1. What is your favorite size plumb bob?
2. Gammon Reel - Yes or No?
3. Do you use it to pound traverse points in a pinch or do you keep it ding free for life?
16 oz. and nail ding-free. That string ALWAYS got caught on something before they came out with gammon reels. Couldn't use one without a reel.
BTW - I've had the same one since '83 or '84.
1. 14oz.
2. Yes
3. Yes
Back in the day we used to wear them in a holster as a badge of honor. Hardly get one out anymore though....
16oz with proud scars. pounding now is done with a mini hammer
Back in the day I always had string burns on my shoulder and my neck from throwing it over my shoulder.
Has a 12ft gammon reel now
Use my original bob from 1973 at least once a week
Was teaching my helper how to use one with the mini prism a few days ago.
😉
1.) 14 oz - my one and only personal plumb bob since my very first surveying job in 1970!
2.) yes, but not for the first year and I still remember how to properly store the string around the neck of the PB so that you never get a knot.
3.) yes
16 oz.
12 ft gammon
lots of knicks.
I think use of a bob is largely dependent of where you survey. Mountains of SC, we used them with peanuts all the time. Down here, never. Here everyone shoots tripods with prism to move up and locates with a rod otherwise. as often as not, I ran with elevations in the field here because you might as well, you were shooting a consistent height anyway.
16 ounce
Yes
Lots of "dings"
...and a few broken points
12 oz brass pear shape
No
Yes - often
I've got a beautiful small old Wild brass (6 oz?) one on an old set of legs.
Doesn't see much use these days.
12 oz.
Yes
Yes:-P
1. 16 ounce
2. Gammon reel - now. When I started we all used loose string. For years, every time I got close, I would cut the loop of the sting at the top of the bob of a friend of mine. I wonder how many times he let it roll out only to have the bob drop off.
3. Mine now is pristine (well maybe some scratches), but I have pounded many nails and especially tacks with one.
Andy
Whatever size the one in my drawer is. Fits nicely and just the right size to pull it out on occasion for a history lesson.
I liked looping my string around my neck all day. Could not afford a gammon reel.
Tacks???
18 oz. 12' Gammon Reel. My first one was an old one that I had to wrap the string around like the old days because the gammon reel had broke but it still hung straight. I still have that one but prefer the 18 oz.
a 16 oz with a gammon reel....
funny you ask this now though. I'm just getting ready to ship it off to my son who's surveying class starts in 2 weeks... I figure he'd like a used one since he's worked with me and doesn't need to feel like a 'newbie' in his class. He said, "the final exam is mapping the parking lot, I did harder things than that when i was in Middle School!"
I do have another bob, a 24oz that has 10' of string that I use to check my rods. I have a hook in a rafter that I can't quite reach so the extra string is helpful, and i can still store and use it without a gammon reel...
The old 16 oz'er is dinged and i will use it to pull tacks from hubs, and drive tacks....
16 oz 12' gammon reel, cut back to 10', and open it, and relieve some spring tension. Then put DOT reflector tape on the face.
They last 10+ yrs.
N
24 oz Plumb Bob
12' Gammon Reel
A real surveyors plumb bob has some nicks in it, but it should be kept polished. I used Jewlers Rouge on an 8" buffing wheel powered by a 3 hp electric motor, sprayed it with laquor and baked it in the oven for 10 minutes at 300 degrees to dry the laquor.:-)
1) 16 oz (embarrassed to say I don't remember when I lost the point, or even the last time I used it, although I still carry it in my pouch)
2) 12' Gammon Reel
3) See photos:
I have had the same 18oz bob for over twenty years now. In its day it saw a lot of action and has the dings to show for it but now it hangs on the rod adjusting jig in the office. Gammon reels are for wimps, I just wrap about 9 feet of cord around the it old school. Actually I started off with one of the new fangled contraption but my first chief made me ditch it after I kept shutting it in the door of the Sub.
You might be an engineer, if you don't have dings in the side of your plumb bob, and don't know how to use it as a hammer!
😉 😉
Back in the day when I used it regularly I carried a 16oz'er with the large capacity gammon reel. Nowadays I carry an 8oz'er with a small reel.
Never liked to scar it up by pounding with it. These days I don't pound tacks with it because I rarely pound tacks. Gets most use as a digging tool these days.
16 oz. with regular Gammon reel. I use flagged nails in the top of 4' lath for backsights a fair amount, and I use the bob to tap in the nail, so lots of dings. I no longer carry it on my belt, so when I need it away from the truck I just tuck it into my back pocket, or drop it in the hub bag.
