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My kid asked why we use string lines instead of lasers
We were building a small garden wall at home last weekend, and my 12-year-old pointed at my old string line setup. He said, 'Dad, your phone has a level app, why not use that?' I explained that the string gives you a constant physical guide you can feel and see from any angle, not just a dot on one brick. It hit different because he made me actually think about why our old ways work, not just that they do. Anyone with younger apprentices run into this kind of basic 'why' question that made you stop and explain the fundamentals?
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shane2446mo ago
Your phone has a level app? That thing is never accurate enough for real work. I tried one once to hang a shelf and it was off by a quarter inch over three feet. A string line doesn't need batteries or a signal, and you can bump it with your hip and it just goes back where it was. A laser dot is great until the sun hits it and you can't see a thing. The old ways stick around because they just work, no matter what.
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elliot_thompson6mo ago
Off by a quarter inch over three feet" is wild, my phone level got me close enough for a picture frame once. I guess it depends on what you're doing, because that shelf would drive me nuts. Maybe I just got lucky with my app.
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