My brother-in-law in Pittsburgh said he never uses a level on big boiler flanges

We were having a beer after a long day on a plant shutdown, and he told me he just uses a plumb bob and a tape measure from two fixed points on the structure. He said he's been doing it that way for 15 years and it's always dead-on. I tried it last week on a 48-inch steam drum flange, and it saved me a ton of time wrestling with a 4-foot level. Does anyone else have a go-to trick for squaring up big flanges without a giant level?

3 comments

3 Comments

anna9834mo ago

Ever notice how the best tricks come from ignoring the fancy tools? That plumb bob method is just using basic geometry, which is often way more reliable than some gadget. It's a good reminder that simple solutions usually work best.

the_sean4mo ago

Honestly @anna983, you're totally right about the fancy tools. Tbh I've seen so many people mess things up because they relied on some digital level that needed charging or calibration. The plumb bob just works every single time, no batteries needed. It's like we forget that the old ways were built to last without any extra parts. Ngl, it feels good to solve a problem with just a piece of string and some basic know-how instead of another app. That kind of simple fix is usually way harder to break.

matthew8642mo ago

Right, because nothing says "modern efficiency" like dropping a rock on a string to see if your wall is straight... but hey, at least it won't ask for a software update. I swear the only thing that ever goes wrong with a plumb bob is when your cat decides the string is a toy. Guess it's harder to troubleshoot a dead battery in a chunk of lead.