April 12, 2011

Johnson 10" Magnetic Welder's Torpedo Level - Review

Johnson recently released a torpedo level specifically intended for the welder and were nice enough to send us one to check out. Unfortunately, we didn't have any welding projects and, in fact, we've yet to hook up the 100 amp line that we buried out to the garage last summer, rendering our welder inoperative. So anyway, we just tossed the level in the tool bag and used it for a number of weeks as our primary torpedo.

So what did we think? Well, we think it's really nice. The vials are certainly easy to read. There are also three of them, a level, a plumb and a 45. This gives it an edge up from our trusty old Stabila torpedo which doesn't have the 45.

It's solidly built out of aluminum making it apt to handle the heat generated from nearby welding. The underside of the level has two additional features, first, there is a groove running the length of the 'footplate' so the level can be used against pipes or easily centered along an outside corner. There are also three magnets embedded in the tool, so it can be stuck to something, presumably while the welding is going on. The magnets also make it handy for metal studs, steam pipes and things like that.

We have a love/hate thing going on with magnetized levels. They can be very useful and can free up a hand for something other than holding a level, but it also seems that, by the end of the day, the magnets are completely covered in metal shards that are a real pain in the rear to get rid of.

But the bottom line is that we liked this level. It's a durable little tool and if someone asked us for a recommendation on a torpedo level, we'd definitely suggest this one.