sds chiselling out sockets

[Stephen]

Hello,

I used to use angle grinders and wall chasers to make holes for electrical sockets but read here about using an sds drill as a chisel. I have found that as far as production of dust is concerned, chiseling is the way to go. However, how do you limit the depth? I found the drill got carried away with itself and would have quite happily punched through the wall rather than stop after 35mm! Is there a trick to this?

Thanks, Stephen.

PS I can't really justify buying the special £50 attachment for once-in-a-blue-moon socket fixing.

[Tim S]

Stephen coughed up some electrons that declared:

Bit of bright tape round the chisel shank to give a rough indication of depth?

I understand not buying a box sinker for a few one offs. I did, but I've got over 50 boxes to sink in one go.

Cheers

Tim

[Peter Scott]

After a bit you can judge the depth. The tape idea is sound but the chisel will also be marked by the abrasion. You don't mention cutting channels. I now use a channelling chisel and it's magic. You can't achieve a perfectly even depth but once you get the correct angle it is very quick in cement blocks. Not had to do bricks I'm glad to say. Channelling is dusty though. Someone nearby with a vacuum cleaner is a good idea. And mask and glasses.

Peter Scott

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Stephen saying something like:

You can buy the wide socket chisel seperately for ~10ukp.

[John Rumm]

Use some insulating tape to indicate the appropriate depth on the chisel. Draw a line round your box, and then trace round it with your chisel bit cutting to the depth set by the tape. Once the perimeter is cut, I usually switch to a wider chisel (say 40mm rather than the 20mm I use for the edges), and chop out the remainder using the cut edges as a depth guide. A SDS with a decent speed control is handy for the more delicate chiselling jobs.