Drilling around corners

[Vinniem]

Looking for suggestions when your roughing out a house and you want to drill ( wood studs)the corners of the room to run your wire instead of going up and then going down to the next device box.

I try matching the holes I drill but seem to have a rough time routing my wire (mostly romex) thru.

Any suggestions would help.

Thanks

 

[andinator]

long nose pliers.... Also, when you have two or three studs stacked in that corner strip off insulation 8 inches, cut off all but one wire and use that to fish around the corner.

 

[LarryFine]

Vinnie, using an angle-head drill helps make the two holes meet at less than 90 degrees, rather than more. You can remove more debris by running the drill back in both holes a second time.

Bend the end of the NM cable in a smooth hook that looks most like it matches the pathway of the intersecting holes and use finess when feeding it around the corner. If necessary, use a pair of needlenose pliers like Andy mentioned.

If you must strip the cable and remove two of the wires, use a bit of tape to taper the cable where the sheath ends, so you don't snag the edges of the holes. The cut wires will not curve around the bend very easily.

 

[infinity]

I always drill the two holes at a 45 degree angle. One hole gets angled down the other hole gets angled up. This even works when using AC or MC cable.

 

[480sparky]

I don't bother trying to go around a corner if it's solid wood. I go up a stud, through the top plate and over to where I go back down. Maybe more wire, but I don't spend half a day trying to save 2 bucks worth of 14/2.
But here's how I was taught to do this:
Take your dykes and cut the black & white wires off through the sheath at a 45? angle, leaving just the bare ground. Do the cuts far enough back to have plenty of bar ground wire to get through all the studs you need to.
You should end up with this:

Cut sheath at 45?------\
------------------------\
=========Black Wire===\
========Ground=============================
=========White Wire==/
------------------------/

It's a lot easier to get one wire through at first, then the others will follow. Use black tape at the cut if necesarry.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[brantmacga]

i've had to do this a few times. i cut off all but the ground wire, as mentioned above. i'll put a small hook on the end and bend the wire to get through the hole. usually there's a gap between the corner, so i'll take another piece of wire, put a hook on it, and push it through the other end to catch the other wire. it's always worked.

 

[peteo]

Have used angle drill bits with good results. Rather than two through holes with the auger (what I was taught) I can find and clean up the opening in a couple corner holes pretty well. I think I'm parroting Larry's comments. They look like a three blade auger bit but only 1/4 inch deep, and do not last long after hitting nails. But I've fed 1/2 inch AC through 90s in 4X4s using this method.

 

[LarryFine]

If it's really a problem, just use your auger to completely remove the wood to make a notch, lay in the cable, and use a couple of nail-plates to protect the wire.

 

[e57]

It's rare for framers to use a post in a corner, often it is a single and double stud, with a single outside - wait I need to draw this.....

Take a short bit on a right angle and drill as much as you can into the corner in the direction of the other wall to reduce the angle. And yes, take careful aim to either align the holes or aim the so the point intersect in the corner - as this works on solid corners too - but you may not know if its solid or not until you drill it...

Then make two hooks both with a slight arch to them, and hook them in the corner. After many years of practice with that, you may even find it easy to to increase the arch in a fish wire or even a whole cable and work it easily right into the other hole.

Anyway, use Larry's advice on notching if you want to have horrorfied looks from the Framers - and get the knick name "The Butcher", and on some sites even thrown off the job.... Notching is frowned apon in many circles. And there are framing codes about how much wood can be removed from bearing framing, that percentage is much less when it applies to a notch instead of a hole.

infinity's advice sounds interesting, I may even give it a shot....

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I have used E57's method quite a bit in the past (I have not pulled wire in a few years) and only experienced problems once in a while. Prerouting the installation during boxing usually help to elminate some of the annoying situations, especially with the types of construction we find today (very complex in some installs).

 

[George Stolz]

If it's really a problem, just use your auger to completely remove the wood to make a notch, lay in the cable, and use a couple of nail-plates to protect the wire.

Bingo - you're gonna wind up using nailplates anyway, you might as well get your money's worth out of them.

 

[JohnJ0906]

Bingo - you're gonna wind up using nailplates anyway, you might as well get your money's worth out of them.

That's my helper's attitude. :roll: I think he doesn't like to put the box back on the truck. He sees a hole, on goes the nailplate!

 

[George Stolz]

What I mean is, if you're drilling around a corner, you will have to drill at some angle if using an 18" auger bit, because the overall length of the bit and drill are going to be greater than the bay between studs (assuming 16" O.C.)

So, if you're drilling at an angle, the first studs drilled through are going to probably be closer to the surface of the stud than 1.25", and require a nailplate. If intentionally drilling super shallow and fairly in line with the face of the wall results in ten seconds of cable installation and only costs you an additional 2 or 4 nailplates, versus trying to save nailplates and adding a few minutes to the installation of the cable, then the choice seems clear to me.

 

[macmikeman]

Forstner (sp ?) bits make a nice hole for this, no burrs to hang up on. A bit of wire lube on the cable end helps a bunch, and yea, notching the inside corner when all else fails and nail plates, your on your way. You would be amazed how much time you can cut with a small tub of yellow 77 on the job. I go ape with nail plates on kitchen and bath walls where ever cabinets will be installed. Cabinet installers used to be craftsmen. Now they are the guys with a box of 2-1/2" screws, cordless drill, and a constant hangover.

 

[wshoard]

You can always use a Benford T-5000 with a Toro, 2500 directional Flexi 5/8" auger bit system!

 

[jdsmith]

You can use Milwaukee Pathfinder bits:

http://www.toolup.com/productinfo.asp?pid={F0297414-72C6-4E71-A686-B546EDF8F196}

 

[quogueelectric]

Structural integrity

Structural integrity

Until I started to learn carpentry I really didnt care how or where I drilled beams and studs. Just as we dont want sheetrockers to destroy our wires with screws and rotozips framers do not want us making swiss cheese out of thier structural framing members. I just use as small a bit usually 3/4 to 1 and drill center of stud at right angles taking care to line up the holes. Once you get the feel of pushing a wire into a hole until it bends in the direction you want then feedit in untill it stops.you can usually grab it with the blade of my sheetrock saw which i allways have in my pouch anyway and pull it out. I dont want to depend on nailplates unless I have to. I would not want someone notching a corner of a loadbearing wall all the way to the center on my new house. I think that I would step on thier neck for doing something like that. I am probably one of the nicest electricians to carpenters because I also do carpentry to fill in whenever I am slow and I can see what a sheetrockers next move is. I dont want them wrecking my stuff and vice versa. There is a building code guide which explains how large and where you can drill but most electricians I know dont give it a second thought and even normal drilling would not pass the stricktest inspection/. I almost forgot to mention Ideal makes short sharp auger bits when used in an angle drill are great and are not too big to burn out cordless drills also. 3/4 x3" ships auger kicks butt but stay away from nails.

 

[LarryFine]

You can use Milwaukee Pathfinder bits:

Yes, but they provide limited advantage in exterior walls unless you're there to drill the corners before the sheathing is applied. Note the picture in the case:

 

[quogueelectric]

pathfinder

pathfinder

I bought a set of these bits a FULL set and they are not in my opinion more than a novelty. I am a huge fan of milwaulkee however these bits are hardly ever used and at this point I use them as a garbage sheetrock bit. Thier self feed bits are unsurpassed but pricey and almost never go on sale because once you use them you will not want any other bit set. I have a 3/4 and 2in and use them almost daily

 

[lat1]

if your on the ground floor, or other convenient location, and there are studs say 5" to 10" away from the corner so it makes it impossible to use ordinary 6" or 18" augers, i will measure and drill from the exterior. saves sorting thru the various extentions.