Get Your 2026 DIY Projects Lined Up with This 3D-Printable Self-Leveling Laser Level Tool

Pseudonymous maker "Z3_R0" has released 3D print files and a guide to building a tool that will be of considerable interest to the do-it-yourself enthusiast looking for a project to celebrate the new year: a self-leveling rotary laser level.

"I am a mechanical engineering student and DIY enthusiast. I think most engineers (and others) can agree that lasers are pretty cool. That's why when I came across a nice laser diode module, I wanted to build something both cool and useful: a self-leveling rotary laser," Z3_R0 explains of the project. "Laser levels can come in quite handy for many DIY projects, including mounting and layout. For example they can make hanging pictures, installing shelves, and other home improvement tasks easy by projecting a perfectly level line of light on the wall. Most commercial off-the shelf laser levels are expensive, so I wanted to build one for cheap. While my device may not have all the bells and whistles or the same accuracy as a commercial level, it will most likely do the trick for around-the-house DIY projects."

The heart of the project is a low-cost Microchip ATtiny85 microcontroller and supporting electronics, linked to a low-cost off-the-shelf low-power laser diode module. This module is connected to a simple two-dimensional gimbal that keeps it pointing straight down to a 45-degree mirror mounted on a small motor salvaged from a scrapped computer's hard drive. The laser's gimbal mount acts like a pendulum to ensure it's always pointing straight down, while the mirror then reflects the beam horizontally — spinning on the motor to turn a single point of light into a straight line perceived through persistence of vision (PoV) effects.

"Signals from the pins of the microcontroller control the transistors to energize the three phases of the motor in sequence," Z3_R0 explains of the ATtiny85's role in the project, which is fitted within a 3D-printed housing with tripod mount and a gimbal lock for safe storage and transportation. "The potentiometer allows the user to control the speed of the motor by adjusting the frequency of voltage pulses to each transistor. The voltage regulator provides four volts for the laser diode. A small program needs to be downloaded onto the ATtiny 85 to control the motor. The program reads the position of the potentiometer which controls the speed of pulses sent to the transistors. I used an Arduino to program the ATtiny85 over ISP."

The project is documented in full on Instructables, with source code and 3D print files provided under an unspecified open-source license.