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I have a wall desk that hides away 2 power outlet on the wall.

How do I drill a grommet hole that is wide enough to run cables through and cover it with plastic wire cover.

What sort of tool do I need? Can this be done with a hand held electric drill and the right drill bit?

Danny
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1 Answers1

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You need a hole saw for that. In fact, if you search for desk grommet on Amazon, you'll probably see hole saws in their "frequently bought together" suggestion. (at least I did when I searched just now.)

And yes, you would use a hole saw with an electric drill.

Tim B
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  • Just curious, would a 2500 rpm hand drill be sufficient for the job? – Danny Jul 08 '13 at 10:45
  • Do you mean a non-electric drill? It wouldn't hurt to try. Just use very light pressure (which will give you very low feed into the piece) to make it easy enough to crank. It may require perseverance and patience. – Tim B Jul 08 '13 at 11:06
  • Sorry, I meant a 2500 rpm electric drill. Thanks. – Danny Jul 08 '13 at 11:18
  • I thought that you might have meant that, but wasn't sure. Yes, that will work fine. Run it slow, or if it is single speed, stop and let it cool occasionally. Since this is furniture, I'll make one suggestion: When drilling the hole, watch for the center drill point in the hole saw to penetrate the other side of the piece. As soon as it does, stop, and then finish the hole from the other side, using the smaller center drill point's hole as a pilot hole. This will help prevent tear-out of the wood surface. Alternatives to that are clamping a sacrificial piece to the back side if you can. – Tim B Jul 08 '13 at 11:30
  • In a pinch, you could use a 1 inch spade bit *if* the wider dimension of the electric plug bodies are no more than 1 inch and the narrower dimension of the plug bodies + the thickness of the cable is no more than 1 inch. Spade bits are messier, less precise and usually slower in large diameters, but will cut a hole. Mask the surface with tape to have a slightly smoother surface. (But hole saws are better.) – bib Jul 08 '13 at 12:12
  • I would not use a spade bit on furniture unless it were a life-threatening emergency. It will take forever and make an absolute mess of the surface. – Hank Jul 08 '13 at 18:52
  • But the original question wasn't about getting the plug through the furniture surface, but to install a grommet. Those are typically 2 inches (50.8mm) or so. – Tim B Jul 08 '13 at 19:46
  • Both corded and cordless drills are electric. The non-electric ones are hand-drills, braces, T-augers, and the like. – mike Jul 08 '13 at 22:44
  • Also, when using a hole saw, run it in reverse initially to cleanly go through the veneered surface, before going the right direction to cut through the meat of the desk surface. – whatsisname Jul 09 '13 at 03:21
  • @whatsisname That sounds interesting, can you explain why going in reverse is a good idea for the veneer? I would be afraid that it would skip around more.. do you mean before or after the center bit has started? – Alan Apr 05 '15 at 02:59