[PHIL] What's up everyone, today we are looking at rotary lasers
versus crossline lasers to see the epic battle and which tool is right for you.
[PHIL] I'm Phil with Ohio Power Tool and today I'm here with Jeremy from Bosch Tools,
nice to have you in.
[JEREMY] Thanks for having me!
[PHIL] All right and then we're going to take a look today at a few different tool options and
different types of lasers and talk about maybe some of their differences, compare
and contrast, uh, which might actually be the best option for someone's job.
[JEREMY] Yeah, no, it's a great topic, uh, in a lot of ways there's a lot of similarities and it's
really going to come down to application for what are they needing for for their particular need
and job site. These level and do layout in a lot of the same ways, but it kind of depends on--are
you needing to see the lines and you might want to go with something that's solid like a line laser,
or are you needing to go greater distances
and you're pairing it with the receiver and you can do the rotaries.
[PHIL] So now the rotary--is that for heavier applications versus the
the red cross line laser, or is that, you know, the applications are about the same?
[JEREMY] Uh, with rotaries it's going to typically come down to the size of your job. So this can be
indoor or outdoor, there's applications for both. Say you're putting in ceiling grid across
a greater distance where you want accuracy across long ranges over a few hundred feet,
these would be great options for you and there's mounting brackets to help you do that.
A lot of times you see these outside doing grade work and form work though for concrete.
[PHIL] Now something you'd mentioned to us before we started, so I've heard that the green
laser beam itself is becoming more common and it's in both cross line and in the rotary as well?
[JEREMY] Yeah, so in applications where you want to see the beam, green is becoming much more
common and more popular. The reason for that is that green is four times brighter than red. In
the natural world, green's more common, red gets out on the end of the color spectrum and that
gets a little bit harder for us to see, so green is brighter and it's also easier for us to see.
[PHIL] Okay, very cool. So with the cross line, that is, um,
is that more of your classic style for your, you know, less heavy jobs then?
[JEREMY] Yeah, for a lot of trades they're doing applications at a close range and where they're
able to see that line. A lot of times it's going to come down to lighting conditions, though.
Even at a close range out in the bright sun you're probably gonna have to pair it with a receiver
to be able to pick up that line and know where level is.
[PHIL] Okay and so with the, uh, the rotary, they have a longer range as well then in the distance?
[JEREMY] Yep, typically from a few hundred feet, 300/500 feet, up to like this unit here the DRL
4000 has a 4,000 foot range. And uh, on your line lasers, uh, even with pairing it with a receiver,
which some of them are able to do, you're only getting ranges up to 300 feet or so.
[PHIL] How far do you have to stay, uh, from the laser in order to have that
work? Can you be at a really far distance to run that? Is it like a remote or how does that...?
[JEREMY] Yeah, so the receiver has a receiving area on the unit itself that's picking up that
laser line. So you don't have to be within visible range, you're not going to be able
to see the laser, but that's what you have the receiver for. It's going to pick up that and
give you indications on your receiver where level is and if you're high or low.
[PHIL] So with these lasers, uh, are there ones that you would prefer to use for
indoor use or outdoor use or is there a difference?
[JEREMY] Yeah, so line lasers have, uh, operate off of a pulse and so their receivers work
a little bit differently than rotaries. Now rotaries, because it's a little bit
different technology on the receiver, those are interchangeable and you can use different rotary
receivers with different brands. So really, whenever you're trying to select a laser
for your needs, there's three simple questions you can ask yourself: what's the job or application
that you're doing, what is the environment that you're working in, and what special
needs might there be? So job or application, do you need dots for just doing lining up,
squaring and layout a combination of that because that's what you tend to do. Thinking about
environment, is it a bright light situation? Like you might be doing a lot of work outdoors where
you need something that's going to be able to pair with the receiver. Or any special needs of 'I need
a laser that goes all the way around the room and not just a cross line that's out in front of me.'
[PHIL] All right so larger facilities or, uh, something that you know maybe
just even as small as a residential. So very cool, so, um, and with Bosch I've noticed
that you brought along some ones to show us right there--which model do you have there?
[JEREMY] So this is the GRL 4000-80 CHV. So this is our top-end rotary laser. So this
has a range of 4,000 feet, is a dual dial-in grade laser that is dual source,
meaning it's compatible with both alkaline batteries and our Bosch 18 volt lithium platform,
so the same batteries that run our tools. This one is fully dust and water tight, you can actually
submerge this in water and it would be perfectly protected.
[PHIL] So whether it's wide open spaces or confined areas, it looks like that
Bosch has a lot of great offerings for the different lasers and rotary versus
cross line. Really just applies to those three things--job application, environment, needs.
[JEREMY] Yep!
[PHIL] There you have it, we hope you enjoyed the video and found the right tool for your job.
Thanks for watching, you can check out these and other lasers within the links in the comments
below. Be sure to like and subscribe for more content, we'll see you next time.