Peanut Butter Levels Model A Garage

Tom Wesenberg

Tom Wesenberg

Well-known member
With a true, but misleading statement like that I should be head writer for the "New York Times" :D LOL

Actually it was an empty peanut butter jar that I made into a water level and used to level my new Model A garage. I used a small pencil soldering iron to burn 2 holes in the plastic jar. I made them small enough to be a very tight fit for the plastic tubing. I pushed a 20 foot piece of clear tubing into each hole, then set the jar on a box in the center of the floor and about the same height as the top of the 2 x 12, which I was using as a base plate for the Menards shelter. I actually only used one hose and carried it to each spot I checked. I made a mark on the hose at the water level, and another mark at the top of the base plate, right in the middle of the 20 foot plate. I then went to the other side and adjusted the base plate to match up with the marks. This way I knew each side was at the exact same height. I then carried the hose 6' east of center and made another mark showing the board was 1 inch higher, and did the same on the other side. I then carried the hose 6' west and made another mark showing the board was 1 " lower, so I knew I had a 1" drop for each 6 feet going west. The shelter has the ribs running lengthwise, so I need some slope for the water to run off the end of the building.

For anyone that has never used a water level, they are very quick and easy to use and a very handy tool to have. Once you place the jar and fill it with water, you can't change it until everything is measured, or you'll have to recalibrate the markings.

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I'll take down the plastic garage I've been using for the past 3 or 4 years, as soon as I get everything out of it.
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I covered all the tin with insulating aluminum foil about 1/4" thick so I won't have to deal with drops of water from condensation. I made this tire and wheel rack today, and as soon as I took this picture I had it filled. The 4 horizontal and 4 vertical boards are each 4 feet long. The two bottom 2 x 6's are 28" long, so I used four 8 foot 2 x 4's and one 8 foot 2 x 6, and had some left over.
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I covered the entire floor and up a foot on the side with 6 mil clear plastic, then covered that with some free carpet. My Model A never had it so good! :D
 
George Miller said:
Whats that white stuff on the roof, cotton.
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A week ago Wednesday I was working on it with no shirt because it was so warm. Two days later we had 11" of the heaviest wettest snow I've ever seen, and it hasn't warmed up again, so it looks like the Model A is put away until springtime. Luckily I had the frame up and roof on before the snow hit, but I had to move some snow to finish the sides.
 
We used the water-in-hose trick to draw the waterline around boats, back when I used to paint. Once she's launched it looks goofy if that line's off even a bit. It's amazing how simple ideas work so well.

Tom is that the same silver insulation they stick inside car body's to deaden sound?...you must have found a source for large pieces it looks like. It would cost a fortune buying the little rolls sold for automotive use :eek:
 
My dad used to tell me about some machinery erectors having water levels that were extremely precise. They had a "plunger" that was like a micrometer head that you screwed down till it touched the water and could somehow measure in thousands of an inch. Never did get to see one. dad also had a water level with a glass tube attached at both ends. You want to make sure there are no bubbles in the hose also.
Sometimes the simple physics are the most amazing.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
A week ago Wednesday I was working on it with no shirt because it was so warm. Two days later we had 11" of the heaviest wettest snow I've ever seen, and it hasn't warmed up again, so it looks like the Model A is put away until springtime. Luckily I had the frame up and roof on before the snow hit, but I had to move some snow to finish the sides.
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I like the idea of insulation that should stop the sweating.

Sounds like you might have a long winter. I sure do not miss the northern mich winters.
 
Craig Lewis said:
We used the water-in-hose trick to draw the waterline around boats, back when I used to paint. Once she's launched it looks goofy if that line's off even a bit. It's amazing how simple ideas work so well.

Tom is that the same silver insulation they stick inside car body's to deaden sound?...you must have found a source for large pieces it looks like. It would cost a fortune buying the little rolls sold for automotive use :eek:
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Yes, I think it's the same stuff used in cars. I bought this 125' x 48" roll on ebay using "buy it now" for just under $100. It came from the factory in Ohio. I ran one row short, so I had to buy a 25' roll from Menards for $30 plus tax. The Menards roll was a bit thicker than my large roll from Ohio.
 
My dad and grandfather were boat builders. This was the most common way to level a keel, inner molds, and then the oak strips glued and screwed on making up the hull. I remember moving lines around often as a child.
 
Tom,

I use the same solution with a slightly different approach. I bought about 4 feet of 1/2 inch clear hose and a couple of garden hose connectors. I attach the hose connectors to the tubing and then screw the garden hose connectors onto both ends of the garden hose. I tape the clear hose to a stake in the ground. I can fill up the hose with a funnel. You can use your garden hose for the long part of the run and save buying a long piece of plastic hose. When finished the 4 feet of plastic hose hangs on the wall and the garden hose goes back to the garden. Good for setting up landscape drainage or convincing a building inspector that your sprinkler valves are higher than you sprinkler heads (per my local code).

Charlie Stephens
 
Charlie Stephens said:
Tom,

I use the same solution with a slightly different approach. I bought about 4 feet of 1/2 inch clear hose and a couple of garden hose connectors. I attach the hose connectors to the tubing and then screw the garden hose connectors onto both ends of the garden hose. I tape the clear hose to a stake in the ground. I can fill up the hose with a funnel. You can use your garden hose for the long part of the run and save buying a long piece of plastic hose. When finished the 4 feet of plastic hose hangs on the wall and the garden hose goes back to the garden. Good for setting up landscape drainage or convincing a building inspector that your sprinkler valves are higher than you sprinkler heads (per my local code).

Charlie Stephens
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Hard to believe there is even a code for sprinkler heads and valve height. I can't imagine water being syphoned back into the city water line through a sprinkler head.
 
I think that it's called an egyptian level. I've used that method to level a deck or two. Clear hose and water. Have to say those new laser levels are dang accurate.

The white insulation is good, but around spring it all goes away. Anyone build a "A" in an igloo? ha ha.
 
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