It’s challenging to use a hole saw to expand a premade hole in a wall or through a piece of material. After cutting, you’d realize the arbor or pilot drill bit wouldn’t have a grip. So an attempt to cut a bigger one would be arduous.
You’d need a custom Hole saw to make unique holes in a specific dimension. But it isn’t easy expanding the Hole saw itself. So, what do you do when you need to create a Hole, but your Hole saw doesn’t match what you need? Here are nine tips you need to know when customizing your Hole saw to your size.
Table of Contents
- 1. What is Hole Saw?
- 2. Why do you need to use a Hole saw?
- 3. What size do you need to punch?
- 4. Choice of cutting blades
- 5. Distance selection between the sawtooth
- 6. TPI Value selection
- 7. Selection of cutter bar in Hole saw
- 8. Hole saw hole size can be changed
- 9. Choice of Drill
- Summary
（Builder worker cutting electrical chase in a concrete wall with circulation saw drill diamond crown.）
1. What is Hole Saw?
A hole saw is a drill bit with a different working mechanism and application. A hole saw makes holes without cutting up the core material. It has a cylindrical cup with a serrated edge. Its design is such a way that it has a saw blade and a pilot drill bit or arbor. When turned on, the saw teeth cut the material while the arbor forms an anchor at the center.
A hole saw has two different types of steel joined, forming the edge of the cutting part of the saw. There is high-speed steel, and the soft spring joins together, which creates a durable edge. A hole saw comes in different sizes for cutting different diameters of holes. Manufacturers also use different types of materials to make a hole saw. Depending on what you need a hole saw for, you can order a custom Hole saw of your size and material.
(Classic image of a Hole viewed)
2. Why do you need to use a Hole saw?
There are cases when you must use a Hole saw rather than a usual drill when making holes. The following and typical applications of a Hole saw:
●CUTTING VENTS IN MASONRY: A Hole saw is perfect for cutting through masonry to install an air vent. A diamond Hole saw is useful in this case.
●MAKING CONNECTIONS IN PIPE: You can also use a Hole saw to make holes in your pipes at different diameters when plumbing.
●DOOR HARDWARE INSTALLATION: When installing a door, you often need to make holes before installing the hardware. So, you should use a Hole saw to drill a smooth Hole for the deadbolts and locksets.
●INSTALLING LIGHT: Hole saw also helps when installing lights. It is a handy tool when you’re trying to create a hole in your ceiling before installing light fixtures and fittings.
●CUTTING HOLES FOR ELECTRICAL CABLES: Electricians also use Hole saws when wiring a building. A hole saw is used to cut access points for wiring and cables.
(Handyman using a Hole saw to the borehole in the ceiling)
3. What size do you need to punch?
Of course, by now, you should understand that a Hole saws comes in different sizes. When you need a custom Hole saw, you need to know the format you need it. To acquire that, you need to know the diameter you’re trying to create. You can use a meter rule for the measurement effortlessly. Apart from determining the width of the Hole saws, you’d also need to measure it in metric and imperial. Technically, Hole saws come in a wide range of sizes you can select for the task. Typically, Hole saws are between 14mm to 210mm in diameter. However, if you need smaller or bigger than this range, you can easily order a custom hole saw made to your specification.
(Different sizes of Hole saws)
4. Choice of cutting blades
When picking out customized Hole saws, you have a wide range of things you can modify, like the choice of cutting edge. Your choice of cutting blade determines the type of material you can use to cut. Here are some common examples of cutting blades you can pick from:
●Carbon steel hole saws
●Bi-Metal Hole saws
●Single tooth hole cutters
●HSS hole saws
●TCT hole saws
●TCT hole cutters
●Adjustable hole cutters
●Triangular hole cutter
●Diamond grit hole saws
●Core cutter
However, note that these are just the standard cutting blade, but you can make a custom blade for whatever purpose.
(A set of carbon steel hole saws)
5. Distance selection between the sawtooth
Just like the make of the cutting blade is of different materials, the distance between the sawteeth is also different. The pitch is the distance between the points of two teeth (serrated). The little variable detail might seem pointless at first, but it is very crucial, as it tells of the versatility of the Hole saws. Some Hole saws have more uses than others because of the design of the sawtooth. For example, constant pitch Hole saws maintain the same distance, while variable pitch Hole saws vary in pitch distance.
Although it works slower, the advantage of using a Constant pitch hole saws is that it produces a smooth cut. And a variable pitch breaks the sawing rhythm, which may seem a disadvantage at first, but it helps prevent vibration so you can have a smoother cut. Variable pitch also reduces the noise level and blade wear.
(Drill bits Hole saws for woods)
6. TPI Value selection
To understand what TPI (teeth per inch) value selection means, see it as a measure of tooth frequency along the blade. For instance, if you have Hole saws with 18 TPI, it also means the hole saws have 18 teeth per inch. The TPI can vary based on your specification and what you need it for, but it usually stays within the general ballpark of 2 to 20.
A Hole saws cutting blade with higher TPI cuts slowly, but it is less likely to tear the fabric or material as it produces a very smooth cut. On the other hand, when the TPI is lower, it cuts faster, but they tend to tear the material. A low TPI Hole saws cutting blade forms a more ragged edge.
(Steel hole saws with different TPI)
7. Selection of cutter bar in Hole saw
Here’s where things get even more interesting, as the cutter bar in a Hole saws also comes in different shapes for different uses. The metal cylinder of each Hole saws culminates in an edge that uses ultra-hard embedded material, square teeth, or serrated saws teeth to cut through materials.
●COATED: There’s no use of teeth here; an ultra-hard material usually made of diamond or tungsten carbide coats the cutting edge.
●SQUARE TEETH: The teeth are set at a farther distance because we prefer raw power in this cutter bar to a smooth cut. A square teeth cutter bar is useful in cutting more abrasive surfaces like brickwork, concrete, etc.
●SERRATED SAW TEETH: This is typically set at a 60 degrees angle, making it easy to create a penetrating bite into the material.
(A serrated saw teeth)
8. Hole saw hole size can be changed
Just like the metal cylinder of Hole saws has a wide diameter range, we can also alter the hole size to your specification. The cutting depth or hole size of Hole saws is the maximum Hole saws can cut without using an arbor extension.
Perhaps what you need to create a hole is thicker than what your Hole saws hole size can cut. In such cases, the only way out is to customize the Hole saws hole to fit that particular purpose. Most Hole saws can cut depths ranging from 22mm to 350mm, depending on the make and model.
(Different hole sizes of Hole saws)
9. Choice of Drill
Lastly, Hole saws are attached to drills, so your choice of Drill matters a lot in Hole saws. So, when you want to drill a hole with Hole saws, you must have a good quality drill. When choosing the right Drill, keep an eye out for significant features like the power, the voltage, RPM, and if it uses a battery or cable to an electric source or both. There are different types of drills out there, from different manufacturers, with different specifications.
Summary
In summary, this guide has highlighted crucial things you need to know before getting customized Hole saws. Custom Hole saws come in handy in helping you achieve that task with ease. A custom Hole saw is useful in many areas like plumbing, wiring a building, and cutting through concrete, among others. And with the versatility of the Hole saws cutter edge and sawtooth, amongst others, you can do even more. Whenever you need to customize a Hole saw, be sure you can get it done at NCCutingtools.
Was this guide helpful in understanding what you can alter when requesting custom Hole saws? Was anything left out? If, in any case, you think or have any other improvement to the Hole saws you feel would help the quality, kindly leave feedback. Feel free to contact us anytime for custom Hole saws based on your specifications. No need to get stuck trying to create a perfect hole anymore.
