Roger Shaw LT55 laser

[woodworx]

Anyone have any experience with this laser?

http://www.rogershaw.com/rsa/Products/LaserProductsLT55JobsiteLaser/tabid/68/Default.aspx

[bcammack]

Yeah, we have one. We have a ProLiner, too.

I didn't have much positive to say about it until they came out with the laptop version of the software. Originally it was on a PDA, cradled on the unit itself. It was only usable by eagle-eyed youngsters with good backs, 'cause the screen was tiny and you had to run it stooped over.

I resolved this two ways. First, I engineered a longer serial interface cable between the LT-55 and the PDA. Second, I used the bluetooth interface on the PDA to allow it to be remote controlled by a laptop with bluetooth.

Being able to just get it with the laptop obviates all of that.

One observation from the field is that if you bump the tripod or unit while taking measurements, you will have to start over again.

Another is that it is a 2D device. It's a laser rangefinder on an optical encoder that combines the distance and angle to define a point in space.

If you want to do 3D spatial measurement, the ProLiner is the way to go. Sadly, it costs twice as much. We grabbed on at auction for about 1/4 of list price about six months ago.

We shoot countertop templates with our units and upload them to a server via the Internet. They are accurate and effective in this role.

[woodworx]

I would like to have a contact here in southern Cali that I could call on to take my measurements for me and email them over to me. Price tag is still a bit high. I am really trying to get away from site work. The laser might even make me like site work again, who knows?

[bcammack]

I've often thought that it would be a good line of work to provide "on call" template subcontracting with something like an LT-55 or a ProLiner. Just be completely mobile with a broadband cell card in the laptop to download jobs and upload CAD drawings of the completed templates. Someone who really knows their stuff could probably smoke out a whole kitchen in a half hour, including refining the CAD files and emailing them off.

I'm sure there's a lot of countertop shops that would appreciate the service and the reduction of capital investment and staffing at their own business. With QuickBooks on the laptop and CutePDF to create Adobe Reader files, you could email 'em the invoice with the CAD files.