Christmas time is soon for me....

Looks nice, did you order it with the espresso machine option?

 

Ho Ho Ho!

 

You shoulda called Moze..... I'll betcha he already has one.

You'll be abler to do this with one letter left over, by their standards.

 

Cordless hammers are such a great tool. We picked up a couple well used dewalt 36v with hepa filter at an auction for less that $50 a piece including 2 batteries and charger. They have saved a ton of time on a few jobs. If you have that many letters you will want 2 or 3 batteries ready (assuming you have other tools and batteries on that platform)

 

Yeah, at 4-5 studs per letter, you're looking at 275-345 holes....you'll want to bring a few batteries.

 

Was he going to borrow mine lol?

 

We recently got a cordless SDS and it's just amazing how much time gets saved. No more 100' extension cords taking up space, or the inevitability of asking your customer to run a big extension cord through their lobby because the external outlets never worked... I drank hitachi's kool aid though, already swimming in 18v batteries, and they've seemed to hold up longer.
Here is a fun tip for installing stud mounted letters without the fancy vacuum. More often than not your hole is full of dust, and if you don't get it somewhat clean, all of your silicone balls up with a nice coat of dust. Just bring a baby nose sucker, shove it in the hole, give it a squeeze, profit.

 

Hitachi is now Metabo HPT. TTheir new Multivolt stuff is cool in the event you need to be plugged in.

The snot sucker probably works good for cleaning out the holes but the purpose of the extractor is to prevent the operator from inhaling the silica when drilling, sawing, chipping, breaking, etc. It's mandatory for employers to provide dust extraction for their employees now. And it's straight up foolish to not use it, even if you are self-employed.

 

Dust extraction or just dust protection is mandatory?

 

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.1153

Handheld and stand-mounted drills (including impact and rotary hammer drills):

Use drill equipped with commercially available shroud or cowling with dust collection system
Operate and maintain tool in accordance with manufacturer's instructions to minimize dust emissions
Dust collector must provide the air flow recommended by the tool manufacturer, or greater, and have a filter with 99% or greater efficiency and a filter-cleaning mechanism
Use a HEPA-filtered vacuum when cleaning holes

 

In an uncontrolled environment they require you to control your silica dust emissions. Technically if you require your employees to wear a respirator than you have to have a fit test program in place unless it's pressure fed. I would always wear one. Silicosis is bad news.

 

Well shoot, looks like I'm going to do some early christmas shopping for my installers! Quick question, anybody know the advised procedure for dust collection when the bit is longer than the dust collecting tools permit? Like an 18" long bit wouldn't work unless you used a 6", then a 12". I have a 4' bit but I sure don't have every 6" step all the way up to 48...

 

Most of the major manufacturers (Bosch, Hilti, DeWalt) offer hollow bits. You attach a vacuum 'port' towards the top of the bit. There are holes at the tip of the bit that the debris is sucked through. They go up the bit and into the 'port' then into your extractor.

 

I had to do some work in an office a couple years back and do some sanding Got a Bosch orbital with a filter system and along with the shop vac attached not a bit of dust.
To clean out holes after drilling in block the Giottos Rocket Blower works the best.

 

Not sure it works 'best'....It's a whole lot easier to vacuum while (or after) you drill than it is to blow each hole out with a hand-operated squeezie thing.

 

I just keep the "hand operated squeezie" thing in my back pocket, I am not going to have a vacuum up there with me with a plastic tent surrounding myself with a sustained temp of 72 degrees. Drilling holes in the wall is not rocket science. Just let your nose hairs grow a little bit to keep that dust out or wait for a windy day. That OSHA paper you posted just said you need a good respirator.

 

Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong....cutting my nose hairs.

It all depends on the situation. You can't subject other people to the dust, so if you're drilling near anyone, it needs to be vacuumed.

Also, you don't have to carry a separate vacuum, every major player offers onboard extractors.


...Plastic tent?