wall chaser

[Phil Pascoe]

I've just bought one of these - https://www.aldi.co.uk/ferrex-wall-chas ... E743256D00
I haven't tried it other than to switch it on, but it seems to be a half decent bit of kit - at 1500w it's a chunk - with a decent case, with storage for for discs. For what electricians charge, it won't take long to justify its existence, and I have numerous small jobs spread over a time, so it'll be ideal. I thought the chisel odd, but it's obviously meant to be inserted in the cut to lever the waste out. I'm impressed so far.

 

[MikeG.]

The most important part of a chaser isn't in that box. Far and away the most important thing is the vacuum it is attached to, which needs to be a serious industrial jobbie, preferably with auto-on/ off switching with the chaser.

 

[sunnybob]

I watched the cypriot builders chasing walls on my estate as it was built (I was the first inhabitant). Clay blocks all the way. They were using ordinary disc cutters, but they did put a hankie over their mouths :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :roll:
Within seconds of starting they just disappeared, until about 30 seconds after you heard the disc cutter stop, then shapes started appearing in the red fog.
I think most of them died young. (hammer)

 

[Distinterior]

I have, what appears to be, a very similar machine to the one in your picture. I've had mine for 15 years, at least. Mine came from Screwfix and was branded Titan. Not the best quality by a long way but it has not let me down in all those years. I don't use it a lot, perhaps 5 or 6 times a year when the job/project requires it.

The only small issue I have had with mine is the On/Off switch can be difficult to turn on occasionally. not too surprising considering just how much abrasive dust these things chuck about....

As Mike said, a good quality Extractor is a must, otherwise you will be in a world of dust. I wouldn't entertain using it in a Clients home without....!

 

[Stanleymonkey]

I watched the cypriot builders chasing walls on my estate as it was built (I was the first inhabitant). Clay blocks all the way. They were using ordinary disc cutters, but they did put a hankie over their mouths :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :roll:
Within seconds of starting they just disappeared, until about 30 seconds after you heard the disc cutter stop, then shapes started appearing in the red fog.
I think most of them died young. (hammer)

When I re-wired my kitchen I had to chase a lot of cables into the red bricks. I had to keep stopping when I couldn't see the angle grinder any more!! Let the dust settle and chase a bit more! I think I wore a dust mask though!

 

[MikeJhn]

When I did the chasing in our utility room I closed the door opened the window and had an industrial fan at waist height to blow the dust outside, Oh yes I also had a 2500watt vacuum on the machine, the amount of dust was such my neighbour called the fire brigade which was nice of her. =D>

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I watched the cypriot builders chasing walls on my estate as it was built (I was the first inhabitant). Clay blocks all the way. They were using ordinary disc cutters, but they did put a hankie over their mouths :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :roll:
Within seconds of starting they just disappeared, until about 30 seconds after you heard the disc cutter stop, then shapes started appearing in the red fog.
I think most of them died young. (hammer)

Greek builders do it with a hammer. Seriously - you build a wall out of red air brick, carefully, so it has nice, undulating waves in it (they don't do straight and level - probably something to do with earthquakes), and then the electrician comes in and just smashes channels with a hammer - shards of brick everywhere. Squidge some conduit pipe in the newly created gap, and throw a bit of cement in to "make good". What could possibly go wrong?

It's a bit challenging when you have just paid to have the wall built, but after 10 years or so the memory becomes less raw. Eventually, you even come to terms with it.

 

[MikeJhn]

Now days house building does not have chased walls the cable is hidden behind dot and dab plasterboard in plastic conduit if your lucky.

 

[HappyHacker]

I did try mine without an extractor and found after a few seconds I could not see the wall. Now I put Henry onto it and that generally works OK without much dust except when the shrouding is not in contact with the wall but I would not use it in a furnished room without lots of dust proof dust sheets.

I found mine is quite good at finding cables in walls :shock:

 

[sunnybob]

I watched the cypriot builders chasing walls on my estate as it was built (I was the first inhabitant). Clay blocks all the way. They were using ordinary disc cutters, but they did put a hankie over their mouths :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :roll:
Within seconds of starting they just disappeared, until about 30 seconds after you heard the disc cutter stop, then shapes started appearing in the red fog.
I think most of them died young. (hammer)

Greek builders do it with a hammer. Seriously - you build a wall out of red air brick, carefully, so it has nice, undulating waves in it (they don't do straight and level - probably something to do with earthquakes), and then the electrician comes in and just smashes channels with a hammer - shards of brick everywhere. Squidge some conduit pipe in the newly created gap, and throw a bit of cement in to "make good". What could possibly go wrong?

It's a bit challenging when you have just paid to have the wall built, but after 10 years or so the memory becomes less raw. Eventually, you even come to terms with it.

Strangely, after carefully chasing out the electric conduits in the walls with a disc cutter, they then use your described method (a BFH) to knock out areas for the main electric boxes and central heating manifolds, regularly smashing right through the walls when only half way through would be enough.

 

[Eric The Viking]

We have lime mortar here and lime plaster, mostly.

I bought a Titan one around 15 years ago. I threw, er, gave it away.

It worked as described, but after I tried it I was threatened with divorce if I tried it again. Actually we were in (rare) agreement. I am sure originally they were intended only for a vary short annual sales window, just after the end of March. Impossible to use in any building containing people, furniture, or any other human artefacts, without destruction of same under corrosive dust. Actually noisier than my (then) teenage children. Horribly difficult to steer, too, especially as any operator is temporarily blinded. And if the plaster is at all dodgy, expect large lumps shaped like Greenland to drop off those neat edges, usually in very obvious places (Mr. Trump, have I got a deal for you...).

As they say in the adverts, "What's to like?"

E.

PS: for those rare occasions, I now get great results, pretty fast, using Saxton carbide cutters in my multi-tool. Small fraction of the mess, and usually a lot neater too.

 

[Distinterior]

I did use mine recently on an old house that was built in about 1900. The red bricks behind were quite soft and easy to cut but the 1" thick render on the wall had the strength of Kryptonite. Thankfully, the complete house was in the process of being refurbished, so even though I still had my chaser connected to my dust extractor via a 50mm hose, the small percentage of dust that still escaped didnt matter too much. A mask, goggles and gloves are also part of the set-up.......

 

[Eric The Viking]

A mask, goggles and gloves are also part of the set-up...

OK, so that protected the neighbours and the rest of the town, but what did the operator wear?

;-)

 

[MikeJhn]

I have just the thing. :wink:

 

[TFrench]

I have a titan one, its done me proud. It was great for chopping in the back boxes into the walls as well - I used it to plunge in on each edge of where I wanted the box, left a nice little pattern of squares that just popped out. With all the chases I had to do I reckon it saved me a full day - let alone how much cleanup time it saved (firmly duct taped to the extractor!)