I'm installing around x10 (Aurora - 12v - fire protected) Downlights in my Kitchen's plasterboard ceiling.
The plasterboard's hole cut out diameter is going to be 85 mm for each downlight - what is the best way to make these cut outs?
Steve
You can get an adjustable cutter with a big shroud round it to catch the dust and off cut.Should be in the diy sheds, or try screwfix. I don't do many so a cheapo set of hole cutters and a plasterboard saw , maybe 5/6quid does the job well enough.I've often found the diameter of the whole cutters never matches the diameter of the cut out,annoying
a hole saw
hole cutter if you can find one that size, or just a padsaw, or even a serrated knife.
I found that an oversized hole was well covered by the fittings, and a smear of decorators caulk stopped the fittings sliding sideways.
Holesaw is the best. But one that size might be expensive.
Can be done easily enough with a keyhole saw. But requires more skill for a neat job.
I have a fly-cutter with a big dish under it that catches all the rubbish. Unlike a hole saw, you can set the diameter to exactly what you want. However, fly cutters in power tools are potentially quite dangerous. If you are only cutting plasterboard, a hand drill will be adequate and will give you more control over the cut.
Colin Bignell
Really, Ive done them with a 'kitchen devil' knife.
They don't have to even be neat. the fitting covers well.
I ran a bead of caulk up to the edge, and that makes painting with them in place really easy too, apart from stopping them sliding about when you change bulbs.
I used a £3 plasterboard saw. On lath and plaster ceilings I'd say it was probably the only way to do it. The spring in the fitting snaps pretty tightly on thicker plasterboard, but not sure about the 9.5 mm
I used a hole saw for a similar job 12 years ago that I got cheap, it is
89mm diameter and you are welcome to borrow it if suitable and you are near Leeds West Yorks.HTH
John
There we have a basic difference in philosophjy. I don't think that something not being visible is a reason not to do it neatly.
Colin Bignell
Agreed, but its a definite reason not to get ultra prissy about it.
Are you the sort of man who goes over the building site before the suspended floors go in, with a black bag, picking up all the half bricks, screws and mortar blobs, and getting the lads to sweep the soil clean and level it with a whacker?
Sorry, I don't like a mess either, but the only layer that gets the perfection treatment is decoration..and visible joinery.
Structure is structure, and its not there to look pretty, its there to hold the important stuff up.
I used one of these..
Only if I were the one responsible for that part of the job.
It is a matter of pride in my workmanship. I would know if it had not been done right, even if it doesn't show.
Colin Bignell
John, Thank you for the kind offer of loaning me your Hole Saw, now I know what I require (thanks to you and everyone else who replied) I've asked around my friends and come up trumps with one.
Thanks again everybody.
Best wishes
Steve
Well that is a matter of equating 'neat' with 'right' . Not being a christian, 'cleanliness and godliness' dont feature.
A an engineer, the rightness of a structure is that it performs its function adequately. Neatness may or may nor feature there. Only if its likley to be actually inspected or maintained does it matter in my book..a rats nest of cables works, but a neat array of cable looms inspires confidence. But if you never see it, the rats nest may be just as good. And if its CHEAPER its BETTER engineering solution.
Engineering about being the 'art of doing for sixpence, what any damn fool can do for a quid' ;-)
With a proper 'keyhole' saw designed for this job - the sheds sell them for pennies - it's an easy job to make a pretty decent hole. Assuming you can draw a neat pencil line to follow.
I use this saw quite a bit - pretty well anywhere where you have to cut a hole in plasterboard. And sometimes in wood.
I would vioew that as an accountant's solution, not an engineering one. To my mind, an engineering solution is where you design something to do a job, with tolerances to suit the needs of the job and make it neatly to the specification and tolerances in the design. However, for a hole in plasterboard, just neat is adequate for me. As I said, we have a basic difference in philosophy.
Colin Bignell
I wouldn't dispute that. I've even used a Swiss Army knife to make a hole in plasterboard, but it was a close fit to the back box I needed to put in.
Colin Bignell
That's the trouble with you non engineers: you think its like the VW adverts..
Engineering is design for function. The appearances only function is to be pleasing to the purchaser or user.Why the eye don't see, the heart don't grieve over..
My degree was in engineering, from Glasgow University. I owned and ran an engineering business for more than quarter of a century, until I sold it off a couple of years ago, that eventually occupied 7,000 square feet of factory space and produced over 40% net profit..
That is not how I was trained. My father used to be paid piece work and he soon discovered that making things well in the first place meant he never had to rectify anything, unlike most of his co-workers, who shared your philosophy. As a result, he earned a lot more than they did.
Colin Bignell
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