Drilling wood I beams

[junkhound]

don't give an optimum speed.

For most wood 6000 fpm is best for sawtooth type cutting

5.5 in = 1.4 ft circumverence ; thus 500 rpm if using a hole saw.

'twere my job, still 'wood' prefer router.

No guide bearing, guide would be putting the collar on the base.

 

[oldsparky52]

I'm starting this project tonight I'm going g to with right angle Milwaukees and hole saws x4 with 4 men and I'll update tomorrow

Well I guess that makes my 2 cents worthless, but ... the fewer guys drilling the less people to point at if the holes don't line up.

I bet working off of a scaffolding would increase production over a ladder.

 

[gadfly56]

Well I guess that makes my 2 cents worthless, but ... the fewer guys drilling the less people to point at if the holes don't line up.

I bet working off of a scaffolding would increase production over a ladder.

Hmmm, rolling scaffolding...push, lock, drill, unlock, repeat. It would be worth running the numbers. Scaffolding is more expensive than ladders, but it depends if you already own the scaffolding, and how close together the penetration runs are.

 

[oldsparky52]

Hmmm, rolling scaffolding...push, lock, drill, unlock, repeat. It would be worth running the numbers. Scaffolding is more expensive than ladders, but it depends if you already own the scaffolding, and how close together the penetration runs are.

I bet it would be more like roll, lock, drill 3-4 holes, then move and drill. A lot easier to twist and turn off of scaffolding than a ladder.

 

[gadfly56]

I bet it would be more like roll, lock, drill 3-4 holes, then move and drill. A lot easier to twist and turn off of scaffolding than a ladder.

Sure, if your runs are 2 feet apart and the scaffolding is 10 feet long and 3 feet wide I bet you could do that. As I said, depends on how far apart the runs are. And whether you want to do the penetrations by row or column.

 

[JFletcher]

Quote Originally Posted by oldsparky52 View Post
I bet it would be more like roll, lock, drill 3-4 holes, then move and drill. A lot easier to twist and turn off of scaffolding than a ladder.


Unless you can go down a hallway or work in a large room, moving scaffolding is a pita... and that's if the floor is clean enough to begin with.

I can stand 4-6' in the air from a ladder and catch 4 joists before having to move the ladder and drill.

I take it the HVAC guys are using flex-duct; not enough space to get metal in there, and perfectly round/aligned holes wouldn't be necessary.

One last note: you do NOT want self feeding bits, especially with cordless tools. They feed too much with a 5.5" bit, bind, and wipe (quickly discharge below operating voltage) the battery. And this: make damned sure any nails/screws are beaten down so WHEN your drill binds and smashes your hand into the subfloor above, you just get a crush industry instead of crush + puncture wound.

 

[nickelec]

I choose to use the Lenox 5½ hole saw bits with my right angle hogs they go through that osb like butter I think it's the easiest way. And you are right it's for HVAC guys using flex so if there off a ½ here or there no big deal

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[MAC702]

I bet it would be more like roll, lock, drill 3-4 holes, then move and drill....

Y'all have to use the locks? How do you pull yourself to the next set of holes?

 

[MAC702]

I'm assuming you've verified the outside diameter of the actual flex duct being installed?

I could see wanting 6+" holes for installing even 4" flex duct, and that's at the smaller insulation values.

 

[MAC702]

This is 4" flex duct with an R6 insulation rating. It might be a tight fit with even just a 3" but I don't have any here to measure tonight.

I also just realized that I'm making an assumption that you have insulated flex duct. Maybe you are just running non-insulated flexible metallic duct or something that will pull through the holes easily.

 

[nickelec]

I'm not running anything lol HVAC contractor is paying me to drill 5½ holes and that's all I know. 4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad. Anyone dis agree?

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[Fulthrotl]

I'm not running anything lol HVAC contractor is paying me to drill 5½ holes and that's all I know. 4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad. Anyone dis agree?

we are proud of you, but now you have two warring factions about
locking or not locking the scaffold, and a small but vocal minority
who think routers kick ass.....

can you slow down a bit so we can work this out before you are done?

thank you.

 

[JFletcher]

I'm not running anything lol HVAC contractor is paying me to drill 5½ holes and that's all I know. 4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad. Anyone dis agree?

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Pretty good. I predicted 2 days with 2 guys. You still on the first 4 bits?

 

[nickelec]

Used 6

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[retirede]

I'm not running anything lol HVAC contractor is paying me to drill 5½ holes and that's all I know. 4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad. Anyone dis agree?

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Well done!

 

[growler]

I just picked up a small side gig of drilling approximately 400, 5½ diameter holes in the is sections of the engineered joists .

Looking to finish in 2/3 days.

4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad. Anyone dis agree?

Not bad at all. If you meet or exceed schedule the first day/night things normally go more smoothly after that as the people become more familiar with the project.

 

[growler]

a small but vocal minority who think routers kick ass.....

I'm not exactly against the router idea but I have not seen it use for major production work. It would be more interesting to try on a smaller project. You know, where you don't have a bunch of guys standing around collecting their pay even if it doesn't work out.

I notice there is another hole cutting system out there that would also be interesting for this type of work if it would hold up for production. Ever herd of the holepro X-230? They say it will cut plywood ( useing only a fraction of the power needed for a standard holesaw) with a low powered battery drill. If so it would be work the money.

 

[MAC702]

...HVAC contractor is paying me to drill 5½ holes and that's all I know. 4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad...

Then that's all that matters! Sounds like a decent crew!

 

[MAC702]

...I notice there is another hole cutting system out there that would also be interesting for this type of work if it would hold up for production. Ever herd of the holepro X-230? They say it will cut plywood ( useing only a fraction of the power needed for a standard holesaw) with a low powered battery drill. If so it would be work the money.

I've used those before. Or I should say I've attempted to use them. They will eventually make a hole, maybe, possible even in plywood if you have all day to fight it. I gave up on even using them for gypsum wallboard.

 

[gadfly56]

I'm not running anything lol HVAC contractor is paying me to drill 5½ holes and that's all I know. 4 men tonight made ,150 holes. After 1.5 hours of layout and 45 mins of cleaning up.id say that's not bad. Anyone dis agree?

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So, that's 375 minutes net production time, or 4 x 375 = 1500 man-minutes, not accounting for any breaks. That makes it 10 minutes per hole, start to start or finish to finish, including all the ladder moving, etc. As growler said, with familiarity you should get higher production on day 2.