Hole Saws - What are the best ones?

[giradman]

Last few days, I've been making a small mobile stand for clamps - needed to drill saw holes for large dowels (1+ inches) - so I used my Blu-mol kit (2 sizes - first pic below) - this is my third set of hole saws over decades and am always frustrated, i.e. wood burns, tearout, & impossible to remove the wood plug w/o prying w/ a screwdriver! 


There must be 'hole saw kits' that do a decent job w/o the objections above - any suggestions?  I saw this Sypder kit on Amazon (2nd pic) that states there is a 'release button' which I'd love to use - BUT, any comments, purchase suggestions, etc.  Thanks - Dave
.

[Stwood_]

I have and use Bosch's power change set. Made for wood, not metal. PC11PCM set #.
Everything snaps on. Makes it easy to get that wood plug out of the cutter.
Highly recommended

NOT made for metal.

[Admiral]

I'm a believer in Lennox.

[Cooler]

I'm a believer in Lennox.

The problem with the small holes is that it is a person to get the blanks extricated.  

Rather use a 1/8" diameter router bit and a drilled pattern to cut the holes.  Plunge into the center and then work your way around.  It will leave a much smoother edge and you can adjust the size easily by changing the pattern hold.  And adjustable hole bit can be used for that purpose.  

Alternatively a forstner bit does a good job but leaves a mountain of chips.

[museumguy]

The biggest downfall of using a holesaw is there's no real place for the sawdust to go. This is why you get burning and stuck plugs. If possible, either use compressed air or a vacuum to remove the dust several times while drilling the hole. Blu-mol is a good brand, I have several. If you are drilling a through hole, such as in a counter, first, score the surface with the holesaw, the I prefer to take a 1/2" paddle bit and drill 2 or 3 holes around the perimeter, just touching the outer edges of the scored line. This gives the sawdust a place to go. It's amazing how well it works.

[photobug]

Last few days, I've been making a small mobile stand for clamps - needed to drill saw holes for large dowels (1+ inches) - so I used my Blu-mol kit (2 sizes - first pic below) - this is my third set of hole saws over decades and am always frustrated, i.e. wood burns, tearout, & impossible to remove the wood plug w/o prying w/ a screwdriver! 

The problem you are having is a result of improper use of the hole saw.  The only reason I know this is, I asked a similar question myself about a month ago.  

To avoid burned holes and stuck plugs.  You need to drill relief holes 1 or 2 inside the circle and use a slower drill speed.  A better quality holesaw my help but you will still need to do it right to get good results.  Use a backer board to help prevent tearout.

Gary beat me to it.

[giradman]

Thanks Guys for the comments - half way through drilling these saw holes, I remembered some previous posts - SO, attached a backer board and drilled some saw dust relief holes, as suggested, and got much better results - believe that Blu-mol is a decent brand - in the future, I'll do some scoring first and drill relief holes, use a slower speed, and see what my results may be - just don't use these hole saws much (and only for wood) - thanks again - Dave

[fixtureman]

I buy carbide tipped hole saws and when you use them you should use the slowest speed you can.

[rlnguy]

As mentioned above, clearance holes make a huge difference.
I would add, if you are making wheels-that is, you want to keep the center portion-drill the clearance holes on the outside of the cut, or cut right at the edge of the board, to give the chips a place to get out.
I always use bi-metal hole saws, and regularly use them in steel, up to 1/2" thick-slow, with oil, but it doesn't seem to hurt the holesaw, at all.

[BloomingtonMike]

I" ill use forstner bit with a plunge from both sides