Drilling wood I beams

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Besoeker said:
Ignorant Brit strikes again........
Wooden I-beams?
As in I-section like steel I-beams?
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gadfly56 said:
Yep. See here.
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Whenever I have to install a light or ceiling fan circuit in the 1st floor ceiling of a multistory house, I cross my fingers and hope to find open web trusses instead of these engineered I-beams. With I-beams I'm going to have to make more holes in the drywall to fish the cable than I would like.
 
gadfly56 said:
A RotoZip will fit for sure...
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Unless things have changed, a RotoZip isn't the right tool. It's not like a traditional router. It cuts with a spiral saw. A router cuts directly tangent to the bit's circumference. A spiral saw works great for gypsum. It sucks on wood. Yes, they make "wood" bits for it, but it's for limited, slow use, not for production.
 
MAC702 said:
Unless things have changed, a RotoZip isn't the right tool. It's not like a traditional router. It cuts with a spiral saw. A router cuts directly tangent to the bit's circumference. A spiral saw works great for gypsum. It sucks on wood. Yes, they make "wood" bits for it, but it's for limited, slow use, not for production.
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I agree that a roto zip is not the right tool for this job, but it is nothing other than a small router. You could buy a laminate trimmer bit that would chuck up in a roto zip.
 
retirede said:
My Dewalt palm router is 7-3/4" tall and has a 4" diameter base. It should fit, too. And it's very powerful for a small machine.
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And it is easy to add a circle jig. Either custom built or something like this from Festool.

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retirede said:
Another reason to consider a small router.
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Fulthrotl said:
yep. us router aficionados don't give up the fight easily.... :cool:
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You guys are nuts. If I were standing on the floor over a work bench or a pair of saw horses in a woodshop a router would be great. No way I'm wielding a router off a ladder or down in a crawlspace.
 
gadfly56 said:
A RotoZip will fit for sure. Just don't know how well it might hold up in this production style environment. There is a circle guide available.
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I would be looking for 1/4 inch bits (think I have seen them before) and not the typical 1/8 inch bits you usually associate with this kind of tool.

Would a C frame punch driver work on this kind of application as long as we are only punching out ~3/8 inch of material?

Might not even need to punch all the way through, then knock the thing out with a hammer.
 
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Guys, the brainstorming is good, but I've actually used a RotoZip with both spiral bits and laminate-trimming bits to cut wood. It got the very small job done. It also sucked. It is not the right tool for the job. A REAL router could be, depending on positioning.
 
ActionDave said:
You guys are nuts. If I were standing on the floor over a work bench or a pair of saw horses in a woodshop a router would be great. No way I'm wielding a router off a ladder or down in a crawlspace.
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Cutting this many holes you would probably need both a dust mask and goggles. Then you are working in a very confined space (12in centers).

At least with a hole saw you don't have to try to see exactly what you are doing with predrilled pilot holes.

But I do have to admit I have never tried a router for anything like this just so it may be easier than it sounds.
 
nickelec said:
Theese are all great idae I finally saw the job yesterday the beans of 12in on Center so speed drills might not fit I don't think I have a choice but to use the right angle

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I just looked on Amazon and they have a right angled Mikita (10A, 1/2 chuck) that will turn 1200 rpms at high speed setting.
 
growler said:
I just looked on Amazon and they have a right angled Mikita (10A, 1/2 chuck) that will turn 1200 rpms at high speed setting.
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That's actually a bit fast for a 5 - 6-inch hole saw. I'd recommend something closer to 800 RPM.

Here is one designed to go even slower, at 500 RPM, but it's a design I've not used before. I think it looks like it could work well. Might have less wobble because of only three teeth, but also might need less clearing for chips because of the tooth depth staying above the cut: https://www.gamut.com/p/dewalt-hole...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=COuUt5bHm9gCFRWMYgodWSYAFA

I make no endorsement of the seller; they just got lucky being the one at the top of the search page. Do a separate search for the model number to find other stores.

Even if you go with a more traditional tooth design, I'd still recommend one with carbide teeth for this kind of production. Milwaukee makes one. Obviously, the minimum requirement would be a bimetal blade, but at that size, that's probably the least you can get anyway.
 
One advantage to a router with a jig is exact hole size.

You will probably be using 6" hole saws if you need a 5-1/2" hole.

But a sloppy fit is a fast fit. It depends on whether you need to go back and fill in the slop.
 
MAC702 said:
That's actually a bit fast for a 5 - 6-inch hole saw. I'd recommend something closer to 800 RPM.

Here is one designed to go even slower, at 500 RPM, but it's a design I've not used before. I think it looks like it could work well. Might have less wobble because of only three teeth, but also might need less clearing for chips because of the tooth depth staying above the cut:
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Something like that might even work with a hole hawg. With only three teeth you can see why it would only need a slow RPM.
 
MAC702 said:
One advantage to a router with a jig is exact hole size.

You will probably be using 6" hole saws if you need a 5-1/2" hole.

But a sloppy fit is a fast fit. It depends on whether you need to go back and fill in the slop.
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I figured the 5-1/2” hole was for 5” pipe. I’ve never seen 5-1/2” duct.
 
retirede said:
I figured the 5-1/2” hole was for 5” pipe. I’ve never seen 5-1/2” duct.
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Yes, I agree. But in dealing with a nominal dimension on a product we haven't yet had exactly identified, we don't yet know what the actual outside diameter is going to be. But my experience says that no 5" pipe or duct is going into a 5" hole, and I know of no 5-1/2" hole saws, hence the 6" hole saw being the likely option. The more slop the more speedy the installation, but there is too much that eventually detracts from workmanship or eventually structural integrity.

By exact hole size on the router, I meant getting the exact amount of slop you want, not the exact same as the pipe size. With a hole saw, you will probably have to err on the side of more slop, not less.
 
MAC702 said:
I know of no 5-1/2" hole saws, hence the 6" hole saw being the likely option.
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Even Home Depot advertises they have 5 1/2" hole saws. May have to order them as I don't know what they have in stock in stores.

I was just looking at a version by Blu-Mol that looks pretty good but they don't give an optimum speed.
 
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

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