Extra long drill bit for wood

gaelicyoda

Hi all,

I'm about to begin DIY Cat6 cabling project (retrofit) in my house, and I'd REALLY like not to have bust up the walls in the process - except for the RJ45 sockets.

So, to do this I'm going to need a really long drill bit that will allow me to drill from the attic down through the top of the stud walls on the first floor of the house. It looks like the cross member joining the uprights in the wall is at about 46" down, so this is what I'll need to drill through.

I've been trying to locate a drill bit online for this, and have found basically nothing on this side of the pond. It seems to be difficult enough to find a place in the US that will ship internationally, but I did manage to find this one.

It seems crazy to me that this is not part of every electrician's arsenal - surely this must be a really common thing to have to do? But so far, it seems I'm dead wrong.

Does anyone know where I might source something like this in Ireland/UK or even Europe?

Went into a number of local builder's providers and electrical wholesalers places and they just looked at me like I had ten heads. I can find masonry bits up to 1000mm, but no good to me on this occasion.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Nonmonotonic

Does it have to be a masonry bit? Perhaps some lateral thinking might help.
What about a wood bit

joined to a suitable length and diameter round steel bar/rod by a double/2 piece collar clamp

.
Or simply welded to it.

gaelicyoda

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

Does it have to be a masonry bit?

No, absoutely - it's a wood (auger/flat bit) that I'm looking for - I just mentioned the masonry bit because that's all that seems to be available in that kind of length here, which is of no use to me.

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

Perhaps some lateral thinking might help.
What about a wood bit

joined to a suitable length and diameter round steel bar/rod by a double/2 piece collar clamp

.
Or simply welded to it.

Good thinking, and I had considered that but I don't have a welder myself, and to get one made especially would probably be more expensive and not as precise (and probably prone to warping or snapping if made even slightly off-center). The one I found from the US (see link in my original post) is also bendable/flexible - which would be very useful in the cramped conditions of an attic. Not sure I'd be able to get the same result with a rigid welded rod.

Thanks for considering it though!

mp22

http://www.arro.ie/Products/Faithfull-Flatbit-Extension__FAIFBEXT.aspx

gaelicyoda

mp22 wrote: »

http://www.arro.ie/Products/Faithfull-Flatbit-Extension__FAIFBEXT.aspx

Thanks mp22, this extension is only 300mm, but I need it at 54" (about 1400mm) so the end of one would need to fit into the top of another and I'd need like 5 of them.

I suggested this to a lad working behind the counter in a local builder's merchants and he discounted the idea because he reckoned with that many of them joined together, the middle was bound to warp/buckle.

Some potential benefits and drawbacks with this approach as well - it would remove the need for flexibility in the bit as well because I'd only need 300mm clearance at any one time (as the length increased, the extended bit could be dropped into the hole on the top of the stud, and a new length fixed to the end). A potential problem would be if any of them disconnected while in use - it would drop into the cavity and I'd have no way to retrieve them.

I'd still be willing to do it though if I thought it would work - has anyone tried chaining multiple lengths of these things together?

mp22

These might do http://www.mptools.co.uk/products.asp?partno=125628

mptools are nothing to do with me

gaelicyoda

mp22 wrote: »

These might do http://www.mptools.co.uk/products.asp?partno=125628

mptools are nothing to do with me

Thanks mp22 - these are masonry bits though, but might do the job eventually if I was really stuck. I've never actually tried using a masonry bit on timber - anyone know how easy that is to do?

paddy147

Get a length of 10mm threaded steel bar/rod from any builders providers.

Get a normal wood bit and get a local welder or engineering shop to weld the wood bit to the end of the steel bar.

Then use a cordless or mains screw gun/drill and there you have it.
Very easy and job done.

My builder did this trick when he had to get a 6 core alarm cable into a location in the bedroom for a new alarm keep pad.Worked a treat too.

gaelicyoda

paddy147 wrote: »

Get a length of 10mm threaded steel bar/rod from any builders providers.

Get a normal wood bit and get a local welder or engineering shop to weld the wood bit to the end of the steel bar.

Then use a cordless or mains screw gun/drill and there you have it.
Very easy and job done.

My builder did this trick when he had to get a 6 core alarm cable into a location in the bedroom for a new alarm keep pad.Worked a treat too.

Thanks Paddy, do you know how expensive that was to get done by any chance? As I mentioned to Nonmonotonic earlier, the flexibility of a fully rigid bar might be an issue in an attic environment - maybe I could find a flexible bar somewhere?

fergal.b

I will be making a long drill bit soon to drill a hole for the prop shaft on my boat, the hole will be an inch and a quarter and you are welcome to it when I'm finished, or if you do find some let me know so I don't have to make it
The one I am making is like this.

gaelicyoda

fergal.b wrote: »

I will be making a long drill bit soon to drill a hole for the prop shaft on my boat, the hole will be an inch and a quarter and you are welcome to it when I'm finished, or if you do find some let me know so I don't have to make it
The one I am making is like this.

<<images removed>>

Thank you kindly sir! Most generous indeed! :eek:

The only problem I might foresee would be the rigidity - there's one of the holes I need to bore about 800mm away from the inner leaf and fairly in under the eves in the attic, so clearance at that spot is an issue. I don't want to take it on you only waste it, but maybe I could even try something like in your picture, i.e. drill it at a slant at first and then straighten up once it's penetrated to top.

Anyway, let's keep each other posted in that case, and we'll see how it goes. If I come across anything in the meantime, I'll let you know for sure.

Cheers!:D

harry21

gaelicyoda wrote: »

Hi all,
It looks like the cross member joining the uprights in the wall is at about 46" down, so this is what I'll need to drill through.

It's probably just me but I'm not getting this. Why the need for a very long bit??

Am I correct in saying your in the attic of a two stroey house and want to run cat6 to an existing data socket??

There may be more than one way to skin this cat (no pun intended).

gaelicyoda

harry21 wrote: »

It's probably just me but I'm not getting this. Why the need for a very long bit??

Am I correct in saying your in the attic of a two stroey house and want to run cat6 to an existing data socket??

There may be more than one way to skin this cat (no pun intended).

Hi Harry,

Thanks for replying, let me explain - there are currently no data sockets in place, and I would be adding them to the rooms in the top floor of the house by dropping the cables down from the attic.

The long bit is so that I can drill through the wooden cross members that connect the uprights in the stud wall together. These occur in the stud wall about 46" down from the ceiling - and I suppose the real reason for the long bit is so that I don't have to bust up the walls in order to drill the hole.

You're right about many ways to achieve this, but this is the route I'd prefer to go if possible simply because it would be the neatest (no surface mounted sockets or visible conduits, or filler/patch-over marks in the wall itself when the job is done)

tipperary

Hi

Where abouts in the wall are you putting the socket? Is it going to be near the cross member in the wall?

gaelicyoda

tipperary wrote: »

Hi

Where abouts in the wall are you putting the socket? Is it going to be near the cross member in the wall?

Well, the height from floor to ceiling is about 2400mm, and the cross member is at about 46" (~1200mm) from the ceiling. If the socket is at about 18" from the floor, then (if my maths is right) it would leave about 700mm between the socket and the underside of the cross member, given that the width of the cross member is about 2".

I think the problem there is that the size of the opening of a socket would be too small to attack the cross member from the underside. The height of the socket opening would be about 3" and the width of the cross member is about 2", so the length of the bit would have to be within 1" of the distance between the socket and the cross member. After that, I'd be into wall breaking territory

LLU

gaelicyoda wrote: »

Thanks mp22 - these are masonry bits though, but might do the job eventually if I was really stuck. I've never actually tried using a masonry bit on timber - anyone know how easy that is to do?

depends on the wood, think I had some success using one to drill chipboard a while back, but more than likely it'll just screech and blacken the wood - a bit like starting a fire in stoneage times! on that subject, although not much use to yourself, Aldi are selling extra long masonry bit sets this week. 600 and I think 1200mm lengths.

gaelicyoda

LLU wrote: »

depends on the wood, think I had some success using one to drill chipboard a while back, but more than likely it'll just screech and blacken the wood - a bit like starting a fire in stoneage times! on that subject, although not much use to yourself, Aldi are selling extra long masonry bit sets this week. 600 and I think 1200mm lengths.

Funny you should mention that, I actually did see them for sale in Aldi alright - I seem to see extra long masonry bits them bloody everywhere now

harry21

I picked up a set of the 600s on Thursday too. I wonder if they will be any good?

Meanwhile... Thanks for explaining it. 'Crossmember' threw me a bit. I always called them nogggins?

Is there an existing socket in the room that might have either a TV cable or Power cable going to the attic?

You could use this to see if you can pull a fish wire up, and then pull all three down together. Then place the new cat6 socket over/under the exisitng??

gaelicyoda

harry21 wrote: »

I picked up a set of the 600s on Thursday too. I wonder if they will be any good?

Meanwhile... Thanks for explaining it. 'Crossmember' threw me a bit. I always called them nogggins?

Is there an existing socket in the room that might have either a TV cable or Power cable going to the attic?

You could use this to see if you can pull a fish wire up, and then pull all three down together. Then place the new cat6 socket over/under the exisitng??

No probs Harry and to be fair, you're probably right - I suspect they are called noggins

The problem with putting Cat6 cable beside power cables is the interference that the power lines would cause, so they can't be run beside each other. I think the recommendation is at least 12" apart, and if they do need to cross, the to pass them as perpendicular as possible to each other.

I thought of this strategy a while back in this post, but it never really came to anything in the end. The coax sockets are also too near I suspect to the power lines

cheif kaiser

Did you ever solve your problem of finding a long drill bit ? Came across this the other day while looking for something similar http://10ftdrillbit.com/default.aspx