How would you have done it...?

[TrimTheKing]

Hello all

Making use of all this time at home and having this week off I have got on with sorting out our media room after it flooded a while back. All water ingress issues now resolved and tested with months of rain, the room was ready to rebuild.

I’ll do a full thread on it later but for now my challenge is thus. I bought a load of new fire rated spotlight fittings ages ago to put down here and bows the time. Sod’s law stated that the hole required for the new fittings is bigger than the existing so I needed a solution to allow me to drill them out with a hole saw but with nothing for the arbour to bite into...

Initial thought was a barren inside and screwed in, but that would leave two screw holes to fill for each light, which wife scowled at as she wants to get it painted and not have to wait for filler to dry and be sanded, so another solution was required.

This is what I came up with...

That should guide the hole saw to stop it wandering and give me a nice clean edge...

Just got to put an adjustable brace across to hold it now. Or I might just have one child stand on each floor plate (added to stop point loads on the flooring) to hold it in place.

So, have I missed a much easier and more obvious way to deal with this...?

 

[RogerS]

Yes...use 20 minute filler and screw that batten on.

 

[Jimmy Mack]

Hole saw inside a hole saw?


https://youtu.be/XNVmInYJKok


Sent from my moto g(7) plus using Tapatalk

 

[TrimTheKing]

Yes...use 20 minute filler and screw that batten on.

Took me 30 mins to make that so mine is quicker over 31 spotlights...

 

[TrimTheKing]

Hole saw inside a hole saw?


https://youtu.be/XNVmInYJKok


Sent from my moto g(7) plus using Tapatalk

That’s good but I don’t have the right sizes smaller one.

 

[RogerS]

Yes...use 20 minute filler and screw that batten on.

Took me 30 mins to make that so mine is quicker over 31 spotlights...

It's not 20 minutes per screw hole! You've got to cut the right size hole regardless.

 

[Jimmy Mack]

Ah ok.....l have another go....

Masking tape and superglue trick to hold your template in place?

https://youtu.be/K8i8qEnHA58

Sent from my moto g(7) plus using Tapatalk

 

[RogerS]

And you're in danger of Heath Robinson's trestle slipping or being pushed out of place.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Yes...use 20 minute filler and screw that batten on.

Took me 30 mins to make that so mine is quicker over 31 spotlights...

It's not 20 minutes per screw hole! You've got to cut the right size hole regardless.

Haha I know that. But the time taken to put a batten in, screw, cut, remove, fill, then wait 20 mins surely adds up to more than sliding this across to the next hole, cutting then moving?

 

[TrimTheKing]

And you're in danger of Heath Robinson's trestle slipping or being pushed out of place.

Yep that’s my concern hence a brace or children standing on it. [emoji3]

Ah well, it’s done now so I’ll go and test it after I’ve had some luncheon. Leftover lasagne from last night [emoji39]

 

[Robert]

Do the double hole saw trick but use a wooden cylinder in the middle instead of the second saw.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Do the double hole saw trick but use a wooden cylinder in the middle instead of the second saw.

Another good one!

So, I’m getting from this that I’ve massively over engineered the solution! [emoji1787]

 

[RogerS]

Took me 30 mins to make that so mine is quicker over 31 spotlights...

It's not 20 minutes per screw hole! You've got to cut the right size hole regardless.

Haha I know that. But the time taken to put a batten in, screw, cut, remove, fill, then wait 20 mins surely adds up to more than sliding this across to the next hole, cutting then moving?

No, wrong sequence..you're making work for yourself there keep swapping over tools.

1) Batten in...screw, cut hole, remove
2) Repeat until all new holes cut
then and only then ...
3) fill in screw holes.
4) Drink cup of coffee
5) sand

 

[Mike G]

Good solution, which should work nicely. Cut the legs a little shorter, so that you can tap them into place and they'll wedge themselves.

 

[fiveeyes]

Good solution, which should work nicely. Cut the legs a little shorter, so that you can tap them into place and they'll wedge themselves.

add sand paper..non-slip.. to contact side

 

[Robert]

It did occur to me that marks solution has another advantage in that the holes don't have to be concentric. So if one is close to a joist the new hole needn't get any closer.

 

[TrimTheKing]

It did occur to me that marks solution has another advantage in that the holes don't have to be concentric. So if one is close to a joist the new hole needn't get any closer.

Yep and we had that a couple of times, where one side was as far as it could be so stayed as the edge and the cutout was a part moon shape.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Good solution, which should work nicely. Cut the legs a little shorter, so that you can tap them into place and they'll wedge themselves.

Yep ended up doing that after a few holes and the four closest to the corners wouldn’t fit with the legs at original length.

It worked well, although the final one wouldn’t fit at all so I ended up taking the legs off and using just the plate with the hole in and screwed it to the ceiling. Looking back that left two tiny holes and was much quicker so I’m hindsight would probably have done, but mine worked well so I’m happy enough.