Need to cut a clean 1 3/4" hole thru laminate and plywood...

[Packard]

Drill rod is available widely.  You can probably get it from Grainger or MSC.

But I’ve only seen it in the “soft” condition (prior to heat treating).  Ideally, you would cut it to length and then harden it.  Otherwise, it might get bent.

But it certainly would eliminate any enlarging of the pilot hole, an advantage.

But I use the pass through hardware and I don’t face that issue.

 

[Cheese]

I'll echo what rst & Packard have said...for precision alignment needs, drill rod is the absolutely best choice. It's economical, can be heat treated if that needs to be done and is a precision ground/polished rod that's usually held to diametral tolerances of .0003" to .0005".

It's precision ground material offered at commodity pricing. 

It's also available from hundreds of vendors.

 

[jeh]

I drill the same size hole through a scrap and then clamp it to the piece I need a clean hole in. If you are worried of damage to the back then add a scrap on the bottom. I realize this may not be possible, depending on where the hole needs to be drilled.

A for their bet would be fast but a whole saw will work, especially if you can do it like stated above. Definitely practice before doing it on the refinished piece.

 

[Packard]

Since this thread was produced, I have gotten the Freud hole saw in 2” diameter and about 3” deep.  Carbide tipped.  With a quick release spindle. 

The carbide teeth are wider than the thickness of the metal on the hole saw.  That means a fairly generous saw kerf.  Which means it is fairly easy to extract the round slugs that accumulate inside the hole saw. 

The quick release is very handy.

It comes with an adapter that allows you to use the quick release with your older hole saws.  As my old ones get dull, I will replace them with the Freud carbide tipped ones. 

I have only used this for a few holes, but I am confident that it will be fine long term.

The video is too long by a mile.  Luckily you will see how it works after a few minutes. Or go directly to 4:32.

 

[squall_line]

The carbide teeth are wider than the thickness of the metal on the hole saw.  That means a fairly generous saw kerf.  Which means it is fairly easy to extract the round slugs that accumulate inside the hole saw. 

Is the nominal hole size accurate to the outermost teeth in the kerf, or to the body of the saw?

 

[Packard]

The carbide teeth are wider than the thickness of the metal on the hole saw.  That means a fairly generous saw kerf.  Which means it is fairly easy to extract the round slugs that accumulate inside the hole saw. 

Is the nominal hole size accurate to the outermost teeth in the kerf, or to the body of the saw?

I’ll check.  But I’m pretty sure if it is sold as a 2.00” hole saw, that it makes a 2.00” hole.  So that would be the outside diameter measured at the teeth.

Addendum:  I just checked.

Stamped in the side of the red barrel:

2”

51MM

Vernier caliper (digital) measurements:

Red Barrel measured: 1.9760”

Out side dimension at the carbide teeth:  2:006”

I am going to assume that the 0.006” discrepancy (six thousandths of an inch) can be laid to “operator error” on the calipers, with me being the operator.

That leaves the kerf at about 0.030” for the width of the kerf.

I don’t know if that is more or less than a conventional steel hole saw’s kerf.  But the barrel never seemed to get as hot as the steel version. 

In any case, carbide or non-carbide, I will stick to the Freud hole saws from now on just to stick with the quick release.  Very nice.