How do you guys do angles in trunking

[Gringoking88]

Hi all,

Was just looking for some best practices around using plastic mini trunking.

How do you guys join trunking on corners of walls that are not right angles so you can't use the normal pre made bends. I mean I've got a vertical wall and that has got a bend of about 30 degrees in in.

Every time I cut the bloody stuff I end up with a slight gap in the trunking which does not look great tbh. I was thinking of just using caulk or silicone filler but am seeing if there any tricks of the trade?

Many thanks,

M

 

[MDJ]

Fire cement? hmm I bet that looks nice

 

[freddo]

I use a coarse file to adjust the cuts until they perfectly fit. Though to be honest I hate mini trunking, it's all about steel conduit at the moment, seem to be fitting loads of it.

 

[PEG]

It's so good Pete does not want us to see it.

....That't because it's a picture of a hot-air gun...

 

[PEG]

It's so good Pete does not want us to see it.

....That's because it's a picture of a hot-air gun...

 

[Pete999]

Hi Pete,

One of what there is nothing attached lol.

Sorry an adjustable square
Festool SM-SYM 70 Precision Adjustable Square - https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Festool-Sm-Sym-70-4014549007693-Precision-Adjustable-Square

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Hi all,

Was just looking for some best practices around using plastic mini trunking.

How do you guys join trunking on corners of walls that are not right angles so you can't use the normal pre made bends. I mean I've got a vertical wall and that has got a bend of about 30 degrees in in.

Every time I cut the bloody stuff I end up with a slight gap in the trunking which does not look great tbh. I was thinking of just using caulk or silicone filler but am seeing if there any tricks of the trade?

Many thanks,

M

Good question Gringo! I was thinking about this the other day and didn't come up with any easy answers. Gavin's suggestions seem good as do Freddo's. Somebody needs to invent a moveable or bendable corner piece! Saying that, I wonder if you just made some straight cuts on one of the corner pieces you could bend into shape? My sunday now has purpose

 

[Pete999]

Sorry an adjustable square
Festool SM-SYM 70 Precision Adjustable Square - https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Festool-Sm-Sym-70-4014549007693-Precision-Adjustable-Square

Or you could do it this way

 

[SparkyChick]

I have an angle measuring tool and like @Gavin John Hyde I'm a bit of a maths geek so I generally measure it, draw a little diagram and work out the angles, then mark up and cut.

Doing the final fit with a file like @freddo

 

[Andy5678]

As above. Then hide the lash up with some appropriate coloured silicone/caulk

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Angle gauge, steel rule, saw, file, knife. Apply tools to trunking in the manner prescribed by the art and craft, and a perfect joint results. There's no magic shortcut - electrical installation work is a craft and it requires skill and practice. A joiner can make joints in wood of arbitrary angles that fit together exactly and look smart; an electrician should be able to do the same with electrical materials. Unfotunately, the very kind of work that uses PVC mini trunking is not the kind to draw the attention of the most skilled craftsmen, so one doesn't see precision work in mini around the place.

Wind back the clock 100 years and you would see electricians making complex joints in wooden casing with flyovers, double mitres etc. That wasn't something you could learn from a book, and was nigh impossible for the DIYer. When I look back at my first few years' steel trunking work it's got some rough edges (not literally!). It has taken 20 years to get good at it and now I don't do much on the tools and avoid first fix like the plague, I'm losing it again for want of practice.

If it's any consolation, when my mentor asked me to tube up an area in 20mm BE steel con while he was in hospital, with funny angles in roof trusses, he made sure there was just enough tube. I made so many misbends that I secretly bought another bundle of conduit and cut up and took away most of the errors!

 

[Deleted member 9648]

You need the right mini trunking for a start.
Marshall Tufflex or similar with a lid that overlaps by several mm is useless for making neat mitres. The best trunking by far for forming angles is CEF Centaur because the lid is completely flat and fits securely.
I can form perfect angles and double sets with Centaur, no chance at all with Marshall Tufflex. All it takes is a little thought and practice.
Caulk or silicon to cover poor workmanship is inexcusable. We are supposed to be professionals.

 

[The Ghost]

Another lovely bit of trunking, jobs a goodun.

 

[The Ghost]

Of course you could always do it without the trunking, save a bit of time and money. Nothing beats a bit of clipped direct.

 

[Squid]

Of course you could always do it without the trunking, save a bit of time and money. Nothing beats a bit of clipped direct.View attachment 41293

You a chef in a Chinese takeaway?

 

[littlespark]

Thats very eco of you - Recycling photographs from another forum thread. Although the first pic there is diabolical for mini trunking.