wade871•2mo agoMost Upvoted

My lead tech in Denver swore by using a 3/8 inch drill bit for every wall plate, but after a messy job last week I'm switching back to 1/2 inch.

4 comments

4 Comments

My old foreman in Phoenix always used a 1/2 inch spade bit with a vacuum collar. That combo kept the dust down to almost nothing, even on textured walls. The bigger bit just seems to make a cleaner hole without chewing up the paper face. I tried the 3/8 for speed once and spent more time cleaning up the mess.

robin6282mo ago

What made the 3/8 bit so messy? Was it just tearing up the drywall?

the_thea2mo ago

Actually, it's usually the other way around. A 3/8 inch bit is pretty small, so it doesn't tear up drywall much on its own. The mess comes from not having a vacuum on the drill. That fine gypsum dust gets on everything. Or if you hit a stud and pull out a bunch of sawdust along with the drywall crumbles.

michaeltorres2mo ago

Wait, is it really that bad though? I've drilled plenty of holes without a vacuum and yeah, there's some dust, but it's not like a total disaster. You wipe it up after. @robin628 makes a good point about the bit size, a small one like that shouldn't be crazy messy. Unless you're drilling like twenty holes in a row, then maybe you'd want the vacuum.