I wanted to ask this one since I always seem to get the same response whenever a customer sees me use an umbrella upsidedown when I am cutting in ceiling speakers. It really helps catch all the junk and is faster than a huge drop cloth. Works remakably well and the cost is really nothing. We kinda have adapted it for in-wall speakers but it always seems to bend one of the arms.

I will have to try that one.

Let's see...there have been so many ofer the years...

How about a condom as a vacuum-through-the-conduit mouse for a pull-string.

We've all used coathangers as short fish-tapes. (Haven't we?)

My son. (He admits that he's strange - brags about it, even.)

I know someone who actually used his pet ferret as a ferret to pull a string over a ceiling.

Cell-phones as walkie-talkies (not in walkie-talkie mode - we have unlimited calling.)

How about using a reciprocating saw to shake loose a stuck pull chain?

We had to install several recessed lights in an insulated ceiling, but these particular fixtures only came in a non-IC version, so we improvised: we made 1-sq-ft "cages" of 1/4" steel mesh. The inspector loved them.

We have many food containers as hardware jars for wirenuts, staples, screws, etc.



Hmmm, what else? Okay, a really, really off-topic one, except it was for a work van. Because of zoning, I had to cover a temprarily-off-the-road van in my driveway. The law requires a form-fitting cover, not a tarp. Van covers are expensive, so...

I used large stainless-steel safety pins to "stich" together a fitted cover from a tarp. I closely-fitted the seams down each corner, folding the resulting flap to one side. Then I peeled the cover off, turned it in-side out and pulled it back onto the van.

When it came up (and, of course, it did) that it was a tarp, I argued (civilly, of course) that the law doesn't specify (a)the material type, (b) what the seams have to be stiched with, or (c) that it must be store-bought.

It was allowed.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

The umbrella thing reminded me of what I used to do. If I was cutting in ceilings in a finished kicthen I used to use a dremel that was set through the bottom of a Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup. I would hold the top of the cup up against the ceiling, and tape the bottom around the neck of the dremel. It worked pretty well.

Use a womans make up compact/mirror to see inside the walls.

Yes, I tossed the little pad and the nice rose colored blush.....lol

Did you have to move the radio antenna to the other side of the van to get this to work?

LOL! No, fortunately/unfortunately, I had previously broken the mast at the base. Otherwise, I'd have simply unscrewed it.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

Well I'm sure you've all seen teh GreenLee little dart thrower with the string attached to it..... Before it was available I took my pistol grip cross bow and made my own dart/string thrower. It is deadly accurate at every distance I've neede to use it for.

We have used remote control cars to go both under crawl spaces(wireless cameras are awesome for this) as well as accross the top of drop ceilings.

A baseball with a screw in eyelet in it so we can attach a pull/throw string to it.

My son, He was the only one who could fit in the hole.

Let me think of a few more.

Robbie S

I have a customer who is a dentist. I had to use some of his instruments to get to the back of his plasma to hook up speakers...

Working with small round mirrors and forceps to hook up speakers is a bitch if you're not used to it... he ended up getting it done really fast... LOL

This isn't exactly unusual, but does work well for ceiling or wall mount speakers. Just tape a small trash bag to the wall or ceiling where you are cutting and cut away. For ceilings, tape about half the the bag to the ceiling and grip the saw through the bottom of the bag. All junk will fall right in.

How about a bowling ball? It should make it all the way to the basement without snagging on anything!

Jerry... What a tool.

___________________

OK... Well, wire coat hangers also make a great drill bit for drilling RIGHT down though a floor or whatever when you want to find a location from below with great accuracy and little measuring.

Just snip it with your lesbians and put it in your cordless and spin right down through an inch or two of wood in no time.

whos jerry?

I like a short piece of center conductor from coax to make reference point in the ceiling. Shhhhh

My son.

:)

Sorry for reviving an oldish post, but I thought y'all might get a kick out of this...

Last week, my topless girlfriend actually saved the day.

Fishing a legth of 14-2 up a wall space for a surround speaker, I'm punched up through the flooring and bottom plate of this 2x4 exterior wall, stuffed to the gills with faced insulation, and furring strips on the outsides of the studs for the wooden siding. AND, the wall is at the outer edge of the block foundation, and the joist space is full of conduits, piping, and high voltage NM cable. This is the LAST place I would have ever chosen to snake through, but the customer's wishes and the layout of the upstairs made this spot the only possibility.

So I get a hole drilled finally, and have got the ubiquitous Greenlee metal tape shoved up in the hole, of course it's curled over itself seventy thousand times by now with all the crud in this hole. Thank God the speaker is a B&W CWM-650 and I've got a nice big hole in the drywall to work with...nevertheless, ALL my efforts to reach down that hole and retrieve the end of my tape are for naught...it's late, I'm tired, and all the nails from the siding sticking out of the furring have pretty much shredded the back of my hands...So I break for a cigarette and perhaps scan the want ads for any openings at Burger King.

So I come back in the room, and my Fiancee/Apprentice is up on the ladder, with her arm down the hole right up to her shoulder...I snicker a bit to myself and keep looking for my big-a$$ stick magnet to try next...I'm not optimistic...and I take another look across the room and now notice my little helper has removed her top, because the bulky sweatshirt is not letting her arm reach that last half-inch or so. You should have seen her standing on that ladder, in her bra, waving the end of the fish tape around and grinning a minute later.