Designer on the level

By ELLEN READ

Willie Doogan used to repair and adjust spirit levels.

He still does, but now he has developed a level that can be easily adjusted by its user - threatening the very repair business which gave him the original idea.

It's a bit like the lightbulb that never blows - an invention that could put its creator out of business.

Combining previous building and engineering experience, Doogan said the idea hit him in the the middle of the night a few years ago.

He got up, made a cup of tea and started work, successfully finishing his first creation before returning to bed.

The first prototype of the Doogan Super Level was built in 1994 and has seen many incarnations since then. The product now on sale is a lightweight, bright red, adjustable spirit level.

A handle and rubber end make the level easy to use and help to protect it from bumps and falls. The bubble mechanism can be adjusted simply by turning screws on the face of the vial.

The patented bubble adjuster means users do not lose time or have to pay to get their levels adjusted.

While Doogan makes and sells the levels from his inner-city premises - where he also repairs other types of levels - several major hardware chains also stock the product.

Doogan brings in the metal bodies from local subcontractors and imports the bubble unit from Austria. He then puts the units together and subcontracts them out for powder coating. They are returned to him for labelling, packaging and sale.

An Irishman who came to New Zealand in 1959, Doogan has persevered with the business side of his enterprise. Paperwork and bureaucracy are not his favourite subjects so he is pleased that his son has recently returned from China to help out with that side of the business.

"I can do things with my hands and I can think my way around a lot of things but that side of it isn't for me," Doogan said.

Plans include exporting the levels to Australia if research shows a market.

Doogan believes his product is superior to other levels on the market and says that because it is New Zealand made it could save the country money on imports.

The bright red of the levels and the quirky green advertising flyers ensure the Doogan Super Level gets noticed. The flyer, with a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa saying it was obviously built before the coming of the Super Level, also includes a poem written by Doogan:

We are the men who build the buildings,

we have knowledge, we have flair,

and we use time tested standards,

the level and the square,

if you think we are digressing,

you take the tools and do the testing,

and you will find us on the level and the

square.