I want to drill a hole for an aerial cable to come in through a window
sill. It's about 20cm long. What kind of drill bit should I use for
this? All the ones that I've seen that are that long are the flat
bladed kind and are too big.

In theory of course I could drill from both sides but I feel sure that
would go horribly wrong.

-- Richard

Richard Tobin wrote:

I want to drill a hole for an aerial cable to come in through a window
sill. It's about 20cm long. What kind of drill bit should I use for
this? All the ones that I've seen that are that long are the flat
bladed kind and are too big.

In theory of course I could drill from both sides but I feel sure that
would go horribly wrong.

-- Richard

An 8mm auger would be the logical thing, run at low speed.

I would stay well away from the cheap flat bits, they make a messy end
result and can behave badly along the way. Their only plus is theyre
cheap and can be made easily from scrap.

I'm not so sure drilling the sill is the best option though.


NT

"Richard Tobin" wrote in message
...
I want to drill a hole for an aerial cable to come in through a window
sill.

Why?
Go through the wall at the height of all your other wall mounted outlets.
Fit a socket box and aerial face plate.

It's about 20cm long. What kind of drill bit should I use for
this? All the ones that I've seen that are that long are the flat
bladed kind and are too big.

Plenty of long ones he

http://www.toolstation.com/index.html?code=29919



In theory of course I could drill from both sides but I feel sure that
would go horribly wrong.

Yes.

--
Mike W

In article ,
VisionSet wrote:

I want to drill a hole for an aerial cable to come in through a window
sill.

Why?

Because drilling through 8 inches of wood seems easier than drilling
through a foot or so of stone.

Plenty of long ones he

http://www.toolstation.com/index.html?code=29919

Thanks.

-- Richard

"Richard Tobin" wrote in message
...
In article ,
VisionSet wrote:

I want to drill a hole for an aerial cable to come in through a window
sill.

Why?

Because drilling through 8 inches of wood seems easier than drilling
through a foot or so of stone.

Until your window frame rots away

Nowt wrong with a long flat-bit for the wood, I use them often. Or a
long SDS bit for the stone?

The best drill bit is a long auger bit, provided you have a drill
capable of driving it - a diy cordless ain't going to do it.

The tricky bit will be getting the hole to come out exactly where you
want, the slightest wrong angle on entry will be hugely magnified as
wrong position on exit.

Is there no thinner part of the window frame you could drill?

If your walls are soft stone (e.g. limestone) an SDS drill and bit will
be an easier task to get right, if you have granite walls then window
frame is best - but find a thinner bit of frame.

An 8mm auger would be the logical thing, run at low speed.


A bit off topic but I remember as a young child seeing my father using
a red-hot poker to make larger holes in wood.

My weapon of choice would be a long masonary drill to run through both
inner and outer walls, but that would be tricky with say concrete or
some natural stone walls.

J

In article .com,
wrote:

Is there no thinner part of the window frame you could drill?

Unfortunately the thinner part gets covered by the shutters.

-- Richard

Richard Tobin wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:


Is there no thinner part of the window frame you could drill?


Unfortunately the thinner part gets covered by the shutters.

I would suggest a long masonry bit through the wall then.

--
Cheers,

John.

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John Rumm wrote:

I would suggest a long masonry bit through the wall then.

Picture the lead going in through the wood sill, it would look like a
rank bodge. And would be one really.


NT

"SJP" wrote in message
...

"Richard Tobin" wrote in message
...
In article ,
VisionSet wrote:

I want to drill a hole for an aerial cable to come in through a window
sill.

Why?

Because drilling through 8 inches of wood seems easier than drilling
through a foot or so of stone.

Until your window frame rots away

I'll second that.

Hole though the window frame looks unsightly inside and out.
Professional aerial installers will go through the wall lower down - through
a brick not a mortar joint.

A 400mm(16") 8mm diam masonary drill will probably go through both inner
and outer walls in one go, enabling the cable to be easily be fed straight
in across the air gap. Don't forget to leave a small drooping bit of
cable on the outside so the rain drips off that rather than runs down the
brickwork.

If you are set on drilling the wood, the cheap tool shop here stocked Rolson
brand long wood drills of the lip and spur type, set of three: 6, 8, and
10mm x 300 long, for 1 UKP.

I don't know what cable you are using, but if its the high grade PF 100
satellite quality cable then an 8 mm drill is sufficient but if its the
older poor quality brown stuff then 10mm drill will be needed.

Roger

Roger R wrote:

If you are set on drilling the wood, the cheap tool shop here stocked Rolson
brand long wood drills of the lip and spur type, set of three: 6, 8, and
10mm x 300 long, for 1 UKP.

I once bought 3 long bits for £1. Against my better judgement, I think
curiosity got the better of me. What ensued was a drilling nightmare.
Such bits might be ok for drilling holes in butter, but for anything
else I'd avoid them. Even on soft building material they managed less
than one hole per bit.


NT

wrote in message
oups.com...

I once bought 3 long bits for £1. Against my better judgement, I think
curiosity got the better of me. What ensued was a drilling nightmare.
Such bits might be ok for drilling holes in butter, but for anything
else I'd avoid them. Even on soft building material they managed less
than one hole per bit.

-------

One hole per bit in *very* soft wood- that was my experience too.
Hard wood - useless.

My task was to run a cable from one room into another through the wall.
Drilled hole with ordinary drill in skirting on one side and followed up
with masonry drill through the brick. That left me upagainst the backside
of the skirting in the other room. The masonry drill would not cut through
the wood, and as I didn't know exactly where the hole would come out I
couldn't use an ordinary drill to start from the other side.

The long wood drill through the hole was the answer but as you say, even 15
mm of skirting defeated these cheap bits and the task had to be finished off
with another sharper masonary drill.

Roger