However, the plumb bob was still very useful for buildings, bridges, and more. The level was more compact, efficient, and usually gave a more accurate reading. It largely eliminated the need to use a plumb bob as a horizontal measurement device. This is likely because the metal, lead, was used for the earliest weights. The word itself is said to have come from plumbum, a Latin word that means “lead”. It was installed inside a frame that allowed it to turn horizontally and vertically: acting as both a level and a plumb bob. The weight was usually made from a rock or some other kind of heavy object. Used for architecture, sailing, and surveying the skies, the device likely played a major role in constructing the pyramids. Most historians agree that the first plumb bob was invented in Egyptian times. While the accuracy of this technique is debated among professionals, it is based on the same ideas that make the plumb bob device useful. Then, the golfer compares the green on either side of the putter to see which way the ball will break. The golfer squats behind the golf ball when it is on the green and extends the putter toward the hole.

The term “plumb bob” is sometimes used in golf to refer to a putting technique. It can be used for all kinds of construction projects, from building a bridge to hanging art on the walls.

The plumb bob gives architects and builders a vertical reference point during construction. When the weight is allowed to dangle, it pulls the string into a vertical line that is referred to as a plumb line. The string is usually made from either cotton or nylon, and the weight is typically made from brass or steel. It consists of a small weight with a pointed bottom that is attached to the bottom of a piece of string. Plumb-Rite is still my favorite door-setting tool.Īndrew Grace, a roofer and remodeler in Ligonier, Pa.Also called a plummet, a plumb bob is a very simple device. Even though I have high-quality European levels in every size from a torpedo to a 12-ft. And with Tajima’s plumb bob, I can carry everything I need to set a door in a 5-gal. Yes, you have to measure the distance between the string and jamb, but you can get it close with your eye and make adjustments with the string in place instead of re-checking with the level every time you move a shim. offset, which corresponds to some metric standard, but the new ones are 2 in. It has a self-retracting line to mind the string, a spring-loaded pin that can be driven into a wooden door jamb, and even a magnet for steel jambs. Finally, a plumb bob designed for carpenters. Plumb-bob history-and my life-took its biggest step forward in 4000 years when Tajima, the Japanese company, came up with the Plumb-Rite 400 plum bob (about $40). No matter how carefully you wind it up, the string ends up a matted rat’s nest of impossible knots.

But now we’ve reached the rub: the string. And you can check plumb on a skyscraper if you have enough string. They take up very little room in a toolbox or pouch, and the batteries never die. Plumb bobs never get knocked out of calibration. When I started out, in the pre-laser days, we used plumb bobs to plumb anything over 4 ft. door-hanger’s level wasn’t a toolbox standard.

Ancient plumb bob