how do i drill thru a noggin in an internal wall?

[bdazla]

Just as the title suggests, How do i drill thru a noggin? I need to run speaker cable thru my internal walls from the roof down to the floor. Well near the floor anyway. I can drill thru the top of the wall easily enough with a spade bit but then there is that noggin in the middle of the wall i need to get thru. Bugger!
I have been told there is a particular drill bit to do this but i don't know what it is called. or maybe there is a completely different tool that can do this????

Thanks guys

[Ian007]

I got a 30mm spade bit and then welded a long steel rod to it to give me a bit about 1400mm long so I could get thru the noggin.

Tip, drill two holes in the top plate one to put the long bit thru and the other to shine a torch down so you see to make sure you drill the centre of the noggin.
you dont want to drill off centre and then thru the wall.

hope that helps

Cheers Ian

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I have been told there is a particular drill bit to do this but i don't know what it is called. or maybe there is a completely different tool that can do this????

It's just a long-reach auger. Not common at generalist hw supplies, but readily available from most sparkies' wholesalers.

You can also buy extensions for spade-bits and normal auger bits, but if you use them make very, very sure that you've tightened the couplings properly. There's naught worse than pulling it out of the top-plate only to discover your bit is still inside the wall somewhere... except, perhaps, also discovering it's stuck in the new hole.

Personally, I just do the same as Ian.

Another hint is to use yellow-tongue to feed the wire, or to make the holes big enough to take a bit of conduit. It's pretty difficult to feed a length of wire through a small hole when you're hanging on to it some 4' from the end.

[ozwinner]

Most noggins these days are 70mm wide were as the studs are 90mm wide, so there may be room for speaker wire already.

Al

[KevM]

Most noggins these days are 70mm wide were as the studs are 90mm wide, so there may be room for speaker wire already.

Al

What Al said. My noggins are the same size material as the studs except fastened on their side so I have around 25mm or so on each side. Suggest you try inserting some yellow tongue into the wall cavity and see if you can get past the noggin.

Kev M

[boban]

I think it is easier to cut a hole in the gyprock using a holesaw on either side of the noggin. That way you have access to both sides. Drill through the noggin and feed the wire.

Once you have done that it is very easy to replace the gyprock you took out. That is, take the waste out of the holesaw and put it back in the wall using base coat or cornice cement to glue it back in. After that a coat of top coat and your done. These are available in handy packs at most hardwares.

I used this method to run wire through cornice. It really is easy and cheap to repair the plasterboard in this way as you dont need any specialised tools.

[bdazla]

Wow! Thanks for the fast replies. My house is probably 20-30 years old. I have 90mm noggins all round unfortunately. i will have to visit my electrical wholesaler to see if i can get one of the long reach augers. I would love to weld a metal bar to a spade bit but unfortunately i don't own a welder.

Just got another idea. I will see if i can get some metal rods that screw into each other. maybe i can put a thread using a tap and die set on the end of spade bit. Then again maybe not. if i need to reverse. I'm screwed. or is that unscrewed. hahaha

Thank you to everyone for the great responses and the different methods to solve my problem.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

If you go that route, either drill & tap the sides of the threaded rods and insert a grub-screw (even a shortish bolt'll do) or use some good loctite!

[Jacksin]

Once you have your spade bit and piece of lengthening rod, your local steel supplier may know a welder or a look in the yellow pages will find one.

This is the better way to go (nothing can undo in the wall) as long as you take it steady.

[Barry_White]

From doing electrical work most of the replies are fairly good but Irwin make extension bars about 450mm long, so if you get three or four of these and join them together plus your spade bit it should be long enough to get to the noggins.

The beauty of this method is that if you are close to the rake of the roof you can join them one at a time to get them down the hole. If you have a rod 1200 to 1500 long you may have difficulty getting it down the hole.

To get the wires down you cut your hole in the wall lining and drop a mouse down what is called in the electrical trade a piece of cord with a lead sinker attached and then make hook in a piece of light weight coat hanger and fish the cord out through your hole in the wall lining but first tie your speaker wires to the cord and then just pull them through.

Does work better with two people doing it, one feeding the wires and the other one pulling.

[Simomatra]

I think it is easier to cut a hole in the gyprock using a holesaw on either side of the noggin. That way you have access to both sides. Drill through the noggin and feed the wire.

Once you have done that it is very easy to replace the gyprock you took out. That is, take the waste out of the holesaw and put it back in the wall using base coat or cornice cement to glue it back in. After that a coat of top coat and your done. These are available in handy packs at most hardwares.

I used this method to run wire through cornice. It really is easy and cheap to repair the plasterboard in this way as you dont need any specialised tools.

As Boban says this is an easy way to do it as long as you feel ok about cutting the plaster

Cheers sam

[bdazla]

I went to bunnings today and they only had 300mm irwin extensions. I will see if i can get the 450mm extensions from somewhere else otherwise I think i will just get a huge auger from the local tool store or from ideal electrical.

I quite like the idea of the extensions as they would be multi-purpose as such as apposed to the huge auger being for a single purpose. I think the price of extensions vs single auger will determine the decision.

Do the extensions lock into each other with the grove in the bits as well as the chuck tightening style or do they only fit into each other with the chuck tightening?

reason i ask is because my drill has a quick release chuck and there is a screw driver bit attached to the spindle. i need to push this pastic piece to remove to screw driver bit. the scre driver bit is held by the grove at the bottom of the bit. this priciple would also help stop losing extentions in the wall if the extension chuck slips because it is not tight enough. Hope someone understands this giberish i have just typed.

[jow104]

We have wireless speakers in the UK. hint hint.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Here in Oz, megaphones and Edison trumpets are considered antique technology.

[bdazla]

We have wireless speakers in the UK. hint hint.

We have that here too. They still require power and have sloppy response times. I am a bit of an audiophile. In short i personal think they're nowhere near as good as a wired system.

I have Whardale speakers for my home theatre in the lounge. UK made. They are a very good speaker. They are far from the best but still a graet speaker. I also run Jamo's for my home theatre in my bedroom. Also very good. Each system is matched to the room and furnishings.

Great suggestion but just not for me. I wish wireless was the go. So much easier.