Which hole saw is best....

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Reeling
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Which hole saw is best....

Post by Reeling »

Hey guys, just a quick question about cutting the 35mm hole for flush mounts.

Whats the best...
Hole saw and arbor
Spade bit
Forstner bit??

Which gave the cleanest? only drilling for scotty flush mount and not angled mounts like sunken rocket launcher style
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choppers
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by choppers »

Iv always used a hole saw, and some light sanding to clean up the edges
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shane
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by shane »

I've always used a circular hole saw and then filed further if needed. I installed a Scotty flush mount a couple of weeks ago doing this.
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Reeling
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by Reeling »

hole saw it is :)

Shane, did you just use a straight 35mm or doyou go slightly smaller and file.
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shane
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by shane »

I had a few different sizes, just picked one close to the right size and filed where needed for a snug fit. It doesn't have to be perfect size as you usually have plenty of silicon under the flush mount to prevent water ingress.
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MrTall
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by MrTall »

Do yourself a favor.
Don't use a spade bit.
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mingle
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by mingle »

MrTall wrote:Do yourself a favor.
Don't use a spade bit.
That's what I've used for the install of loads of Scotty flush-mounts over the years. :-)

The most important thing is to make sure the bit is sharp and that you keep it square while drilling.

Start off slow and build up revs once it's gouged out a nice circle.

I've no doubt a proper hole-saw is a better choice, but when I went to Bunnings I could get a 36mm spade-bit for about 8 bucks whereas a hole-saw kit was about $50.

That was back in 2009 when I wanted to install a pair of flush-mounts on my first yak - a Hobie Sport. If I'd realised I'd be installing many more mounts I probably would've grabbed the hole-saw set.

I only have one scare, with a yellow Revo, when I went at it too quickly and didn't square-up the bit properly before hitting maximum speed. The resultant hole was slightly elongated, but the mount fitted fine and wasn't loose.

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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by chunk9000 »

do it Nath, you've been putting this off long enough :D
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bunyip
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by bunyip »

never tried a forstner on plastic but hole saws are pretty versatile.
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Re: Which hole saw is best....

Post by laneends »

Hole saw and if you are nervous about fit then do a trial run in some scrap mdf/ply or similar. Hole saw will also give you a bit of scrap plastic to fill in any unwanted screw holes down the track. Make sure there is NOTHING you dont want cut underneath. Dont apply too much pressure so it doesn't plunge right in when it gets through
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