Unique Vial Design for Ultimate Precision - STABILA levels are consistent and accurate in the "vial up" or "vial down" positions. Our bright, crystal-clear vials are polished and easy to read through a complete 300-degree range. STABILA's sensitive bubbles reflect the slightest deviation, detected by spring-steel hair-line indicators, positioned in precise grooves inside the barrel of each vial.
Straight, Strong and Tough - Like No Other - Every STABILA level has a precision straight edge over its entire length. You can trust STABILA's accuracy job after job because of their rugged construction. Our levels are made to resist heavy and repeated drops, blows and twisting—the everyday rigors of rough jobsites.
Accuracy "Locked In" for a Lifetime of Use - Through a precision manufacturing technique, we secure each vial in the frame using a patented epoxy locking system. Individually calibrated vials are molded permanently to the frame, reinforcing the strength of every STABILA level. We certify the accuracy of every level and guarantee they will maintain their accuracy for life.
ALWAYS TRUST - NEVER ADJUST - STABILA levels represent the perfect balance of accuracy and durability, technology and craftsmanship. For over a century, quality tradesmen have trusted STABILA to be accurate 100% of the time.
The company was founded in Maikammer, Germany in 1820 by Gustav Ullrich, and carried on by his sons through the mid-19th century.
It was a time of change. Like England and America, Germany was in the midst of the industrial revolution, and invention was in the air. Germans, it seems, have long been driven by a passion to find a better and more perfect solution to all their crafts and industries. Germany had been at the forefront of invention since the time of Johannes Guttenberg, who, tinkering in his printing shop in Mainz, invented movable type and changed the world.
It is not surprising that in 1851, when Anton Ullrich took over the family business, he put his mind to better tools for measuring and ruling. As industry and technology rapidly advanced, STABILA would supply new, innovative and accurate measuring tools to Germany and the world.
As he watched a carpenter create a yardstick, Anton developed the idea of joining several yardsticks together to form a better measuring tool, later called the Ullrich Hinged Rule. It was so successful and demand was so high it went into factory production. Later the company obtained a patent for the hinge assembly. The design is still regarded as the worldwide standard.
In 1880's the company added wood and cast-iron spirit levels, hose spirit levels, and plumb lines to their product lines. In addition to red beech and oak, they used teak for their highest-quality levels. To achieve stability the teak had to be well-seasoned, so from time to time they purchased complete decks of sailing ships slated for scrapping as their source for aged teak.
At the end of the century the Maikammer site became too small for the production requirements of the growing company. The Ullrich family built new facilities in Annweiler, a small city in the southwestern region of Germany near the French border. STABILA's main production facilities and headquarters are still there today.
Even before the First World War the company was expanding into European export markets. A new plant was established in Châlons sur Marne, France. Before the war as many as 1,200 people were employed in the company's factories.
The production of measuring tapes began in the early 1900's. Just as Anton Ullrich, fifty years earlier, had watched the making of a measuring stick and thought there must be a better way, so it was with the measuring tape. In 1930 a patent was obtained for the precursor of the pocket tape measure still in use today.
The Great War and economic chaos brought hard times. The company focused its efforts on a new line of high-quality measuring instruments under the banner of "Small but Fine," and simplified its product line.
World War II again brought new hardships, including shortage of materials, conscription of employees, and shortages of food. The factories managed until 1944, when they were ordered to be vacated. Heavy bombardments caused great damage, but in October 1945 the production of small quantities of measuring products resumed.
After German partition, the company soon became the market leader in Germany. The workforce rose to 600, and old export links were re-established. New markets outside Europe were being supplied for the first time. In 1949 Günther Leipold, a grandson of the founder, took over the leadership of the company and a new era in the company's history began.
The company had owned the STABILA name since 1929, but only later did it introduce it as the company name. Günther energetically set about making the STABILA name synonymous with the highest standards of quality and precision in the industry. He acquired the patent for acrylic glass vials and STABILA became the first German company to manufacture spirit levels of light metal alloys.
True to the German passion for improvement, a system was devised in 1979 that eliminated the mounting screws. Instead, the vial was firmly cast into
