Routing plasterboard?!

[AdamW]

Today a colleague told me that at the weekend he was doing some plumbing. He was commenting on how much of a mess it made when hiding pipes in the wall. I said "Yes, using an angle grinder to chase a wall does make quite a bit of dust." But them he said "No, it is a stud wall".

I thought to myself, surely removing a couple of boards or using a padsaw to cut out holes doesn't make THAT much mess! So I asked him what he used...

"I used a router and routed through the plasterboard along the whole length of the pipe run!"

Anyone who has ever made the mistake of using such a tool on plasterboard will know the amount of dust it makes is enough to make you decide "bad idea" in a couple of seconds, but sure enough he did several metres... and it turns out this is the approach he always uses!!!

 

[big-all]

l m a o

just trying to thinkl what could make more mess
touch and go whether a chainsaw or electric planer would do a better job

 

[pipme]

Half hundredweight of semtex ... ?

 

[big-all]

Half hundredweight of semtex ... ?

he only wants to channel the wall not the whole street

 

[HandyJon]

All that plaster dust will wear out his router in double quick time. An expensive way to make channels in plasterboard.

 

[pipme]

Does anyone get the cutting tools reground, or do they just buy new ?
I was in engineering, where we could get most tools reground in our tool-room, tool forms projected and corrected, vary relief angles etc .. ah, good old days !!
P

 

[AdamW]

What?! Is this to say that tools aren't disposable?!

 

[pipme]

I suppose we sharpened kit because we could do it properly!!
Likewise we would remake some tools in better materials with perhaps a tweak to the design ...

 

[AdamW]

I suppose we sharpened kit because we could do it properly!!
Likewise we would remake some tools in better materials with perhaps a tweak to the design ...

Ah, the heady days when engineers wore cloth caps and ate meat pies, and the Whitworth screw thread was boss

Is it perhaps because tools are no longer designed to be sharpened? I dunno, blade alloys that keep sharper longer but are a bu**er to sharpen?

I could try and sharpen my work tools, but I fear that a pointy biro would contravene Health and Safety regulations. And glueing drawing pins to my computer keyboard might smart somewhat.