Help with OAK install

[LYHTSPD]

I seem to have a hit a bit of a snag on my outside air kit install. I have an exterior chimney that I am trying to drill through to run a 4" OAK for my wood burning insert. I have cut away the 1/4" steel plate of the old firebox, and the 1/16" steel sheet metal covering the brick. From my measuring, the brick is nearly 28" thick on the side I want to cut to run the duct. I was to go out the side of the chimney, but I don't think that going through the back is going to be any easier.

I have a hammer drill and an 3/8" diameter 18" long masonry bit that I was going to use as a pilot hole to see where it came into the firebox at. I was hoping I had measured wrong and the chimney was not really 28" thick. The bit bottomed out without breaking through. My plan was to drill a circular pattern of holes and then just break the brick out around it as I went deeper.

I have called around to all of the tool rental places and no one has a core drill that will go that deep, or even a 36" masonry bit I can rent. I have found 36" long bit on the internet, but was trying to avoid having to purchase one for just use. I can also purchase one at my local Grainger's for nearly twice the price as online.

I am looking for any other options or opinions.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Well, only the outside has to be "kind of" pretty.. can you just use a crow bar or some kind of long rod and "whack that sucker"..

Just sort of break them up and work your way through..

 

[DAKSY]

Have you tried the local plumbers or masons union? Those are the guys that do this stuff ALL the time. Maybe one of them can point you towards someone who may let you borrow one. Maybe your local hearth shop? When I worked as an installer we had em up to 4 feet long, but I will admit that the 3 footer was the most I could handle...

 

[Pallet Pete]

I seem to have a hit a bit of a snag on my outside air kit install. I have an exterior chimney that I am trying to drill through to run a 4" OAK for my wood burning insert. I have cut away the 1/4" steel plate of the old firebox, and the 1/16" steel sheet metal covering the brick. From my measuring, the brick is nearly 28" thick on the side I want to cut to run the duct. I was to go out the side of the chimney, but I don't think that going through the back is going to be any easier.

I have a hammer drill and an 3/8" diameter 18" long masonry bit that I was going to use as a pilot hole to see where it came into the firebox at. I was hoping I had measured wrong and the chimney was not really 28" thick. The bit bottomed out without breaking through. My plan was to drill a circular pattern of holes and then just break the brick out around it as I went deeper.

I have called around to all of the tool rental places and no one has a core drill that will go that deep, or even a 36" masonry bit I can rent. I have found 36" long bit on the internet, but was trying to avoid having to purchase one for just use. I can also purchase one at my local Grainger's for nearly twice the price as online.

I am looking for any other options or opinions.

There may be a extinsion available at your hardware. I had a similar problem running cable and found an extension at my local hardware that had a set screw to hold the bit. It worked fairly well for brick.

Pete

 

[Pallet Pete]

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-12-in-drill-bit-extension/p-00920920000P

This is what your looking for I believe.

Pete

 

[semipro]

The wall may not be solid brick. Its more likely to be brick on either side with some sort of fill in the middle. The fill, broken bricks, concrete block etc. may be relatively easy to break through once you get through the brick.

 

[LYHTSPD]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was going to try an extension, but the masonry bit I have does not have any flats that the extension set screw could hold on to. I think I have that exact extension somewhere in my toolbox Pete. I had not thought of calling the local union guys. I always figure they will be of little help since I am trying to do this myself. If this does not work, that is who I will call next.

I was able to find a 36" 3/8" dia masonry bit online for $10 and paid $20 to get it here by Friday. I hate spending more in shipping than the item, but I need to get this wrapped up this weekend because it is getting colder out. Wish me luck.

 

[LYHTSPD]

Well, I worked on getting this hole drilled this weekend. I drilled through the pilot hole I started earlier and it was exactly where I measured it out to be! What luck! I then proceeded to drill ~16 holes around the perimeter of the hole I wanted. I drilled all the holes first with the 18" long bit to act as a guide hole. I then drilled 5 of the holes out with the 36" long bit, and then the carbide cutter broke off the tip! And that is where is stopped on Saturday. I have put out some feelers on craigslist to see if anyone would want to tackle this as a side job. No luck with that.

I now have a guy at work who has access to a core drill that might have enough extensions to do what I need. Why can't anything be easy?

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Can you not work from the inside out?

 

[LYHTSPD]

Can you not work from the inside out?

I doubt it. I will have to take a picture of the mess tonight and let you guys take a look at what I have gotten myself into. It's comical really. No, not really.

 

[LYHTSPD]

Well, I never did get a chance to take pictures. Oh well. I do have some good news though. A guy I work with said that his dad might have something that would fit the bill. He is a general contractor and has a Dewalt rotary hammer and a 5" dia carbide cutting cup for drilling through walls. He brought that over to my house on Saturday morning, and within an hour and a half we had a clean hole through 28" of brick and some concrete block I had never seen before. It almost looked like fire brick, but it was denser and heaver. Who knows. It took every inch of the rotary hammer to get it all the way through. We even had some of the hammer's housing in the hole. I was able to finish the installation of the outside air kit by lunch. Just in time for the 30 degree drop in temps for Monday.

 

[glenc0322]

glad to hear you were able to finish a core machine would work perfectly i drill through 3 feet of concrete all the time you just mount it where you want and add water and away you go