Measuring Tools and their uses

Any discussion of Bosch Professional measuring tools and their uses should begin by pointing out that they cover three distinct areas of on-site activity:

• Measuring
• Levelling
• Detecting

Within each of these activities, Bosch Professional has understood the real needs and challenges of tradespeople and other professionals. The result is a suite of technically advanced devices, accessories and apps that can take your work to a new level of speed and quality. So, it pays to learn how to use measuring tools efficiently.

Measuring activities on site do not just relate to length, width and height; they also cover gradient and temperature. The Bosch Professional selection of laser measures includes devices with a variety of capabilities addressing all these measurement types.

When it comes to measuring dimensions, there are Bosch Professional laser measures with a maximum range of between 30 metres and 250 metres. Each of them is somewhat specialised in its capabilities. For example, the 250-metre device offers a function for calculating height based on distance and angles. This could be of use to an estimator calculating the materials required for a large renovation. There is also an accessory that allows certain measuring devices to function as a spirit level. This makes them even more useful for tradespeople carrying out construction or installation tasks – for example, as measuring tools in carpentry, joinery or kitchen fitting, where level surfaces are all-important.

Regarding temperature measurement, the Bosch GIS 1000 C Professional thermo detector can not only capture values but also take a picture of the object being measured – useful for documentation purposes.

Any Bosch Professional laser measure with a ‘C’ at the end of its name can be used to import data into the Measuring Master App. This handy and free mobile application allows you to build detailed plans of a project site, add measurements to a photograph (including temperature), perform calculations based on measured values and much more besides. It brings powerful new dimensions to each of the compatible Bosch Professional devices.

Levelling is about ensuring that objects are correctly aligned or perfectly shaped. The Bosch Professional range offers a diverse selection of devices that produce laser reference lines of various kinds. Each device type has a distinctive set of typical uses – many of them also likely to require tripod uses.

When you are using levelling devices, you are often far from the device itself, making use of its laser line. So, for extra convenience, Bosch Professional created an app that lets you control various levelling devices from your smartphone via Bluetooth. You can adjust the level of the device and select operational modes as well as checking the battery level and turning on or off.

The detection activity involves checking surroundings for desirable and undesirable characteristics.

In many cases, heat or cold could be the undesirable characteristic, requiring a tool that can measure temperatures and allow you to visualize them easily. So, in the case of Bosch Professional measuring tools, how does thermal imaging work?

The Bosch GTC 400 C Professional thermo camera allows you to see an instant visualization of temperature across the area where the device is pointing. Heat appears in red colours and cold in blue colours. The image can be captured and pushed to the Measuring Master App via Bluetooth. Imagine, for example, a safety inspector checking a new electrical installation for unexpected sources of heat. Or imagine an energy efficiency advisor taking a thermal image of windows and doors so that they can advise on the wisdom of replacing them. Two particular operating modes – thermal bridge detection and dew point detection – are particularly useful for building surveying work

In this category of detection technology, we should also mention Bosch Professional’s selection of wall scanners. Designed to reveal metal, wood, wires and pipe, they make drilling or inserting screws a much safer task.

And finally, Bosch Professional produces an inspection camera which can be used to capture images in small spaces. The version that is Bluetooth compatible can be used to transfer pictures to the Bosch Professional Toolbox App – a free mobile application that allows multimedia project documentation to be created.

Having considered Bosch Professional measuring tools and their uses, you should be able to see that they offer considerable benefits.

The speed and ease of working that is achievable using these Bosch Professional measuring devices is obviously far superior to manual equivalents. Think about the process that used to be necessary when checking the flatness of a concrete floor. It involved endless walking back and forth with a spirit level. Even then it required a trained eye to spot very slight dips or rises. Now, that has been replaced by a simple process involving a floor surface laser. You put it in the middle of the floor, enter one configuration value and set the device running. As it revolves, its two lasers clearly reveal the uneven areas. It takes just a few minutes.

The accuracy of these digital tools also makes them indispensable. Even over hundreds of metres, a laser measure can provide a figure that is correct to within 1 or 2 mm.

These digital tools also have the advantage of allowing you to work alone if necessary – controlling the device from a distance via your phone. And another advantage of having tools that integrate with the free Bosch Professional apps is that you will find it much easier to create professional documentation. It could be a site plan generated at the start of a project, or a safety check after the end of a job, or anything in between.

And finally, digital tools have the advantage of flexibility. The laser measure that you consider one of your woodworking measuring tools – mostly used for cutting regular sections of timber – could also be useful when it comes to creating a plan of a large site.