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Posted By: site351 Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 02:29 AM
Any of you guys ever asked to drill holes for Romex..(in this case UF wire)..in logs...so you can hide the wire ?


Got a call from a Contractor today and he is going to arrange
some Cedar posts together in front of this guys garage
(haven't seen the plans yet)...but the guy wants 5 lights to sit on top of the 5 vertical posts. He doesn't want to see
any wire from any angle...gotta be nice and tidy.
We'll have join together some horizontal posts too so it will be tricky.
I'd say the longest hole will be 4 to 5 feet...

any ideas...what kind of bit would you use...and how to
keep it straight....thanks
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 02:57 AM
Best bet is an impact driver, Irwin Speed-bor Max bits, and lots of extensions. Line up the battery chargers in advince, and have a good vacuum going.
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 03:00 AM
Second choice is have sho bandsaw slice them in half, rout a chase, then glue them together with Titebond 3 glue.
Posted By: bigrockk Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 03:42 AM
Try this link, some great ideas here.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Drilling_a_Hole.html
Posted By: site351 Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 03:15 PM
some good ideas here....thought about using a 1/2" ground rod
and welding a 5/8" twist auger bit to it. Maybe cut the rod
in half (4 feet)and trying it on some long pieces of firewood I haven't cut up yet.

Maybe someone thats wired some log homes will chime in.....
gotta get this right the first time on those cedar logs....
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 04:57 PM
I once used a large 'Bell" bit and extension to drill a series of holes through several wall sectioms that I could not otherwise access. I pt the bits in a piece of EMT of similar leagth, just a bit smaller than the diameter of the bit, to keep things straight. The final result wasn't really good enough for running EMT, but was plenty good for easily pulling MC.

That was before I had the impact driver and Speedbor-max bits. For drilling solid wood, that's the way to go. The screw point on the bit feeds it through, and the impact driver does not transmit any torque to your hand - meaning a much straighter hole.

I've used the extensions to extend the reach of the bits as much as 24" - 18" extension + 6" bit - and that was steady enough I expect you could double that if you needed to.

The real key to making any deep hole is clearing your chips. If you have an air compressor, you can make (or buy) a tool to deliver air to the bottom of the hole, and blow the chips out.
Posted By: EV607797 Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 09:08 PM
I've had pretty good luck with a 7/8" Diversibit and sliding a piece of 1/2" EMT over the length of the bit's shank. The EMT keeps the bit from flexing too much. By lying the post down on it's side for the drilling, you can keep a better watch on any wandering that is happening and stop it before it is too late. It is also best to set up some form of a jig so that the drill motor will be positioned at a height that is centered.

Oh, and you should drill a starter hole that is about 6" deep before using the long bit. Trying to get a long bit started is easier if there's a pocket to hold the tip straight.
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 09:30 PM
I'd go with the bandsaw idea, as I already did something similar. Drilling 4 or 5 feet into end grain logs will take some doing, even with a screwtipped shell auger and a 'gutbuster' drill, and you can bet your 'ol boots you will eventually lose a drill that won't come out from 3 feet deep due to wandering off line! eek
I think battery powered drills or an impact driver will take ages and hundreds of recharges. Tip; if long-series drilling, keep the screw feed tip away from your feet, as the screw auger will pull it right through your foot before you can yell "OUCH!"

I sliced up an oak baulk to make a channel section, on a bandsaw, to hide a steel 'I' beam. Before sawing, I drilled a few 3/8" holes sideways to the planned cuts, so that on reassembly, I could fit hickory splined wooden dowels [inboard faces] for relocation while clamping and glueing. The resultant join is invisible from close up, as the saw kerf is very narrow and the dowels keep everything aligned. You don't need a dead-straight saw line, and you don't need to cut absolutely dead center- it will all match up pefectly on reassembly as long as you use the correct halves! blush Which, of course, you will mark up cool.
I never use a fence on the bandsaw, just run to a chalk line by eye - this avoids the dreaded 'twisting-undercut' caused by guiding on a fence. New or resharpened blade called for IMHO! In your case, I'd cut the feeder channel with a chainsaw tip along one half. I always use polyurethane glue on external work. 100% waterproof. It foams when dry and is easy to clean off the work. Wear gloves, as it permanently stains the skin. Adhesives don't take well on wet lumber, and in this case I would expose the cut faces to 'air' till they were relatively 'touch dry' to get a better key, if the lumber is wet.
And the best of luck!
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 09:50 PM
....and I should add, I always do a 'milk run', without glue / dowels, to test the set up, clamps and holding techniques, because PU sets up fast, esp. when used on damper timbers - the catalyst is water held in the timber.
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/27/10 11:05 PM
Here's my cantilevered I beam-cover, cut and glued. It's about 10" square x 4' long, and hides an 8" x 4" rolled steel section supporting a landing. You can just see some evidence of the full 10" height vertical joins, about 1.25" in from each side. Another cut runs horizontally about an inch off the base, [disguised by the 1/2 round detail]. The 'front block' is a dummy cut from the original piece, leaving a U shaped channel for most of the length to house the RSJ. One of the location dowel holes is just visible, right front corner- there are 3 each side. The cuts are all freehand bandsawn in a very old oak baulk I pulled out of a ruin. I end trimmed it up to give a bit of pleasing detail, as this is in our living room.
Click on pic to enlarge, I think?

[Linked Image from electrical-photos.com]
Posted By: leland Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/28/10 02:14 AM
That looks NICE Alan!
Posted By: Texas_Ranger Re: Drilling Holes in Logs...?? - 01/30/10 02:42 PM
Did you consider asking the guy whether he'd accept a channel routed into one side of the posts and covered with a thin strip of wood? (given that's up to code anyway). That's the way a distant uncle of mine wired his log garden hut in Germany.
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