Levels for construction have come a
long way from the early days of the
weighted string and the two bits of
wood that were popular with the
builders of the pyramids. Fourteenthcentury
craftsmen used fluids to find
level references — either with a water
level or a bubble in a slightly bowed
glass tube filled with liquid and
attached to a straight rail. More recently,
levels were made of exotic hardwoods
bound in brass with bubble vials
set in putty in a recess in the rail.
Dimensionally stable species like
mahogany, ebony, and rosewood were
popular, though today many levels are
machined out of aluminum box beams.
Here are a few companies that have
taken level technology one