How to Make a Wooden Level: 7 Easy Steps

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How to Make a Wooden Level

This article will show you how to make a wooden level in 7 easy steps! Making a wooden level is easy.

You can make one in 10 minutes with just seven simple steps! It’s perfect for jobs that require precision, like hanging pictures or installing shelving. And the best part is you don’t need any tools to do it-just use what you already have around your house.

7 Steps On How to Make a Wooden Level

Step 1: Buy Wood

The first step is to buy the wood. You will need at least one piece of wood per level you want to make since each level is different depending on its size and how many levels are in it.

The more pieces, the better. If you plan to make your wooden level free-standing (like a measuring tape), you’ll need two long pieces instead of just one long piece that spans all three heights as described below.

Step 2: Cut Wood into Lengths Needed

Now cut off enough lengths from your bigger piece for however deep or tall your wooden level needs to be. Most standard ones only go up to around six inches but some can get deeper than this so keep that in mind when cutting them out!

We usually aim for about an inch of wood length per inch it needs to be deep since I like my levels deeper than they are tall. For example, if you want a level that is three inches deep and four inches tall then cut off six-inch pieces for each piece of wood.

Step 3: Cut Wood into Varying Heights Needed

Now cut the first piece so that one side will go from as high as your desired height all the way down to zero (or whatever lowest point on your scale). If your wooden level has only two heights, just make sure this part goes from the highest point down low enough for the second step but still leaves plenty of room at its shortest position.

The other thing you can do with this part is leaving a slanted section at the top. This will help you see where zero is when looking down from above and come in handy to measure accurately if your board has a smaller or larger maximum height than six inches.

If it only goes up to four-inches tall then cut this part so that one edge starts slanting outgoing higher instead of going lower all the way to zero like before, leaving a little bit extra room for error.

Step 4: Cut Out Slots For Each Length Needed

Now carefully measure how deep each piece needs to go into place on its own slot (or just estimate by eye since they’re typically very close).

Then draw an outline accordingly with a pencil and use either hands or chainsaw depending on how deep the cut needs to be. We usually start at zero and go up so my slots are easier since most of them have only two depths, but if you want each height level in order, feel free to do it this way instead!

Step 5: Sand Down Any Rough Edges Or Splinters That Appear

Once everything’s all cut out, your wooden levels will probably have some jagged edges or stray splinters that stick out here and there. You can either sand these down by hand with a piece of medium-grit paper before gluing anything together (which is what I’ve done) or just leave any rougher pieces away from where they’ll be glued, making it harder for them to rip off later on.

If you’re using a handsaw, you can just use your other hand to hold the wood steady while sawing back and forth, but if using a chainsaw, try holding it with both hands like normal since pushing directly down on the wood will make the cut less accurate. Once everything looks nice and smooth (or bumpy in my case) feel free to move on to step six!

Step 6: Glue It All Together

Now take all three pieces of each wooden level (if making multiple levels that are different heights like I did this time around) and glue them together firmly by either pouring or brushing some strong wood glue into their corresponding slots which should be fairly easy given how accurately they were made earlier.

Just keep track of where things go so you don’t glue things in the wrong place or get any excess glue on places you shouldn’t!

Step 7: Let It Dry Completely And You’re Finished!

Finally, once everything’s all nice and dry (which should only take about an hour if using wood glue) it’s time to put your new wooden level to use measuring out stuff for whatever needs leveling next.

Just keep in mind that when buying pieces of wood for this project, they’ll probably be slightly different widths so try not to mix them up too much since it will throw off your measurements by quite a bit otherwise.

Once you have one piece sized down correctly, just go ahead and cut all the other ones at the same dimensions, then mark each board with its size somewhere near where you measured so you don’t get them mixed up.

How To Test Your New Wooden Level

Now that you have your wooden level, it’s time to see if everything went well with all the measuring and gluing. If you used a handsaw, then just hold each board up one at a time by its ends, but if using chainsaws, try not to press down on them too much or else they’ll bend since they’re pretty flimsy compared to normal boards.

The best way we’ve found so far is holding two of the same pieces together in my other hand while playing around until their endpoints line up perfectly, which should be easy since most are usually designed for this purpose!

Afterward, simply lay every single piece flat on top of each edge (or any surface) where they were measured beforehand and put something heavy enough right underneath them to keep them from moving around while you’re checking to see if they remain level with each other. Once the weight’s in place, check every board for any signs of curving or leaning one way or another, and if everything looks good, then congratulations on successfully making your own wooden levels!

How To Use Your New Wooden Level

Once you’ve got the hang of using your new wooden level, it will be super easy since most are very versatile when it comes to measuring lots of different things even though this was just a simple tutorial showing how to make a basic kind for yourself.

One of the most common things we use ours for is laying out grids with a bunch of straight lines so they’re not only good at leveling stuff but also come in handy when you have something that needs dividing into separate sections or just need to mark off specific areas which can be pretty useful depending on what kind of project your working on.

Now that you’ve read how to make a wooden level by yourself in only seven simple steps don’t forget to share this guide with your friends and family online so they can also learn how to easily do it as well. Also, don’t forget to wear your safety goggles when using any kind of power tool to ensure all your eyes are protected!

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