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Hole Saw Size Chart

Whether you are working with wood, metals or plastic, you might end up in a situation where you have to make holes. No, we are not talking about tiny holes for driving screws but large holes to fit pipes (or similar large things). Hole Saws are the perfect tools for this job. In this guide, we will discuss about Hole Saws and different types of hole saws. We will also look at some common hole saw sizes using a Hole Saw Size Chart.

A Brief Note on Hole Saw

When ever we need to make holes in any object, we use a regular drill with appropriate drill bit size. For slightly larger holes, there are special bits known as Spade Bits.

You can use spade bits to make bigger holes, say up to 1” diameter at most. But what if you need to make even larger holes? This is where Hole Saws come handy. Imagine a Band Saw Blade wrapped in a circle. This is a close description to what a Hole Saw looks like.

Most Hole Saws fix to an arbor or mandrel that contains a collar, drive pins, a pilot bit and a shaft. Using the drive pins, we have to first secure the hole saw to the arbor. Then slide the arbor shaft into a drill and you can start using the hole saw.

The pilot bit of the arbor allows you to make a pilot hole at the center of the piece that you want to remove. Hole Saws can drill holes in sheets of drywall, steel, aluminum, wood and many other materials.

Types of Hole Saws

There are several types of hole saws and the main differentiation is the type of material they are made up of. But we can use the type of tips/blades they use to classify them.

HOLE SAW SIZE CHART
Here are some popular types of hole saws:

  • Bimetal Hole Saw
  • Tungsten Carbide Tipped Hole Saw
  • Carbon Steel Hole Saw
  • Cobalt Hole Saw
  • Diamond Edged Hole Saw
  • Smooth Cut Hole Saw
  • Gulleted Hole Saw
  • Welded Shank Hole Saw
  • Circular Tile Hole Saw
  • Hole Cutter

Let us now briefly see about some of the above-mentioned hole saws.

Bimetal Hole Saw

As the name suggests, a bimetal hole saw is made from a bi-metal material. The bodies are usually made from carbon steel while the teeth are made from high-speed steel.

They are one of the most popular types of holes for making holes in brass, bronze, aluminum, cast iron, plastic, wood (hardwood, plywood, etc.).

Carbon Steel Hole Saw

They are slightly less durable than bimetal counterparts but even they are general purpose hole saws suitable for home jobs, DIYer and small workshops. Due to the nature of the material, we have to carbon steel hole saws only on light-weight applications.

Some materials on which you can use carbon steel hole saws are: drywall, plywood, plastic etc.

Tungsten Carbide Hole Saws

In this type of hole saws, the teeth are usually treated with carbide coating for additional strength. The result is fast cutting action as well as very long life.

The regular teeth type carbide hole saws are suitable for non-ferrous metals as well as hardwood, plastic etc. But the gulleted square teeth one is even tough an you can use it on bricks, concrete, marble etc.

Hole Saw Size Chart

Like other popular tools, even hole saws are available in a multitude of sizes. Some material types start at a diameter of 5/8” and go all the way to 6”. We will now take a look at the Hole Saw Size Chart for some popular types.

Note that the best way to get accurate values on the sizes of hole saws is to refer to the manufacturer’s hole saw size charts. They provide with all the necessary details including the part number.

Bi-Metal Hole Saw Size Chart

Diameter Maximum Cutting Depth Pipe Tap Size Pipe Entrance Size RPM
inch mm inch inch inch Steel Iron Non-Ferrous Plastic
5/8 16 1-5/16 550 365 730 880
3/4 19 1-7/16 1/2 3/8 460 300 600 740
7/8 22 1-7/16 3/4 1/2 390 260 520 640
1 25 1-7/16 350 235 470 560
1-1/8 29 1-7/16 1 3/4 300 200 400 480
1-1/4 32 1-7/16 275 180 360 440
1-3/8 35 1-7/16 1 250 165 330 400
1-1/2 38 1-7/16 1-1/4 230 150 300 370
1-5/8 41 1-7/16 210 140 280 340
1-3/4 44 1-1/4 1-1/2 1-1/4 195 130 260 320
1-7/8 48 1-1/4 180 120 240 290
2 51 1-1/4 1-1/2 170 115 230 270
2-1/8 54 1-1/4 160 105 210 260
2-1/4 57 1-1/4 2 150 100 200 250
2-3/8 60 1-1/4 140 95 190 230
2-1/2 64 1-1/4 2 135 90 180 220
2-5/8 67 1-1/4 2-1/2 130 85 170 210
2-3/4 70 1-1/4 125 80 160 200
2-7/8 73 1-1/4 120 80 150 180
3 76 1-1/4 2-1/2 115 75 140 180
3-1/4 83 1-1/4 3 105 70 140 170
3-1/2 89 1-1/4 95 65 130 160
3-3/4 95 1-1/4 3-1/2 90 60 120 150
4 102 1-1/4 85 55 110 140
4-1/2 114 1-1/4 4 75 50 100 120
5 127 1-1/4 65 45 80 110
5-1/2 140 1-1/4 —- 60 40 75 100
6 152 1-1/4 55 35 70 90

Carbide Tipped Hole Saw Size Chart

Diameter Pipe Tap Size Pipe Entrance Size
inch mm inch inch
3/4 19 3/8
7/8 22 3/4 1/2
1 25
1-1/8 29 1 3/4
1-1/4 32
1-3/8 35 1
1-1/2 38 1-1/4
1-5/8 41
1-3/4 44 1-1/2 1-1/4
1-7/8 48
2 51 1-1/2
2-1/8 54
2-1/4 57 2
2-3/8 60
2-1/2 64 2
2-5/8 67 2-1/2
2-3/4 70
2-7/8 73
3 76 2-1/2
3-1/4 83 3
3-1/2 89
3-3/4 95 3-1/2
4 102
4-1/4 108 4
4-1/2 114 4
4-3/4 121 4-1/2
5 127
5-1/2 140
6 152

Conclusion

Hole Saw is a very interesting tool. You can easily make holes with diameters of 6” or more using hole saws in wood, metal, plastic, gypsum etc. They are available in different material types as well as plethora of sizes. In this guide, we saw about Hole Saws, different types of Hole Saws and also souple of important hole saw size chart.

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