Hole saws have a confusing name so I don't blame anyone for being unclear about them, I was too a one time. Holes saws are really nothing but another form of drill bit with saw teeth at the bottom for cutting nice, usually fairly clean, round holes.
The good thing about hole saws is you can often make nice holes in hard to get at places, or even places that are impossible with pretty much anything else. I thinking here about plumbing and electrical installs, but holes saws can be just as handy and effective on flat easy to get at places too. Have you ever hand to drill and nice round hole in a door for a door handle or lock? Hole saws make quick, easy work of things like this.
Like most things there is good quality versions and ... well, not so great quality versions, and like many things the price will often tell you which is which. Often the cheaper hole saws are more for one-time or very rare use and often don't have the depth for things like doors and floors, only the better quality saws have deeper cutting capabilities. The biggest bug bear with every hole saw is getting the plug out after the hole is cut.
This is crucial when you have to drill a few holes, especially deeper one because getting plugs our of hole saws can sometimes take as long a drilling hole in the first place. ... Very annoying ... but here is hope ... Freud Tools ... the saw blade and router bit manufacturer, have recently introduced a quick release hole saw system. The way it works is the hole saw uses a special arbor with a quick release mechanism on it that the hole saw blade simply "clicks" into and presto .. the bit is attached to the arbor. The really cool thing with the quick release system is after you have drilled your hole, you can quickly un-release the arbor from the cutting bit and use it to easily push the plug out. It works amazingly well. When the plug is out, you simply click the bit-blade back in place and all ready to drill the next hole. The other feature on the Freud Quick Release Hole Saw system is changing the drill bit in the arbor. These do wear in time and become dull and many arbors can change bits, if you can find the right allen wrench to undo it. The Freud System ... the drill bit clicks in and out with little effort, not screws to undo, now allen wrenches to find and nothing to undo, just pull it out and push in a replacement ... of course you will need a Freud or comparable replacement bit. The real feature of the Freud Quick Release is that you don't have to go out and buy a whole new set of bit-saws. If you purchase just the arbor, it comes with a couple of quick connect adapters (2 different sizes) so you can use all your existing bit-blades and if you want more adapters, you can purchase them too, which would be really handy for some of your more popular hole saw sizes.
Hole saws ... another one of the handiest tools you will seldom use ...
Copyright - Colin Knecht
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