wall fishing wires

[al hildenbrand]

The same can also be done with any solid #12 scrap.

The straightened coat hanger is a lot stiffer than solid #12, yet without the spring-memory of a fish tape. It's also about three feet long. It'll push through the broken keys at the bottom of a plaster wall and retain it's shape and direction, yet when spun will move around the inside of the wall cavity.

#12 works, for me, for short distances some of the time, but I always keep a couple straightened coat hangers on the truck for after I pull that copper hook open.

 

[mivey]

I find a stash of coat hangers invaluable for fishing. They are great for grabbing a piece of jack chain in the wall. I recommend using braided string with the chain to avoid breakage and help with snags. I don't know why I never thought about the magnet method, it should have been obvious!

Use western union splices on the coat hangers for coupling and adding length. If you put an offset hook, you can bend a crank handle on user end of the coat hanger and spin it to grab the chain or an opposing coat hanger with an offset hook. I could not figure out how to post an image of the offset hook.