Drilling large holes in office cubicle panels

[Greg R Bradley]

A bit OT - Not Woodworking but probably Power Tool related. Tried some other sources so thought I would see if anyone had done something like this.

Somebody thought it would be OK to let the carpet installers remove a LOT of office cubicles and reinstall them while re-carpeting an office. In the process most cords like power, telephone, network, etc. were removed from the wall plugs and put in a box. The cubicles were reinstalled. According to the guy that managed that work, these don't disassemble from one end piece by piece. I've looked at them and think he is correct.

I'm considering "drilling" holes near the needed connections. The panel material is about 2" thick sound absorption fiberboard covered by cloth material on each side - not that the side against the wall matters.

My best guess would be a 6" diameter hole saw with the teeth ground off and turned into a 6" diameter hole KNIFE. Pilot hole used to start hole and then removed while hole is carefully finished. Most of these are pushed hard against the wall so a small hole and then sawing from that point won't work. I need to make about 30 holes.

Anyone have any great ideas? Or even a silly one?

Oh, and the same idiots are doing the other floor of offices this weekend that has about 30 more offices. I hope they can do a better job.

[Andrew Joiner]

Greg,how about leaving the teeth on and drilling in reverse? It might work on fabric and soft fiberboard.

[Mel Miller]

Why were the "idiots" not required to correct their mistakes? Sounds like inexcusable sloppy work.

[Larry Edgerton]

What about those Greenlee things for pinching holes out of electrical panels? I have seen them on commercial sites that were quite large. I have used small ones, you drill a hole for the center bolt, then thread on the other side and tighten them up and it punches a hole neat as can be, in steel at least.

Just a thought.....

[Larry Edgerton]

Why were the "idiots" not required to correct their mistakes? Sounds like inexcusable sloppy work.

Really? Come on now, they are carpet layers...........Don't screw up My baseboard! Bane of my existence. Well, right after my ex wives.:cool:

[Greg R Bradley]

Andrew,
I tried that with the largest hole saw I own, a 3". It shredded the cloth (in a hidden spot) but did work a bit on the fiberboard.

I think you are on to something. I could turn one 6" hole saw into a knife to do the pilot hole and cut the cloth. Then use a regular hole saw to do the fiberboard since the cloth on the rear will never be seen.

Mel,
They could be held accountable, particularly since they have to do the other floor this weekend and haven't been paid yet. However a business needs to be back up and running one way or another and at this point there is a bunch of other stuff back in place that would have to get moved again. 1200 pound Fireking 25 Fireproof filing cabinets, Safes, Computers, etc. I suppose the original error was assuming that the carpet company would hire COMPETENT help to move all the furniture for an additional $5K.

Larry,
I knew better having JUST been through this with a heavy construction business having a flood due to a broken toilet last Labor Day weekend that took me until last month (5 months) to get back to only working 80 hour work weeks. The only thing worse than the carpet guys were the water damage guys who didn't test properly, stole large amount of personal and business items, and acted like they were doing them a favor by showing up. Their invoice was one line item for $74K. I hope they didn't get paid but that was the choice of the insurance company who lost a $4M customer over this. Just last month we found 22 FireKing 25 fireproof filing cabinets that are damaging critical paperwork due to all the fireproof insulation being damp.

I do have a complete set of Greenlee Chassis Punches from the 1970s but you have to be able to get to the other side. The modular furniture was original 2-6" away from the walls but now is 0-1/2" away from the walls.

So where is the competent professionals? This is California, where every deadbeat thinks they should be paid to sit on there rear end and get paid anyway.

Oh and please don't get me started about ex-wives. At my current payment plan, my divorce attorney will be paid off in 23 years - when I'm 85. That means I get to retire at about the same age as my father.

[Larry Edgerton]

Andrew,


So where is the competent professionals? This is California, where every deadbeat thinks they should be paid to sit on there rear end and get paid anyway.

Oh and please don't get me started about ex-wives. At my current payment plan, my divorce attorney will be paid off in 23 years - when I'm 85. That means I get to retire at about the same age as my father.

Help is no better here, and those emergency water guys, ya they are crooks!

I donated two new houses, two retirement plans, and paid $284,000 in child support. Now I'm just tired. You will read about my retirement in the obituaries. Fast cars and fast women, slow learner........

I am still pondering your problem....... router maybe? Not so sure on the fabric, but maybe do a test. Small bit so it would be less likely to pull fabric, high speed. Round inside template. Don't get the circle out of plumb.;)

[Bradley Gray]

This is way out of the box but is there a chance you could lift the partitions onto blocks leaving a gap under for wiring?

[Dan Hintz]

I don't think I'm understanding your problem. Cubes always have raceways (usually at the bottom) to run electrical, phone, etc. Main power drops either come from the ceiling or the floor, and should be good for 4-8 cubes per drop. Why would these guys remove the cabline from the raceways just to move the cube walls? The electrical in the walls should be modular, too... pull a wall off, unsnap a connector, then move.

[Tom M King]

The carpet will have to first be cut a little larger than the hole you need to cut all the way through, but not too large not to be covered by a "grommet". Make a template to cut the carpet around (on both sides) that indexes off a center hole drilled first of all that a hole saw can also use the first pilot hole to index off of. The first small drill bit will also pull the carpet, so you may even have to cut out a little square of the carpet before the pilot hole.

[Phil Thien]

I don't think I'm understanding your problem. Cubes always have raceways (usually at the bottom) to run electrical, phone, etc. Main power drops either come from the ceiling or the floor, and should be good for 4-8 cubes per drop. Why would these guys remove the cabline from the raceways just to move the cube walls? The electrical in the walls should be modular, too... pull a wall off, unsnap a connector, then move.

Typically for larger installs, yeah. But I've run into installs where they just run cables under the panel and up to a wall outlet. And once the cubicle is in place, you can't plug anything in (there isn't room).

And me being the IT guy they just look at me and say "fix it." Sometimes you can contort yourself to make it work. I've also had some luck with PickSticks, and I've also used right-angle power cords and a stick for leverage.

What a PITA. I hate improperly installed cubicles.

[Dan Hintz]

Typically for larger installs, yeah. But I've run into installs where they just run cables under the panel and up to a wall outlet. And once the cubicle is in place, you can't plug anything in (there isn't room).

Fine... but then fix it the proper way. If you have to reinstall the walls in the first place, run the cables correctly and you'll never have to deal with this again.

[Phil Thien]

Fine... but then fix it the proper way. If you have to reinstall the walls in the first place, run the cables correctly and you'll never have to deal with this again.

You're preaching to the choir, I agree 100%.

But there are a lot of used cubicle dealers out there that are supplying carp w/o any harnesses or any other wiring. It gets setup on site, installers leave, and then people identify the problem. Years later, carpeting is replaced and cubicles are reinstalled and everyone has forgotten the wiring issue.

It just happens a lot in smaller offices. Large offices where they hire interior design firms (even if they get used cubicles) don't tend to have the problem.

[Keith Westfall]

What kind of fabric? Can you melt it with a soldering tip to keep it from fraying? Then use the hole saw. If the back fabric is loose, it will all end up in/on your hole saw... :eek:

[Sam Murdoch]

The carpet will have to first be cut a little larger than the hole you need to cut all the way through, but not too large not to be covered by a "grommet". Make a template to cut the carpet around (on both sides) that indexes off a center hole drilled first of all that a hole saw can also use the first pilot hole to index off of. The first small drill bit will also pull the carpet, so you may even have to cut out a little square of the carpet before the pilot hole.

Yes - +1 to this method - kind of -

Work through each layer of the cubical wall - fabric first then the fiberboard core, with the idea that you will then trim the hole with grommets - such as from Doug Mockett and/or others. http://www.mockett.com/grommets-wire-management

[johnny means]

Drill the hole saw pilot into the panel without the saw attached. install saw onto pilot , insert into drilled hole. Use holesaw as pattern to cut fabric with exacto type knife. Cut hole a smidge large. Cut both sides, if panel if two sided. Remove fabric, then cut hole with holesaw.

[John Gornall]

I cut circles in fabric using an Olfa circle cutter - they make a few models - here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMTgmBRWhXw

Google "fabric circle cutter" - lots available.