Drilling Hole Down the Middle of a Four Foot Long 6X6

[DFB]

Did you check with a lumber yard to what may be available?


They do have hollow core posts in PT but that probably be too easy right

 

[Industrial Toys]

Really? I'm sure if they did, I would not like the price. As it is, I already bought the 3" Milwaukee bit off E-Bay. Man, Milwaukee makes some nice (commercial) stuff! Wish I could afford one of thuse plumbers Hole Hawg Kits. I borrowed one from a plumber on a site the other week and it just blazed a hole through a hundred year old joist in seconds!

 

[doxford jim]

How about a piece of pipe going through stones or bricks cemented together ?

 

[pmsmechanic]

Seeing as your post is only 4 feet long a 2 foot drill bit coming in from each end should do the job. A larger bit won't wander as much as a small one. You could even practice on your first post.

 

[hosspuller]

Put together three 2x6's Cut the center board for your wires. Pressure treat chemicals do not penetrate to the center of a solid 6x6. Even RR ties always rot out in the center.

The laminated post will also resist warping better than a solid post. Just glue it together.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I don't really have the facilities for working with wood. My garden is raised having a perimeter of a couple high 6x6 PS beams that were recycled after having been condemned (for arsenic) from a playgound.

I wanted to put this post in one inside corner where my various utilites are going and it would also allow me to use some long bolts and strenghen the whole frame.

 

[CobyRupert]

Seems you would need some sort of jig were you can fix mount the drill and/or the 6x6, and have a way that one advances on the other in a "true" fashion. Looking around here for something handy, I might grab my extension ladder, lay it horizontal and slide the 6x6 along the inside rail. Having the drill clamped/fixed in just the right spot is the tricky part.
Measure twice, drill once.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Well to add to the menu of options. The way I would do that is plough a 1/2" groove on a table saw, deep enough to take your wire and with about 1" depth additional. Put the wire in. Then also on the table saw take a slice off of the same face of another piece of the same lumber, exactly the width of your groove or a bit thicker. And 1 " depth. Now you have a 1"x1/2" spline the length of the timber. Then tap the spline in on top of the wire. Done right the joint will be completely invisible and the spline will never come out. This can also be done with a router and a circular saw but is easiest with a table saw.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Simplest is to saw the 6X6 in half length wise, dado out the core, then glue the two halves back together with resorcinol or other outdoor glue

Great advice, and probably easiest, also.

 

[EddieWalker]

The bigger sized drill bit you use, the stiffer it is going to be, and the straighter it's going to drill through the wood. Since all you are wanting to do is hide the electrical lines in the post, I would get a 1 inch auger bit and drill from both ends. There are extensions that you can add to the auger bit that should allow you to make it through somewhere in the middle of the post.

Eddie