New Mexico Central

The Right Wing Nuts

Editor’s note/update: One of our readers, Dick Pledger of Edgewood, e-mailed us to let us know that we missed a detail here with respect to the size drill we used to make the holes for the bolts.  It was a ⁵/₁₆-inch bit, just a bit bigger than the ¹/₄-inch bolt; this makes it easy to get the bolt through but doesn’t allow any play that might throw off the level.  We’ve added the detail to the body of the article.  Thanks, Dick!

by John Weckerle

That does it; we think it’s high time to expose these wing nuts for what they really are…

…A good way to hold your triangular or A-frame level together.

Those who have been reading for at least a couple of weeks will recall our earlier article with a photo of Edgewood permaculture expert Dr. Christian Meuli demonstrating what we called an “A-frame level.”  After a quick look around the Internet, we discovered that there are at least a few people who have, indeed, also called it exactly that.  Lacking the necessary funding, a time machine, and a really creative temporal trademark attorney, we’ll have to concede that either  somebody else came up with the moniker or that we’ll eventually be suing ourselves and – one way or another – winning.

The purpose of this device, in the present context^TM (our future attorneys advise us that we eventually own the word “context”) is to determine contours on the land surface.  Contours, in topography-speak^TM (they’re working on it) are “lines” of equal elevation along the land surface.  We put “lines” in quotes because they’re actually curves that follow the land surface.  We can expand on this concept if anybody asks, and it’s a good bet that somebody will, but for the time being, we want people to recognize that water flows downhill, which is perpendicular (at right angles) to the contour at any given point.

Now, for the general construction of the level, at least our recommended version: Begin with three pieces of wood, two of which must be the same length, and one of which shouldn’t be too far off from the first two.  We started with some 1×2 (which is really ³/₄ x 1 ¹/₂) pieces reclaimed from some former Roman shades (this is why there are staples and miscellaneous holes in the wood).  The length of the two equal-length pieces will depend on how tall you want your level (different sizes work for projects of different scale), and the length of the third piece will define the width of your level at the bottom.

Start by taking the two equal-length pieces and clamping them together.  Drill a ⁵/₁₆-inch hole through both pieces near one end, just far enough from the end to avoid worries about splitting.

Next, flip the pieces around and drill another hole further from the other end.  We estimated 6-8 inches for ours, so that small rocks and tufts of grass would not present a problem while using the level.

Now, drill a hole, centered width-wise near each end of the third piece.  The distance between the holes will determine the width of your level.  Ours were about 31 inches apart.

You can now assemble your A-frame.  We used 2-inch by 1/4 inch bolts, 2 washers, and 1 wing nut for each hole.  The wing nuts make it easy to take the level apart for storage or transport, if needed.

Now it’s time to add the level.  You can use a line level, available at most hardware stores.  In our case, we found some inexpensive, adhesive-backed levels used for leveling RVs and campers. Once you’ve assembled the level, trim the legs at an angle so that they sit flat on the floor (feel free to ask questions if you need to know how to do this).

Your A-frame level is now complete – unless you want to trim off the excess from the cross piece on either side.  We checked ours against our four-foot level, and it matches up perfectly.  We’ll think about it, but who knows whether we’ll eventually want to widen the level a little.  In the meantime, we’re ready to start making contour berms (okay, we actually did this project last week and started the berms Saturday, but that’s another article). We hope your level comes together as easily as ours did, but remember one thing: make sure to get the right wing nuts, because if you get the wrong ones, they won’t thread onto the bolts.

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010, by John Weckerle and is filed under "Permaculture, Uncategorized ". You can leave a response here. Pinging is currently not allowed.