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Hole Saws - Don't Buy!


Onoff

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Order these "PRO" hole saws and they're actually Silverline brand!

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332169159721?euid=bf18a43f38834226b365bcad1ad70afd&bu=43108661604&cp=1&sojTags=bu=bu

 

Quite what gives the seller the right to call them PRO is beyond me.

 

Bought one in a rush expecting I'd get 44mm of cutting depth i.e to go thru a bit of "4"x2" that comes up about 44mm thick. 44mm is the o/a length of the thing. :(

 

 

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21 minutes ago, PeterW said:

He reckons they cut cast ....

 

I've got a nice old bit of boiler plate somewhere - must be 30mm thick... wonder what would happen if I used his 125mm hole saw on it...

 

To be fair to the seller it does say it cuts cast iron on the packet. Just pees me off the ad doesn't say they're Silverline.

 

Ordered a deep cut, genuine Starrett now.

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2 hours ago, PeterW said:

He reckons they cut cast ....

 

I've got a nice old bit of boiler plate somewhere - must be 30mm thick... wonder what would happen if I used his 125mm hole saw on it...

Plenty of lube and a slow geared pillar drill and I bet it would do it ;)

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9 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

Bought one in a rush expecting I'd get 44mm of cutting depth i.e to go thru a bit of "4"x2" that comes up about 44mm thick. 44mm is the o/a length of the thing. :(

 

 

This Bosch one is the same - it's about 4mm short to go through a piece of 4x2 - surely such a basic design error? http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-cobalt-holesaw-51mm/59990?kpid=59990&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh_bLBRDeARIsAH4ZYENICqQ7YfNNV69_LtlrHvc_O18XoTw15UT0YPBQ0r4LIbIULoHeYR4aAo3IEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CM7b96XzstUCFW0h0wodgSYHeA 

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I've often wondered where Silverline get their steel from; must be a special mill that produces steel with all the properties of soft cheese.

 

Has anyone, ever, got a decent tool from Silverline?  I avoid them like the plague, having been caught twice, once with a bike bottom bracket tool, then again when I bought a pack of the softest, most crappy, band saw blades I've ever seen.

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I bought my first ever set of metre long SDS drill bits from them, and they lasted me literally years and years. I lost ( misplaced ) them over the years but tbh I think they're still going, somewhere. Their hand-tools are just crap on a good day, and yes I avoid them like the plague.

I tend to only buy quality tools now, as they repay you over time. 

I was working with my mate a while back and used his 16mm SDS bit to drill a hole through a brick wall. After 10 mins of not going anywhere, and the drill clutch kicking in all the time, I investigated. I worked out that he had had the drill sooooo bloody long it had been worn away at the TCT tip to around 13mm. The thing was shaped like a dart :(. I gave up, called him a twat and went to get my one out of my van. Sat down next to the drill and grabbed the knackered bit to take it out of the drill and got a scalded hand.....as the bloody thing was still white hot from the friction of just rubbing against the bricks. My mate looked at me daft and said it was 'usually ok' to which I went outside and threw it as far away as I could. I bet he went looking for it, and found it, and is still rubbing his way through walls with it. Tight as a ducks arse, him >:(

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1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

Has anyone, ever, got a decent tool from Silverline?

 

I bought three Silverline 150mm flush cut saws six years ago. I bought three because they were only £2 each and I didn't think they would last long. They are still going strong having cut timber and Rockwool batts. I think I was just lucky.

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If anyone ever needs to cut loads of nice round holes in thin-ish metals (ducting, trunking, cladding) try an impact hole saw. We've to bring cabling into car paint rooms quite often and the thin panels are a b*gger to put a hole saw through.

On a whim I tried one of the Dewalt impact bits and was astonished. Fast, cold cutting with neat edges. Even my wee Makita pencil impact screwdriver (another stunning piece of kit, the TD021) will pop a 32mm hole smartish.

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2 hours ago, jamiehamy said:

This Bosch one is the same - it's about 4mm short to go through a piece of 4x2 - surely such a basic design error?

 

Not really. In most cases I use a Starrett to go through "thin" sheet steel or ali. If drilling wood you can generally at least get the pilot through and go from both sides. Top tip, Starrett pilots are fantastic as general purpose pilots on their own for use of fabbing steel work.

 

Back on thread, it's rare I want a deep hole saw but have a few. Mainly where I haven't planned something and have access only one side. They're much deeper than normal and will breeze thru a 4"x2".  Here's one I bought earlier against a standard one. Depth of cut is 51mm from top of teeth to inside face:

 

20170731_093907.thumb.jpg.9119aed3b4586bad82b3ec8afe24d6e1.jpg

 

Ref Silverline I bought a load of their 1/2" router bits for finish "planing" the edges on Contiboard. Rough cut first then route and it comes up like factory. They're fine for that.

 

Interesting on Silverline products it's written "Guaranteed FOREVER Register Online*". Not tested it out though.

 

EDIT: Imho Morse brand cobalt holesaws are better than Starrett. Did a load of work in st/st and didn't miss a beat. Got them from WF from memory. Trefolex or RTD etc cutting compound's a must for increasing longevity.

 

Edited by Onoff
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1 hour ago, Onoff said:

 

Not really. In most cases I use a Starrett to go through "thin" sheet steel or ali. If drilling wood you can generally at least get the pilot through and go from both sides. Top tip, Starrett pilots are fantastic as general purpose pilots on their own for use of fabbing steel work.

 

 

Hmm, my point is, as per your original post, I also bought this thinking it would go through 4x2 - it doesn't and is shy of a few mm.  Given how common 4x2 is in the building trade, I wonder why the depth is set just below 45mm?  When they decided the max it could cut is around 42mm, why did they choose that? What did they have in mind? Plasterboard, OSB, ply etc is generally only up to 22mm, so someone somewhere decided a cutting depth of 42mm was appropriate, despite it not cutting one of the most common pieces of wood (Applied to 4x2, 6x2, 8x2 etc..). They could save materials by reducing the depth or spend a tiny amount more to make it a lot more practical - that's Bosch and Silverline etc.

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37 minutes ago, jamiehamy said:

Hmm, my point is, as per your original post, I also bought this thinking it would go through 4x2 - it doesn't and is shy of a few mm.  Given how common 4x2 is in the building trade, I wonder why the depth is set just below 45mm?  When they decided the max it could cut is around 42mm, why did they choose that? What did they have in mind? Plasterboard, OSB, ply etc is generally only up to 22mm, so someone somewhere decided a cutting depth of 42mm was appropriate, despite it not cutting one of the most common pieces of wood (Applied to 4x2, 6x2, 8x2 etc..). They could save materials by reducing the depth or spend a tiny amount more to make it a lot more practical - that's Bosch and Silverline etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The collective makers would no doubt argue the standard is the optimum length. The cynic in me says the standard ones come up short so you have to buy the deep ones!

 

 

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On the subject of "reach" and hole saws you can buy these extension bars:

 

I've only got them for the smaller arbour size (11/32" AF). Bloody handy if you want to drill steel a metre away. Bought for a job I can still remember years back and used once or twice since. Of course there's been times I've wished I've had the bars for the bigger 7/16" AF arbours!

 

20170731_115834.thumb.jpg.2b396a74e0aab472c49e4d2e31ec9c99.jpg

 

20170731_115849.thumb.jpg.417376fcb43f20cf1b88946d4d31822b.jpg

 

Another useful one I have is an arbour for the smaller Starretts that fits into ordinary 1/4" bit holders.

 

20170731_120929.thumb.jpg.5b22b5d74dc14079ab49184e1224e7c4.jpg

 

 

Edited by Onoff
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5 hours ago, jamiehamy said:

Hmm, my point is, as per your original post, I also bought this thinking it would go through 4x2 - it doesn't and is shy of a few mm.  Given how common 4x2 is in the building trade, I wonder why the depth is set just below 45mm?  When they decided the max it could cut is around 42mm, why did they choose that? What did they have in mind? Plasterboard, OSB, ply etc is generally only up to 22mm, so someone somewhere decided a cutting depth of 42mm was appropriate, despite it not cutting one of the most common pieces of wood (Applied to 4x2, 6x2, 8x2 etc..). They could save materials by reducing the depth or spend a tiny amount more to make it a lot more practical - that's Bosch and Silverline etc.

 

You could, of course, argue that a hole saw that is fractionally too shallow to do all the way through is actually perfect, because it forces you to finish the hole from the other side which will make a much neater job without breakout. Assuming, of course, that you can access both sides! And assuming that you care about the appearance of something that will be boxed away and never seen again...

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Well you got me! haha - I didn't have access to two - one because the studs were too close and the second because that part had been boarded and had electrical points above! In the end I just whacked with a drift and hammer and the thing punched through taking a section of the stud with it! lol

 

So on this subject ( @Nickfromwales ) - I need to cut a tap hole and waste hole in a stone resin countertop - I can't get through to the supplier - should I try get a diamond cutter (which would need to be a hole pack I think) or would the right size Bosch version I linked to above do? The in-depth (not) literature says use a standard drill and a hole cutting tool!

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1 hour ago, Crofter said:

 

And assuming that you care about the appearance of something that will be boxed away and never seen again...

 

I do these things in the hope that the next man "in" there will think what anal fu**wit did this, not only did he hoover but he's painted and fitted a light too! :)

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1 hour ago, jamiehamy said:

So on this subject ( @Nickfromwales ) - I need to cut a tap hole and waste hole in a stone resin countertop - I can't get through to the supplier - should I try get a diamond cutter (which would need to be a hole pack I think) or would the right size Bosch version I linked to above do? The in-depth (not) literature says use a standard drill and a hole cutting tool!

Just buy a cheapy diamond bit off ebay. That's what I used on the last resin sink. 

 

These are fine for one offs

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3 hours ago, jamiehamy said:

So on this subject ( @Nickfromwales ) - I need to cut a tap hole and waste hole in a stone resin countertop - I can't get through to the supplier - should I try get a diamond cutter (which would need to be a hole pack I think) or would the right size Bosch version I linked to above do? The in-depth (not) literature says use a standard drill and a hole cutting tool!

 

I can recommend that you don't use a hammer ?

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12 hours ago, Calvinmiddle said:

 

I can recommend that you don't use a hammer ?

One ceramic kitchen sink I had to knock the tap hole out of ( part pressed out either side so it's universal left / right drainer ) said exactly that :/. Go from the top, put a drift or large centre punch on the ceramic and whack it with a hammer. Some paperwork got signed before I did, but sure enough it popped out with nearly no breakout and only needed a bit of reaming with my tile file to get it spot on. 

Arse was going that day. :S

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