We used our to store ticks in the tip and have "tick wars" during lunch. Losers were always burned (the ticks)!
My first one, issued in '76, was chrome. It did not have a standard thread for the point, so when that was worn, my boss replaced the whole bob with the one I still have today. I almost went and had it chromed.
I do not remember the last time I used it. I drove a desk for twenty years and had no need for one. But now, mostly as a solo operator, I do not have a need for one. On the occasion I have help, I am pretty much a prism pole kinda guy. It IS in the back of my truck though.
In my youth, I remember getting undressed for bed and still had my plumb bob on. I have poked many a hole in vinyl seats and vinyl sofas with it.
> I don't feel dressed without it.
Same here. And I not only use it to chain, but to hammer or dig.And I think I'd tip over if it wasn't on my right hip.
I sometimes use it in close up photos of monuments. It provides scale AND I orient the bob north for a quick and easy north arrow (I realize some practitioners in the panhandle of Mexico (AKA “Texas”) would scoff at using such a showy ad hoc north arrow where a 3 penny finish nail would accomplish the same thing without causing bewilderment, panic and angst among the populous, but these photos are intended for viewing by hardened, trained professionals only).
Worked with a fellow surveyor laying out a building for his father-in-laws construction company a couple of months back. Although I rarely (to the point of claiming never) do construction layout, it is still a very valuable tool for layout. So I keep one in the truck.
For boundary work, I use a tripod w/ the plumbing pole for all shots. Trying very hard to be sure and see the point of the pole as line.
A couple of days ago, I was helping another licensee out on a survey. We were working out of his truck. One corner was under a leaning tree - no mini prism in the truck. So I go for the next solution of a bob for line and holding the prism just barely against the line. No plumb bob in the truck either.
And.. when you're bored up on a mountain, zip it to a tree like a ninja throwing star. Loads of fun.
And, I do still have my bob. He was my little Buddy on several jobs back when I used to do this stuff.
I think the anti-bob community can have my 18oz bob when they pry it from my cold dead hands!
I carry a 24 oz plumb bob, on heavy construction projects a gammon reel is the most sought after thing by all the other trades that use plumb bobs. I remember learning how to wrap up the string when I first started and the gammon reel hadn't been invented yet.
Ralph
I have a few in the truck I like them for taking line but my wife hates to use one. I have a 16 oz, an 18, and 32 oz.... the big'un was for a particular job that I needed a long string and a heavy bob...
Still using a plumb bob here for traverse and boundary work. In the past when I was an I-Man, I worked with a chief that only wanted to use the prism pole and single angles. After getting some shoddy closures, I insisted that we at least turn sets. Closures got better, but not as good when we were using string line.
The prism poles at the time were old and checked and adjusted infrequently.
I remember sighting the point of the pole and then sighting the top of the prism and not being in the center. Many times the screws to adjust the bubble were frozen.
I have a Topcon tilting prism yoke that is bent. Pole is plumb, but sighting from bottom to top I am off the center of the glass. I got the prism assembly from the old company when I left. I realize now that I have the same assembly that the aforementioned chief felled a 12" Gum directly onto. Busted the prism assembly off the yoke. He must have put the thing back together and slipped it into the equipment shed. Bad chiefs will affect you long after they are gone.
I'm 27 and I use mine several times a day. It's in my tool belt and always will be. I use it for line to set nails, everyone should be using one to pull accurate offsets up/ down hills, I always use a string to get line while hubbing and tacking... The uses go on and on. I also have a 90 degree glass on my tool belt. When doing distance offsets with the instrument, your eye for 90 sucks and its always dead on. Proper taping techniques are going by the way side, but I was taught well. I've got a jam up I- man but even he can't comp storm/sanitary offsets faster than I can pull them.