Rotozip

MinConst

I've done a bit of drywall through the years but never tried a Rotozip to cut out the elec. boxes. I use plastic boxes generally and wonder how the tool works with them. Are the bits like a router where there is a non cutting surface at the tip? What recomendations do you guys have in the way of models and tool if other than the Rotozip brand?
Thanks for the assistance.

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Paul
Minichillo's Construction
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Teetorbilt

Paul, I never go anywhere without my brace of RotoZips. There are a number of bits that you can buy for them including a blind one for drywall.

Glasshousebltr

Yea man Rotozip"s the way to go.

Bob

pondman

They are the best. I bought a small hand/palm router and use it as not just a router but as a router zip tool as well. Just take off the base and it's two tools in one.

Teetorbilt

I bought the kit years ago for $99 and use everything in it. In particular I like the cutoff wheel, the circle attachment and the 3M pads as accessories. It also makes a passable trim router for laminates. DO NOT try to use it as a router with anything more than 1/4" bits, pain and suffering are sure to follow.

MinConst

So now that I see it is as advertized. What model do I look at. There seems to be many to choose from? I read something about a new bit that can only be used in a special chuck. I see these tools from 30 bucks to 160. What are the recommendations on models.
Thanks guys this is good info.

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Paul
Minichillo's Construction
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IHI

These things are the cats meow for drywall work. Bought the Roto Zip brand when it first came out-corded and have used it many times over the years for drywall and also tile bit for cutting/shaping holes in wall tile with the tile bit.

Recently purchased a whole slug of Ryobi 18V cordless stuff and 1 of the multi kits came with the cordless roto-zip, man I'm really in hog heaven not hacing to have a dang cord to trip over and have to unplug/replug in all the time LOL.

My Roto Zip brand tool has alot of miles on it and still going strong, not real happy with the wrench they send with it to loosen the chuck-mine spread apart after the chuck had rusted from tile work and became stuborn so now have to use cresent wrench to loosen/tighten. Have the same probl;em with the Ryobi cordless one, rusty chucks get kinda snug, regardless I'm very happy with the performance of these 2 brands of tools.

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Mike Finley

Paul, I bought a crappy old Craftsman kit long ago, I think $59. Came with a router base, a circle cutting attachement, all kinds of crap that I don't even know what half of it was. After years of never touching any of the excessories since the only thing I use it for is cutting holes in old or new drywall, I finally chucked all that crap that was causing me to take 10 minutes to close the case with all the arranging I had to do to get it all to fit to close the lid. The only thing in the case now is the tool, about 80 drywall bits and the wrench to tighten the chuck.

If I had it all to do over again I would now buy the Dewalt 18vt cordless version. That would work best for me. Maybe I will run over the craftsman by 'accident' to give me an excuse?




Anyways if all you are going to do is cut drywall, get a cordless, you will appreciate not having the cord wrapping around your neck while you are cutting.

If you want to make chess pieces and holly hobby cutting boards and stuff like that buy one of those dremels and go wild.

Mike Finley

Your regular cutting drywall bits look like this.


The make a piloted bit for outlet boxes.

IHI

One quick note to add if you've never used one. Be sure to tap ouot/ blow out the dust from the hole you cut before handling and dont stand direclty under the peice your cutting out, all that dust builds up on the lip of the hole and from some bizzare freak of natural occurance always gets attracted into your eyes??

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Teetorbilt

IMHO cordless is good for many things but high energy/frequent use tools are not among them.
This is my personal evaluation of battery powered tools. Drills/drivers-good. Most everything else sucks.
Mike, you did not show the blind bit, that looks like the R5 for wood and fiberglass. The drywall bit is round towards the last 1/8".

Mike Finley

Is it just me or is drywall dust the most burning thing you can get in your eyes! Even with goggles on I still manage to get some in my eyes everytime, it burns like the devil!

housedocs

Use guidepoint bits for drywall, the tip is smooth and if the tool is run correctly it'll make outlets and can lights fly by. For wall outlets we just measure the distance up and mark the board, tack the sheet in place & do the cutouts right on the wall, little to no measuring involved as long as the electrician keeps the boxes at a predetermined height. Always used the basic model rotozip with success. Bought a couple of el cheapo Japanese models over the yrs, rarely did they last more than 2-3 jobs. Keeping the dust blown out of them regularly will improve their lifespan, but as I posted before we do about 80% drywall work and it's common to replace the rotozip every 12 - 18 months I guess. I buy mine thru my local drywall supplier, he gives me a contractor's discount on tools and I think it was like $90 for the last one I bought.

Mike Finley

Oh Teetor! Don't you know you are allowed to have more than one battery on the job site? Run that bitch down and slap in another one! I bet you want to figure out a way to put a 100 gallon gas tank in your truck so you only have to fill up once a month

I'm just getting started buying cordless and I'm loving them! I can't see how I ever lived without a cordless recip saw. I'll be taking that baby into the woods next December when it is time to cut down the Christmas tree!

You lost me on that one. I know they have a pilot tipped bit, but have never used one, I'm too cheap to spend the money on them, I just keep using the regular bits. Of course I spend 2 times the cost of the pilot bit in labor mudding the errant holes around the outlets.

Teetorbilt

Duuude, of course I know about batteries. In a way they are about as much hassle as extention cords. I have chargers on all of the time.
When it becomes tree time, nothing holds a candle to a good, old fashioned chainsaw. I still have an old Sthil 08 with a 36" bar and .050 chain that will terrorize any size wood from sunup to sundown.
The drywall bits are the cheapest. The R5's are more for fiberglass, they're open ended, almost $2 each and good for 1 6X9 speaker in 1/4 in. of glass.

Glasshousebltr

Oh yea .....I got one for ya!

Years ago, and I mean years, I was subing from a multi million dollar general who does mostly insurance repair contracts. They pressured me into a last minute counter top installation. Like 4:30 on friday last minute. I had been clearing fire damaged tree's all day and the only tool in my truck, other than a chainsaw, was a screw gun, 'what Luck' I thought.

The lady was pissed when I got there, "This was supposed to be down long ago.....I've been living in a motel......I was told......They never came........How could you work for people like that?" I heard alot of crap that day. She treated me like I had done this to her. She treated me like crap.

So I start to install the new counter top, never fails, a hold up out of the gate, sombody had measured wrong and the custom counter top was 6 inces too long. I said sorry mam I have to come back tomorrow. She went plumb off. I just hit mute on the ear lobes.

As I'm leaving she hands me the phone, It's the owner of the company, not the super, the big dog, and he's at home. He says to me "Bob." even though I've never met him. " I don't care what you have to do! Put that counter in before you leave!"

When I fired up that chainsaw in her kitchen she about fell out. The whole house filled up with smoke and smelled like gas.

But ya know what.......it really turned out to be a pretty good cut.:Thumbs:

Bob

IHI

Hope ya gave her that Jack Nickelson looks and said "here's Johnny" just before you pulled the rip cord on the saw. LOL!! :Thumbs:

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housedocs

ROFLMAO :Thumbs: I could just see the broad faintin dead away when the saw fired up! Reminds me of a story a friend told me about, his neighbor called one morning asking him to help install some kind of fancy kitchen cabinet. Well they had measured wrong & it wouldn't fit in where they wanted to set it at. Well old Sam is quite a colorful character, he heads on over, when he knocks on the door, chainsaw in hand, the old lady freaked! He explains his skil saw burnt up, he'll have to use the chainsaw to cut down her cabinet, she chased hime out of the house with a mop!

But to get back on topic here, oh yeah we was talkin about rotozip bits. Don't know how you can get by without using guidepoints for cutting drywall. I've tried using a wood bit when we ran out of guidepoints on a job site one day, it really wasn't pretty. And like the previous poster noted, they're about the cheapest of the various styles to buy. That's my .02¢

mtp

That is a wood cutting bit called spiral cutter or something like that