Help to bore hole in leg

[johnny means]

Assuming the piece is fixed to the floor, there is no code or safety reason why line voltage NMD90 can't be run in the leg. The fire hazard would be no greater than running the cable through wood studs.

Actually enclosing an electrical wire in a wooden conduit is very different than going through a stud. Power cords do emit heat when heavily loaded. A wooden conduit would insulate the cord allowing heat to build up even pvc conduit has codes pertaining to how much power can be run through it as well as how much of the volume can be occupied by wire.

[Alan Schwabacher]

What if you simply cut a groove into the leg from the side that will be obscured under the table? That would allow you to run the cable, and if desired, you could patch the groove, but it would not need to be as perfect a patch, since you couldn't see it well anyway. If there were any worry about heating, leaving the groove open would handle that too.

[Bob Grier]

Lots of feedback. Thanks. The kitchen island will be fixed to the floor. The microwave drawer is not a microwave in a drawer, it is a microwave that has a drawer that opens so there will be no moving wires. I only need to drill the hole half the length of the leg to access the microwave portion of the cabinet.

I like the suggestion of practicing on a 2x2 but I am still hoping someone knows a tried and true way of boring the hole without mishap or knows someone in the Seattle Tacoma area that can do it.

The main concern is overheating. I will check with local code and a licensed electrician with this in mind. I misstated in earlier post - the microwave 20 amp circuit has 12ga wire, not 14 ga.

[Clint Baxter]

Shell auger bits like this http://www.amazon.com/Woodtek-153314...hell+auger+bit, are used to do those long holes through wood without wandering.

If if you used one to bore a through hole, you could the use a 24" bell hanger bit, http://www.amazon.com/MAGBIT-781-24-...ell+hanger+bit , to increase the size. It would follow the previously drilled hole. If you wanted to be extra careful, you could increase the size of the hole gradually, using a couple bits instead of doing it all in one shot.

good luck on whatever method you end up going with.

Clint

[Pat Barry]

Lots of feedback. Thanks. The kitchen island will be fixed to the floor. The microwave drawer is not a microwave in a drawer, it is a microwave that has a drawer that opens so there will be no moving wires. I only need to drill the hole half the length of the leg to access the microwave portion of the cabinet.

I like the suggestion of practicing on a 2x2 but I am still hoping someone knows a tried and true way of boring the hole without mishap or knows someone in the Seattle Tacoma area that can do it.

The main concern is overheating. I will check with local code and a licensed electrician with this in mind. I misstated in earlier post - the microwave 20 amp circuit has 12ga wire, not 14 ga.

If you are using the correct wire gauge for the circuit breaker and anticipated loads there will be no concern related to that supply wire overheating.

[Frank Pratt]

Actually enclosing an electrical wire in a wooden conduit is very different than going through a stud. Power cords do emit heat when heavily loaded. A wooden conduit would insulate the cord allowing heat to build up even pvc conduit has codes pertaining to how much power can be run through it as well as how much of the volume can be occupied by wire.

If you do not have more than 3 current carrying conductors in a conduit there is no need to derate the ampacity. We're not talking about an appliance cord running through the leg (which would be illegal) but a properly sized NMD90 cable. So, heat build up is not a concern here.

It is legal and safe to run the cable tight to a stud surrounded by thermal insulation in a wall. In that situation there is far less ability for the cable to shed heat than in a short run through a wooden leg.

[Ted Calver]

If you can find someone in your area that makes peppermills, they might be able to fix you up. My set up will do 18" using colt system and bormax forstner bits and heavy duty extensions. The hole would have to be more on the order of 3/4" though. IIRC the colt system will get me in a foot, then I put a bormax bit on my monster hollowing system boring bar to go the rest of the way. Frequent, and I mean very frequent clearing of chips is necessary to avoid trapping the bit.