Cutting Circles in Drywall

stacyh3

Active Member
I am ready to start putting speakers in the walls and ceilings in my house. Everything is prewired and ready to go. I have pictures of what the walls looked like before the drywall was put up. I can find the speaker wires via tone. So I'm in good shape so far. Here are my questions:
  • What are the best tools you've found for cutting "perfect circles" in drywall?
  • What are some of the best techniques/tools for measuring and aligning speaker placement?
I hope these questions make sense.

Thanks!
Stacy
 
As far as aligning the speakers go, no clue.

But for cutting circles in drywall, you'll want something like this.

You can probably pick one up at HomeDepot or Lowes.
 
Funny timing, I was about to just purchase one too. You can use a regular straight drywall saw for about $3 but it is some work and messy. You can hold a shopvac hose up by the ceiling, but it makes it harder to do by yourself and you'll never catch it all. So, if you have alot of holes to cut, a pro saw will make the job faster and easier. You have 2 choices, cheap and pro.

For cheap, look at:
https://www.tselectronic.com/speartools/ab1...3a52c796fe42d50.

Should work, but dust tray is really flimsy, not great reviews.

For pro, look at:

http://www.holepro.com/ or http://www.audio-discounters.com/lc-1025.html
I'm sure if you search you can find them other places and I'm sure there are a few other models as well, but thats the tool you need...
 
FYI, I got one of those. I have so much more respect for carpentry & sheetrockers than ever before.

My tip: Don't be arrogant and think that just because you cut a clean hole with it once, that you're the master blaster. I have 1 absolutely perfect hole, and one where I got lazy, vibrated the sheetrock, and ended up with an extra chunk out of one side.

After a strong whipping from the wife, I've opted to cut the remaining holes by drawing the circle from a template and using a utility knife. Takes 20 minutes as opposed to 20 seconds, but it's spot on perfect every time and I don't get yelled at.
 
Link doesn't work for me. HomeDepot.com really sucks, it's a pain to link to an item.
 
Sorry about the link. If you go to the home depot site and search on laser, you'll get there. Its about on the 3rd page.
 
Now that you mention it, I do I have a dremel kit with a circle attachment. May have to try that before I spend $100. Only negative is you still get all the dust and you need both hands for the dremel.
 
Ditto, Dremel and circle attachment with a drywall cutter bit - works great and of course you can use the Dremel for so much more. Tape a vacuum cleaner crevice tool and hose to the side of the Dremel before you cut - works pretty well.
 
Thanks for all the help! I think I'll try the Dremel with circle cutter first to see how that works. I agree the drywall dust is going to be a major pain, but I can go for an assistant with a shop vac.

I have a laser level, so I'll try that for aligning. I guess I'm being a little paranoid about getting the positioning right so things looke balanced. On the other hand, I suppose most people won't notice if things are only a little askew.

Thanks!
Stacy
 
Those bucket-covered ones (first couple of links) worked great for 50-some can lights in the house - and a couple of speakers. I'm not sure where it could have been easier or more reliable NOT to have used it.
 
I cut in speakers ALL THE TIME. I recommend taping a bag around the hole with the tools in it. It catches not some but all of the dust and that's a necessity when working in other folks homes. I also vacuum the inside of the hole. Both fibeglass and drywall dust are abrasive. Not a good thing to have "floating" around inside a moving/motor driven device such as speakers.
 
Back
Top