Had to pick between a laser level and a good old chalk line for my first solo framing job

I was broke fresh out of trade school and needed a layout tool. Picked the chalk line cause it was $8 vs $150 for the laser. 6 weeks later I was out in the sun on a 95 degree day in Austin and that chalk line string kept snapping from the heat. Wound up borrowing a coworker's laser and never looked back. Still use chalk for small indoor stuff though. Any of you guys still rocking the old school methods or is it all lasers now?

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1 Comment

maryadams1h ago

Oh, hold on there. I don't think the heat alone was snapping your chalk line string. It's more likely the chalk dust itself melting and gumming up the line. When it gets really hot, the chalk can turn into a sticky paste inside the reel and that extra friction will break the string every time. I used to have the same problem until I switched to a higher temp chalk meant for summer work. Even now I keep a chalk line in my pouch for quick layout on existing walls and it works fine as long as I use the right chalk.