I need to call in NASA to investigate my basement. Apparently, my basement is a very special place where Euclidian geometry goes right out the window.
I have two parallel beams that are nice and level. The level beeps continuously as I move it along the beams. I lay a 2X4 across the two beams and that 2X4 shows level. So, if the two beams are level, and they are level to each other, then a 2X4 placed across them at any point will be level. Here is where it gets interesting. At one end, the 2X4 is level and all is happy. At the far end, if I level the 2X4 it is well above the one beam. And I don't mean like a quarter of an inch, I mean like an inch and a quarter or a bit more. This is actually impossible. But that is why my basement must be declared a non-euclidian zone. I think it has to do with the fact that even if the level is off a tiny bit, like 0.1 of a degree, over 15 feet, that is actually 5/16 of an inch. Do that three times and you get nearly an inch. Plus the middle beam that I was trying to level wasn't fully supported yet, so is bending and flexing, and so was the 2X4 I was using. Add all that up and you get a lot of error creep. I need an 8 foot level, but not sure I can get that one passed SWMBO. I might try using my saw guide on edge which should be pretty stiff. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: [email protected] Tel: (412) 268-9081
