrated eyeball with the cross hairs and hash marks painted on it!!!
Hey Tommy, the Navy calls that "Optical Alignment".
Hey Ted Been working for me for a lot of years, I rarely miss 1/4 inch over 20-30 ft long as I have some references nearby.....I dunno I developed that "talent" in the boiler shops a long time ago in a big shed far far away.....that and eyeballing some pretty good size boats. There is nothing wrong with dead nut accuracy!!! I am interested and just trying to listen and learn ssshhhhhhhhh!
Tommy I have three plumb bobs in my truck at all times too.. I think they are a must too..!! I had to get a mark down from a roof to the floor one time and it was almost 40ft high.. There was a good wind blowing through the building and I was having heck getting that plumb bob still enough to get a mark..
An 80yr old retired engineer was visiting the job sight. He came up to me and said do you want to know a little trick to get that plumb bob to quit swinging.?? Sure... What you got..??
He got a 3 gallon bucket and used a sharpie to make cross hairs on the bottom of the bucket then up the side of the bucket about an inch... Then he made a center dot inside the bucket... Then he filled the bucket with water and let the plumb bob drop down inside the bucket of water.. It didn't take all the swing out but almost.. When he got the Plumb bob over the center dot inside the bucket he marked lines on the ground corresponding with the outside cross hair lines.. Moved the bucket and finished drawing the cross hairs on the ground.. and Whaa laa.. I had a center point..
It was pretty dang cool..!! I love hanging around old timers..!! They have cool ways of solving little problems..!!!
RC
By Tommyjoking 
Date 06-02-2011 20:01
Edited 06-02-2011 20:58
Those little problems can put big hitches in the giddy up quick!!! I agree about old timers or really anyone that has some salt to em. Those "little" tricks stick with you for life....I still got tons to learn about fitting, I try to keep my ears unclogged. I have learned a lot about laying out and fitting on big things, but there is always room in my bag for something else! Sometimes I really think about all the trade skills being lost because there is a lack of young folks to pass them on too + everyone relying on more modern tools to do the same job...nothing wrong with a sweet laser level or sight level...that stuff will make you money if you know how to use it, but knowing more then one way to skin that cat always pays off. The water bucket is pretty neat...need that one in tricks of the trade.
That's a good trick, but my laser plumb doesn't sway in the wind, and being electronically controlled, it settles much faster than a real bob.
I have a Leica transit and in my opinion, those are pretty much top of the line transits and are a 1/4"+/- at 1000 feet. a little bit pricey, but very well worth it . Have used it for close to three years now and check it every
six months if it needs to be calibrated and haven't had to calibrate it once.
I use a Johnson laser level. I think it was a $100 from engineersupply.com It was garunteed at +- 1/4" at a 100'. its a 9" torpedo with good magnets, and has a good laser that stays bright and small at longer distances on sunny days.
Thanks to everybody for the replies. Did the plumb bob thing yesterday but still considering a laser of sorts. Just trying to picture it in my head shooting a laser in a mechanical room with one pipe at 14' high and the piping off the unit at 6' high. I did some research and found a "pipe laser" of some sort, would fit inside a pipe, accurate as a Marine Sniper and only $4995!! WoW!!! Guess I'll have to look into a decent builders level and just play around with it and get a feel for what can be done with it. Thanks again!
Shawn
Shawn do you have a web address for that pipe laser, ive made center finders for my mill and lathe, acturate to about .005 Trying to come up with a pipe one would be fun, use a expanding jaw sysyem like a 3 jaw chuck.
Richard
Those look like grade lasers.. I helped a guy run a bunch of cast iron city sewer lines and we had different grades for different sections of the line.. You level the laser in a man hole set the % grade you want then you have a little target that you set in the end of each pipe as you are laying.. When the dot lines up with the center of the target you know you are straight and at the right level.. They are really fast and nice to use..!!
RC
You can also try:
Laserliquidator.com
Futturaus.com
GeoShack.com
Thanks for links.
Thinking of a expanding arbor , swiveled on laser side with a degree readout on angle and same on target side would be handy, move each head till laser intersects read the angles, straight line ability also to call grades, whats the longest distance would a person need? This is where it gets expensive looks like, stronger the laser more expensive it gets, having a black center target helps some on readability in daylight. the ones i built for lathe and mill only need to go 6 feet and use watch batteries, need a lot more power here. Arbors ive built before would use different sized plates with setscrews for differnet sized pipe all out of t6 alum they were tubing expanders. Ill have to check the contraction expansion for different metals again for best material to keep the acuracy needed. might be a bigger project than i though lol
Richard
The only time I've used a transit and story pole was when we were re-piping a gas storage field. We'd take measurements from the top of the well head piping to the top of the gathering line to get our set and then go from there. Saved tons of time on the fitting aspect of it and every fit was spot on. Also saved time on the testing end of it as we'd only have to run a 4 hr hydro instead of 8 if it was in the ditch. I'm sure it'd be just as helpful in a mechanical room, but with flat floors and benchmarks to measure off of, plumb bobs and a good laser would be just as good.
