Moan moan hole saw arbor moan

[David]

Just trying to match a holesaw and arbor on the Screwfix site.

The arbor suggests maximum and minimum sizes of hole saw. The hole saw description is a bit more cryptic.

9.5mm shank for 14-30mm 11mm shank for 32-152 mm

Both include an M2 pilot drill.

79mm holes saw says "High quality, M3 bi-metal holesaw". I was OK until I saw the M3. What does that refer to?

Anyway, buying an Erbauer hole saw and arbor should be fine. Just not very helpful if you already have an arbor from another manufacturer.

Just a random moan grumble chunter.

Dave R

[Tricky Dicky]

With any luck you will find some manufacturers do match, I have an Erbaur Arbor with a number of orange saws that I know are Erbaur and one white coloured one which I think is Bosch unfortunately the markings have rubbed off so cannot confirm. I know the arbors for diamond core drills do match across manufacturers so cannot see why hole saws should be different. I imagine a lot of tradesmen would be annoyed having to have different arbors for every manufacturer.

Surprised at the M2 pilot though M6 seems the standard on smaller arbors.

I suspect the M3 might be the kerf the saw cuts.

Richard

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If all makers worked to the same standard. Think I've got three different arbors for saws of nearly the same size.

[Brian Reay]

3mm seems quite a kerf, even for the size of hole mentioned. Diamond cutters tend to have a narrow kerf, at least the ones I?ve used. Larger TCT are another matter.

Equally 3mm seems a bit small for the pilot hole, at least the hole the drill which guides/ centres the main gizmo. You may well drill a smaller hole first but I wouldn?t think 3mm would have enough strength to steady a significant cutter without risking it breaking. As you say, M6 is more like what I?d expect- certainly the various hole cutters I have ( a mixed collection assembled over years of DIY) are more like that, at least for the larger ones.

I recently bought something which came with a free (!) hole cutter and it has a small pilot drill but the hole it cuts is only about 10mm. Plus, for the application (car bumpers typically) the material it will be cutting is quite easy to cut through. Even so, I doubt it will be good for more that a few holes!

[Andy Burns]

There is a standard for hole saws, BS 8416:2002

The standard does specify three arbour types.

[Steve Walker]

My core drills definitely have different arbors - and yes, it is a pain. I have a couple of long ones and a couple of short ones and they have different threads, some use tapers and some use clamping screws for the guide drill and finding one that fits the core drill, the correct guide drill and sometimes the correct guide bar to replace the drill is a right pain.

SteveW