Wrote off that laser alignment trick for years until a drum at the Ravenna plant changed my mind

Olivia Wells · 2026-10-28T10:40:05.042993+00:00

I always figured eyeballing the centerline with a straight edge and a level was good enough for most of the smaller drums we roll, and honestly it worked fine for a long time. Then about 5 months ago we set a drum at the Ravenna plant and kept chasing a wobble that wouldn't quit, re-shimming twice and still getting runout that read about 40 thousandths off. One of the older hands finally pulled out his laser and showed me the shell was walking maybe 3/16 out of square over the length, which the straight edge never caught. It took him maybe 20 minutes to prove it and we had the shims sorted by end of shift. Now I keep one in the truck but I still don't trust it for the big vessels until I check it against the old way. Curious if any of you run laser for everything or just pull it out when something's fighting you.

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Wrote off that laser alignment trick for years until a drum at the Ravenna plant changed my mind | Boilermakers - Babble Community