Wall Chasing

[DomValente]

Is there anyone who can advise me on which is the best wall chaser to buy.
Have seen the Makita and was not impressed.
It will be used for trade purposes.

Dom

 

[Jake]

Only ever used a (hired) Hilti - it seemed to work well, still a messy tool though.

What was up with the Mak?

 

[DomValente]

Seemed flimsy and really noisy when you switched it on.

Dom

 

[woodshavings]

Hi Dom
I bought a Screwfix el cheapo (about £70 AFAIR) a couple of years ago. It was a lot cheaper than the top brand units, but of course, you get what you pay for.
However, it was for a specific project and worked well. The chased walls were cement covered thermalite, so I dont know how it would of performed on concrete block.
I would not recommend it for heavy trade use, but for occasional use, it seemed OK.
Warning - even connected to an extractor, it still makes a ****## mess!!

John

 

[JFC]

I find the Polish ones pretty good but the Slovacs are up and comming :lol:

 

[TonyW]

Cannot advise on wall chaser - but can suggest what not to try!!

Looking to chase lounge wall out for new tv last year. Decided wall chasers expensive luxury - bought a cheapo angle grinder from B&Q, reasoning that it would come in useful for other things

I am sure that you are already ahead of me here. I knew there would be some dust but was totally unprepared for the chaos that followed.

I sealed of the room with old sheets and started cutting - within minutes the room filled with dust cloud - in fact could not see the cutter :shock: The dust penetrated the sheets and ended up in every room in the house.
Decided to suck up the dust with the Dyson - result one knackered vacuum cleaner

SWMBO not too pleased when she returned from shopping. Ended up drilling and cutting by hand.

Cheers
Tony

 

[RogerS]

If it's for cabling and especially if in softer blocks like thermalite then I can recommend Part Number: G225B4CC30 from Armeg. You use it in an SDS drill and produces much, much less dust.

 

[DomValente]

I find the Polish ones pretty good but the Slovacs are up and comming :lol:

Yes but will they chase out to 30mm to take the reg. trunking.

Dom

 

[JFC]

Go on chose the best http://www.hilti.co.uk/holuk/modules/prcat/prca_fuse.jsp?RANGE_OID=13376

 

[DomValente]

Don't you love it when they say" price upon request" or if you need to ask you can't afford it.

Dom

 

[RogerM]

It won't be cheap Dom. £399 s/h for "buy it now" on "da Bay".

 

[DomValente]

Thank you Roger

Dom

 

[Jake]

That's the one I've used - HSS do them (or did a couple of years ago) if you want to try out before investing so much.

 

[JFC]

Ok they are alotta dosh but if you have a problem up to 2 years they come and pick the machine up , replace it with a demo one , fix yours and bring it back to you again . All companies that supply machinery have problems and this was the best service i have ever had . I went Hilti after giving up on default and their drilling etc tools are the best on the market . They went into wood working tools and i had problems that where sorted with no cost or time loss to me . No other company i know does that .
It does hurt to pay the money but Hilti are the leaders in mens tools :wink:

 

[woodbutcher]

toolstation have one on offer in there sale!


woodbutcher

 

[DomValente]

JFC wrote:

but Hilti are the leaders in mens tools

Damnit, now what do I do.

Dom

 

[wizer]

interesting. I just bough one of those drill attachments off screwfix... not used it yet, but am now assuming its total rubbish... :roll:

 

[misterfish]

It depends on what your walls are made of!

Our new extension has thermalite blocks and they are easy to cut and chase. The Armeg SDS chasing chisels and box cutters work efforlessly but you will get some mess.

The old part of the house has extremely hard bricks - the builder thinks some sort of engineering type. First tried drilling and using the Armeg chisels but it took over 30 mins to just cut out a hole for a double electric box. Then used a Makita wall chaser with a Henry vacuum - had to cut slowly or the discs would slow dramatically, but they did the job. Having a decent vacuum cleaner made a terrific difference and kept dust to a minimum (I'd been through the so much dust in the air that I coudn't see fun and games once before!). Then used a big SDS max machine to chisel out the chases and the boxes.

Most of the smaller chasers are limited in the width they cut and if you have to drop several wires you may need to do a second cut to get the width required, Also the boxes need to be cut deeper than the chases and if you use the chaser to outline the box the deeper cutting takes a time using drill and chisel.

We did consider using a bigger chaser (using 9 inch disks) but at about 9 or 10 KG it would have been too heavy to use for any length of time.

I don't think it matters haw hard you try to stop dust, you will not succeed, but with a decent vacuum cleaner attached to the machine you can keep it to a minimum.

As for Dyson - we also had this problem a while ago. Whe we went to our local vacuum cleaner specialist he wasn't surprised and said that Dysons are for domestic dust and once clogged with brick dust are difficult and time consuming to clean - he wouldn't touch it saying it's not cost effective. So now I use our (very) old Vax for building dust but have to regularly clean the filters to keep it efficient. The Henry we borrowed had disposable filters and bags and was a pleasure to use (in comparison).

MisterFish

 

[DomValente]

Thanks for your help guys.
Looks like Hilti it is.
Have to get JFC round to use it for me though

Dom

 

[JFC]

No chance , i might break a finger nail !!! :lol:
If you give them a call they may send a rep around to save you having to leave the workshop . Take a look at the cordless screwdriver while your there , top bit of kit !