What are the tricks to finding boxes? How do you follow along box and not damage it? Are there any good books on this? All advice appreciated. Thanks
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1 Make sure you tuck the wires towards the back of the box. Zip bit will cut wires.
2 Mark the approx. center of any box or light
3 Tack up board without any screws close to the boxes, but tight enough to stay up and make light contact with boxes. Too tight can make a little bit of rock bust out just as you finish the cut
4 Place zip on mark, go to side, lift back a little and slip to outside of box
5 Go around box in counter clockwise direction, slightly pushing towards the centermark. The zip will lead you around the box, counter clockwise is critical for accurate cuts.
6 screw off sheet.
You must be very careful if you have plastic boxes the zip can go right through them.
Maybe take a scrap of rock and tack it up over a box and do some practice cuts.
A rotozip in the wrong hands can be a tapers nightmare, with careful use it can make their job much easier.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
this is the fun part. learning the rotozip. I have screwed up alot of drywall but the rotozip is perfect for the job.
the roto will very rarely hurt the box.
I will poke a hole in the corner of the box, run to edge of box and then jump to other side.
use two hands
and go slow.
thr problem will be the bottom corners where you swing wide. keep a little pressure against the box. it will not hurt the box
and have fun
If the floor isn't finished yet, mark the box position on the floor. If the box is a non-standard height, mark the height there too.
Make sure the wires are pushed into the box before you put the drywall up. Just tack the drywall -- don't install screws too close to box or it will pucker the board.
Mark the center of the box on the board. Adjust bit so the cutting part of the tip just penetrates the board, leaving the smooth pilot tip projecting. Start the tool and [unch through in center of box. Put the fence flat on the board. Slide to one side to find the edge of the box, slightly lift the tip to jump over the edge of the box.
Now you have the tool against the outside edge of the box. The tip rotates clockwise, looking at it with the fence against the board. Think about it -- if you move the tool clockwise around the outside of the box, the rotation of the bit will tend to push the tool away from the box, drifting out into never-never land, but if you move the tool counterclockwise around the outside of the box, the rotation of the bit keeps it tight against the box.
So begin to move the tool counterclockwise around the box. When you get to a corner you need to slow down and walk it around the corner, but it will naturally want to go that direction anyway.
If you find the tip does not ride againt the box edge very well, you may need to set the tip deeper, or add/remove screws on the board to get it flat against the box. But don't go any deeper than necessary, to avoid the danger of damaging wires.
use bits with a piolet tip...
whatch yur depth of cut not deep enough and you tear up DW..
too deep and you cut up everthing else includeing the DW..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
What the other guys said plus*****Don't forget your glasses***
On my sites we call the rotozip the dust maker, and if you are doing an octagon box above your head you are eating dust!
Have a good day
CLiffy
Note that the RZ drywall bits have a backward twist, so that they blow the dust back into the wall rather than pulling it out towards you. Cuts down on the dust maybe 80%.But you still will end up eating it if you cut overhead.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
What everybody else said... ESPECIALY Imerc about using the pilot bits!!
thr problem will be the bottom corners where you swing wide. keep a little pressure against the box. it will not hurt the box
What everyone else has said and it is worth mentioning the above again. Don't ask how I know. : )
I don't rotozip often enough - I always lose the "feel" for it, and have to re-learn it every time. So I generally cheat a bit on the first couple of boxes.
I find the center of the box, and cut a hole just big enough for my finger. Then I reach into the box and feel around for where the perimiter of the box is. That was I can visualize where they are when I start cutting.
There is also a tool you can get, consists of magnetic inserts for inside the box and a matching magnetic template. Install the rock with the inserts in place, then place the template over the box and draw around it.Just be sure to get the inserts and template right way up. (Don't ask me how I know that.)
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I've tried lots of ways, but I've found this works best for me -- YMMV.
I take my DW square and sit the "T" section on the floor (or ceiling, whichever is closer) and slide it so the edge of the long section lines up with the edge of the box. Then, VERY CAREFULLY mark where on the floor/ceiling where the "T" sits and note on the long section the measurement where the mid-point of the box falls. (I usually mark out the whole room at one time, noting the "up" (or "down", depending) measurements on the floor.) Hang the rock loosely, then reposition the square EXACTLY where it was when you marked it. Put a dot on the DW at the previously-noted long-side measurement. That's where you plunge your tool. (Probably goes without saying, but use a piloted bit.) Until I gained the confidence, I'd start in the middle of the box and open up a cheater hole to peek and make sure where I was. Lately, I've been marking the outside edge of the box. If you do that, plung at the mark and cut *towards* the box. If you've marked properly, you shouldn't be able to budge the tool, since it'll be tight up against the box already. Then, proceed to cut, applying force in two directions at once -- along the direction of the cut and towards the center of the box. (You need to apply pretty towards the box center to keep the cut from wandering wide.) The bit should follow the box whithout a hitch if you are applying enough force towards the box center. Make sure you know the general outlines of the box first, so you're not fooled by various "bumps" such as the screw hole "ears" on metal boxes.
The other day, I had to do a shallow pan fan box in a ceiling that I was hanging using some pretty expensive bead board panels. No way I could hit the interior of the box without grinding up the wires, and I didn't want to eat a sheet of paneling by starting too far outside the box, so I HAD to hit the outside rim exactly. I put a screw in the ceiling on one side of the piece I was hanging, leaving it proud, and positioned a tape hooked over the screw, marking the ceiling at the spot on the far side where the tape exactly lined up with the edge of the box. Took note of the measurement on the tape where it touched the box and tacked up the board. Put the tape back on the screw, lined it up with the mark on the far side and marked the spot to plunge. I then proceeded to cover my face in sawdust. Perfecto!
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA