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Caught a wall fish plate the hard way today
Was running a line through a finished basement in Denver and hit a metal plate with my flex bit. Snapped the bit clean in half and had to cut open the drywall to pull it out. Anybody else keep a magnet on their drill for spotting these things ahead of time?
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barbara27827d ago
Honestly I used to think the magnet trick was just extra gear you didn't really need, until I snapped a bit in a ceiling joist last month. Now I keep a cheap magnetic stud finder on my belt and check every time before I drill into a wall plate. It's one of those things that feels unnecessary until you're patching drywall and ordering a new bit.
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Snap a bit like that and you never forget it. @barbara278 is right about keeping a magnet handy, but just to be clear it wont catch a metal plate if its buried in a stud or behind drywall. Those plates are usually steel but the magnet has to get close enough to feel them through the wood or sheetrock. I keep a little neodymium magnet on a retractable keychain, drag it over the plate location before I start drilling.
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