6 Inch holes in hard maple

[kevin nee]

Hello, I would like to get two holes in 1 1/2 hard maple. I would like nice round holes not a jig saw cut. I have been looking at hole saws. Any recommendations? Brands, suppliers, carbide or bi-metal.
Thanks in advance, Kevin

[Andy Fox]

A circle cutter in a drill press or a router with trammel and straight bit should work.

[James Zhu]

Use forstner bit on drill press to remove bulk of the material, then use router with trim bit & circle template to make final clean cut.

Check this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8YJ16ziI8M

[James Baker SD]

I have a 6" Milwaukee and the gullets are the tiniest bit more than 1-1/2 inches from the disk of the disk so you really getting to its limits. Also, not sure it will make the smoothest cut (bought it for cutting through steel) unless you have a strong drill press and solidly clamped workpiece.

[Ray Newman]

See what Jim Zjhu wrote in response #3. That would be the best bet.

[Keith Pleas]

Sounds like another reason to buy a scroll saw. I mean, if you wanted to. ?

[mreza Salav]

You'd get burn marks with a hole saw in hard maple. A router with a circle cutting jig would give you a clean cut.

[Mark Kornell]

I've use a Milwaukee 4" bimetal hole saw in beech. Very fast cut, no burning. The cut edge needed sanding, but there was no tearout.

To deal with the thickness, I made the hole from both sides. The pilot bit makes this very simple. It also ensure there is no blowout from the hole saw exiting the back of the piece.

[Mike Cutler]

Kevin

A hole saw will do this, but it's going to be slow. Six inches is a big hole and the speed will have to be slow at the outside diameter to allow the material to clear the teeth. If you go this route, I'd go carbide with an aggressive tooth configuration. I'd also back the maple up, top and bottom, to prevent to tear out.

I think I would cut most of it with a jig saw and use an MDF template, with a router, and a spiral bit, to get the the finished dimension.

[Randy Red Bemont]

You'd get burn marks with a hole saw in hard maple. A router with a circle cutting jig would give you a clean cut.

+1
This is your answer to do it correctly and simply.

Red

[Steve Jenkins]

I would use a router. You could make a pattern from mdf first then use that. If you use a hole saw score the surface first with the hole saw then drill a few 3/8 diameter holes that intersect the scored line. This will give you chip clearance that will prevent burning and make it much easier going with the hole saw.

[Jim Matthews]

If you don't already own a drill press with enough throw,
or bits large enough to manage this - it might be worth farming out.

If you're only going to do it once....
http://www.yellowpages.com/west-boyl...-machine-shops

[Sam Murdoch]

I agree with the router suggestions. A good little woodworking project. Cut the waist with a jig saw- within an 1/8" or less to your line then follow up with a router and hole template OR a circle cutting jig.

I don't have a circle cutting jig for my router. I guess I don't use one often enough to justify the expense and then every time I face this chore I wish I had one. Anyway, I typically use 1/2" or 3/8" MDF because I can sand the circle line more easily and cleanly but plywood will do too. You can use a hole saw to cut MDF soooo much easier than into solid wood but you can cut your template hole with a jigsaw too. Sand to the line for perfection with a sanding drum.

The template then gets clamped to your work piece and you run a bottom bearing 1/2" or 3/4" trim bit along the template. The closer to the line you have cut your maple the easier and cleaner the router finish will be. After that you have a 6" hole template for future uses.

Just looked at the video from post # 3 - The Rockler circle jig seems like a must have - forget the MDF template. SO - what James Zhu says .

[Prashun Patel]

If you use a hole saw, then I have a tip: Once you get about 1/4" in (enough so the line is scored fairly well) pull out and drill a few small relief holes just inside the score with a 3/8" bit. Drill all the way through (being careful to back the bottom of the cut so you don't tear out). This will allow a lot of the dust to fall through when you switch back to the finishing the hole. The problem with hole saws is there's no place for the waste to go, so the gullets get packed, the blade overheats, and dulls and you (read, I) get insufferable burn marks on the inside of the hole

[Jim Finn]

I would do it with a scroll saw. The cut is very smooth with a scroll saw. If you put sand paper to a scroll saw cut it will degrade the finish of the cut. Scroll saw blades burnish the edge and will not burn the wood if the blade is sharp.