Re: Your Favorite Install Tool?

[Sylvain Robitaille <syl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim wrote:

>> There are two things I really don't like about any sort of wiring
>> projects (and the alarm panel is only one currently planned for my
>> house):
>>
>>   - working with fish tapes
>>   - working in the attic at any time of year
>
> Then I strongly suggest that you drop your interest in snaking wires
> and concentrate on investigating wireless alarm systems.

That's not unexpected advice.  However, I already have the (wired only)
alarm panel I intend to use, and although I'm not very good at it, I'm
also persistent enough to get the wires run.  I expect it will help a
lot that I'm not likely to need to do any of the wiring through the
attic.

> Jus kidden!

Perhaps, but it is a valid comment ...

> Snaking wires can be taught to someone up to a certain point. After
> that, you just have to put in whatever time necessary for YOU to learn
> what it takes to do it.  ...

Right.  I had the "taught" part in high-school (an electrical program at
a technical school), and although I never had to cut a fish tape then, I
still wasn't particularly good at it.  Since then, some employment I've
had has cause me to need to run wires through walls, ceilings, under
floors, etc., usually requiring a fish tape, but that has never been my
full-time job, and I've never gotten to the point of "just give it a
twist and out it pops ..."

> ... but to this day, he thinks I've got Xray vision. ...

Well, you certainly obviously have a good picture in your mind of what
you're drilling into, though you can't actually see it.  :-)

> Speaking of that, I had a helper who was drilling a window down to the
> basement pop out of the wall with a drill bit.

For me it was drilling up from the basement into a wall, for telephone
wiring.  Came out through the quarter-round at the base! :-(
In another case, I came out even in front of the quarter round (despite
having measured very carefully)!  I'm not _really_ so inept, but the
lack of experience really does show when you work on this kind of thing.

> That was years ago. Now, I carry a few of those small plastic tubes of
> paint tint. Primary colors, and black so I can mix up just about any
> color spackle I need.

These are the kinds of things you guys all seem to do, perhaps with
different details, that makes the rest of us go "how'd he do that?"  :-)

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Sylvain Robitaille                              syl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Systems and Network analyst                       Concordia University
Instructional & Information Technology        Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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