Easiest way to enlarge an electrical knockout?

[HerHusband]

I only have 8 pipe clamps (four feet long),

12 Jet parallel bar clamps (two feet long), and 12 small bar clamps (one foot long).

It sounds like a lot, but I frequently run out of clamps when gluing up panels, cabinet doors, or similar projects. I usually have to do my glueups in stages over two or three days.

I started out with the pipe clamps, and still use them for larger projects. They also came in handy for construction projects when I needed to pull walls into alignment or something.

These days I prefer to use the Jet clamps when I can.

I don't use the small bar clamps as often, but when I need them they're great to have. They have been most useful when gluing up curved objects like bent wood laminations.

I would love to have more clamps, but I don't know where I would keep them. :)

Ironically, I still don't have a band clamp. I need to get one of those.

Anthony Watson

[Bill]

Get some pipe connectors (they are about a buck a piece) and you can have even longer pipe clamps. Great for decks, workbenches, ...

[The Daring Dufas]

Ya see there, you used the tools you had on hand. I have a small hand nibbler too and I often use it to turn round holes into square ones. ^_^

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

I bought my first Unibit in the early 1970's at an electronic parts store. The first one lasted until the mid 1980's when I broke it while installing a set of automatic doors in a grocery store. The originals manufactured by The Unibit Corporation seemed to best and longest lasting. ^_^

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

1) should have just painted the cord white. 2) Now, you have a hot ceiling, and cold floor. You need either a ceiling fan, or infrared heaters, to warm the floor. Maybe Wirsbo in floor heat.

That's an impressive web page for a 3/4 inch knock out story.

[HerHusband]

Bill,

I bought a couple of pipe connectors, but so far haven't used them.

The last time I needed to do a long clamp, I just ganged up three pipe clamps so they pulled on each other in series. It was quick and easy, so that's the approach I took. :)

Anthony Watson

[HerHusband]

I used to use the nibbler tool all the time when I did electronics work. I made a lot of little gadgets when I was younger. These days the nibbler just sits in my tool chest, out of sight, out of mind. It was nice to be able to make use of it again.

Anthony Watson

[HerHusband]

The dangling cord would have bugged me even if it was painted white. I'm funny like that.

Unless I'm working under the car, I'm usually not laying down on the floor. So that's not really an issue. Besides, the fan in the heater does a good job of circulating the warm air in the room. As long as it's comfortable to do a little woodworking or a project at the workbench, I'm happy.

I thought about installing heating tubes in the slab when we built the garage. But, I couldn't justify the extra expense since I only work in the garage occasionally. Radiant floor heat would have been slow to respond, and I'm usually only in the garage a few hours at a time. It's easy to go in and flip on the electric heater while I'm working, then turn it off when I leave.

I couldn't find much information on installing the FUH54 heater when I ordered it. The owners manual that comes with the heater is also rather limited. So I thought I would document my installation in hopes it would help someone else in the same situation. The 3/4 inch knockout situation was just an unexpected side project that worked into the story. :)

It took less than an hour to put the page together, so why not...

Anthony Watson Mountain Software

[The Daring Dufas]

I try to purchase tools that have more than one use and not buy tools that have only one function unless I use it often. ^_^

TDD

[Bob_Villa]

Please don't answer the stormin' moron point for point...it only gives him more fuel to be senseless! *L* (I agree about painting the cord...it would look tacky)

[Stormin Mormon]

SM: I got the sense of that.

SM: Oh, you're not funny about that?

SM: Ah, so you want a fast acting device you can flip off?

SM: Glad that worked out.

SM: Easy for you to say!

[Bob_Villa]

I rest my case...

[Scott Lurndal]

Personally, I would have used a length of 1/2" flex conduit with #12 THHN rather than using a "dryer cord" for this particular installation. No need to enlarge the knockout, and the wiring is somewhat protected. A flat metal cover plate with a knockout would hold the flex connector on the outlet box side.

[hrhofmann]

This has been one of the best threads on AHR in a long time, with the results actually being available for everyone to see and discuss in a civil manner.

[HerHusband]

The heater draws about 22 amps, so I needed four #10 wires to accomodate the external switch.

I originally planned to direct wire with flexible conduit, but changed my mind at the store. I didn't want to buy four rolls of different colored THHN wire, and if you've ever tried to have wire specialty cut at the box store, you know what a hassle that is. I couldn't find the conduit connectors, they didn't have the cover plate with knockout in stock, and it was becoming more trouble than it was worth.

Grab a dryer cord, receptacle, and cover plate. Done. :)

I'm glad I went with the second approach as I've already taken the heater down twice.

Anthony Watson

[Stormin Mormon]

And that's just in the first half hour after you got the job completed? OCD much?

[HerHusband]

It was actually over a three day period, but yeah, I do tend to overthink most things. :)

Anthony Watson

[Scott Lurndal]

Ah, I thought I had read that it was 2.2kw. At 220, that's about 10 amps, which is why I suggested #12AWG.

As I usually have several spools of 12AWG THHN available, that hasn't been a problem for me (and my local hardware store, OSH, is pretty good about cutting custom lengths when I do need something I don't have). I tend to avoid the orange and blue stores, but I understand that isn't an option for everyone.

I put mine up (3.5kw) a dozen years ago in the garage (a dayton unit) and have never needed to take it down. Then again, it's wired with EMT and hung from unistrut, so it's not particularly _easy_ to take down either.

For mine, I put both a DPST and Thermostat in circuit so I'd never need to go near the heater and could completely disable it during the 10 months when it is never needed.

[The Daring Dufas]

It's actually a good thing you installed it with the thought of future maintenance. A lot of the installations of equipment I've seen over the years have been thrown in as quickly as possible and as cheaply as possible. It adds to the cost of maintenance for a customer because of the time it takes to remove and replace it. ^_^

TDD