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Although that there are numerous digital tools for checking vertical alignment, a plumb bob still can be a very useful aid in the shop or home.
I used 304 stainless steel, copper and African blackwood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOPZ4k4qbbk&t=17s
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Cheers
Jimmy
Very nice work! Makes my grandad's beat up old brass number look anemic! I'm sure it is a joy to use. Cheers
Jim
Dang you do good work. I don't have a tool box nice enough for that. It must live in a felt lined custom box. 👍
Great material choice. This is one of the nicer plumb bobs we've seen, and we have 13 other ones listed: Homemade Tools: plumb bob - HomemadeTools.net
One of the more awkward jobs to do accurately is marking the exact point over which a plumb bob hangs. Using the actual tip of the bob can damage it, especially if marking concrete, and is just, well, brutish.
One approach I've seen to this problem is a bob shaped like a horizontal washer with four arrow points that point inward to the center of the annulus. After the bob comes to rest it's lowered carefully onto the stuff to be marked and a pencil mark made at the center of the four points. While it might work, it seems a bit gimmicky plus it wouldn't work well if the surface to be marked is angled.
IMO, a much better solution would be a plumb bob with interchangeable points. Unscrew the normal, sharp steel point and fit a thin, ultra fine point Sharpie. Then simply lowering the stabilized bob onto the surface would leave a precise mark.
Maybe I'm overthinking things - a machinist designing a push broom. Perhaps nobody needs to mark the sub-bob point that accurately.
Thank you Beserkleyboy! Although I haven't used it a lot - a couple times in the shop and 2-3 in home - it was a pleasure using it!
Cheers
Jimmy
Thank you very much Phantom89! Actually lives in a small velvet lined jewelry box.
All the best
Jimmy
Thank you Jon! I don't know if you saw the video, but I'm sure that you'll like this alsoQuote:
Originally Posted by Jon
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this was my contribution for Keith Fenner's WIYB 2015
Cheers
Jimmy
Quote:
Originally Posted by mklotz
You said it very wisely, Marv. It is an awkward job, especially when the marking height is greater than our body height. As for the interchangeable tip would be a good feature (commercially made ones have this feature).
Cheers
Jimmy
VERY PRETTY. I'd be scared to use it, as it may end up like my dad's lead one which I haven't used for around 10 years. I also inherited my grandfather's :it looks like it has a large nail as a tip, probably to prevent damage due to less than careful use.
Thank you very much, glad that you like it! Although stainless steel is tough material, it can wear up (the tip I mean) if not used with care. Anyway, I don't worrie to much about wear because I'm not going to use it anywhere besices my shop and home.Quote:
Originally Posted by ranald
Regards
Jimmy
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Thanks Dimitris Polychronis! We've added your Plumb Bob to our Measuring and Marking category,
as well as to your builder page: Dimitris Polychronis's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:
<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-plumb-bob-4"> <img src="/uploads/218833/homemade-plumb-bob-4.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-plumb-bob-4">Plumb Bob</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Dimitris+Polychronis">Dimitris Polychronis</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/plumb-bob'>plumb bob</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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As usual with you Dimitris, a beautifully crafted piece of work. It does indeed belong in a velvet box. Beautiful
Thank you Nick, I am happy that you like it! As for the velvet box I'll say...no it's better to show you
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"VERY PRETTY. I'd be scared to use it, ..." That is a perfect assessment. 50 years ago, as an intern, I made mine too - and never ever used it. Fear to damage the tip. A solution would be a retractable carbide tip, very lighty springed.
I made mine with a removable steel tip. If it's damaged, it can be removed and remachined easily. Then I added a nuance...
I wanted to be sure that the line supporting the bob couldn't influence the way it hangs so the line is tied to a pierced ball that rides in a conical depression inside the spherical end cap. Thus the bob is always free to hang perfectly vertical. In retrospect, given the weight of the final form, this feature is probably unnecessary but I always like to add something special to my designs.
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[QUOTE=uv8452;204683]"[COLOR=#333333]VERY PRETTY. I'd be scared to use it, ..."
Thank you very much uv8452, glad you like it!
I have used it a few times without worrying for the tip; its made out from stainless steel so it would be easy to fix, or even to make a replaceable tip for it.
Regards from Greece
Dimitris
That's a very nice bob, Marv! I really like the added features, the removable tip and the small ball inside the cap. You've make me started thinking to do the same :))
Regards
Dimitris
Titivating plumb bob design is a rich field. Marking the point on the ground directly below the point of the bob is one area.
Simply dropping the bob is not an attractive option; beyond the risk of damaging the point, there is no guarantee that it will strike directly below the point from which it is suspended.
One possibility is a circular metal plate mounted right behind the bob point in such a way that when the point hovers over the ground the plate is parallel to the ground and about 12 mm away. The plate has four small holes located orthogonally on a large circle. When paint is sprayed through these holes, four spots on the ground are defined. After the bob is removed, connecting these spots with intersecting lines will exactly define the sub-bob point. Alternatively, a light shined through the holes will permit the ground points to be marked one at a time by hand.
The ancients used plumb bobs as gravity references in levels and inclinometers. One style of inclinometer stuck into a cannon barrel was used to set elevation as late as the American Civil War.
Thank you Marv! These informations are valuable for a novice craftsman like me; every day that's passing I realize that I know such a few things! Thanks again.
All the best
Dimitris
