The Best Hole Saws: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

Milwaukee 12PC QUIK-LOK HOLE DOZER Bi-Metal Kit (49-22-4702)

Milwaukee is the only one of these four that publishes a depth of cut, a recommended RPM by material and a warranty on the same product, and its QUIK-LOK arbor set is documented to fit industry standard threaded hole saws from other brands. The LENOX kit gets you the same two thread ranges for less by shipping two conventional arbors instead of one clever one.

See why it wins Compare all

The hole saw itself is the cheap part. The arbor is where the money and the frustration live, because that is the piece that decides whether the saws you already own will still fit. Two thread sizes cover almost the whole market, 1/2 in. x 20 for saws from 9/16 in. to 1-3/16 in. and 5/8 in. x 18 for 1-1/4 in. and up, and every maker here publishes those same two numbers. What is not shared is the quick-change layer bolted on top of them, and that is where one of these four quietly stops being interchangeable.

Milwaukee

12PC QUIK-LOK HOLE DOZER Bi-Metal Hole Saw Kit (49-22-4702)

Buy it

The only kit here whose maker publishes a depth of cut, an RPM figure per material and a warranty, on an arbor documented to drive other brands' saws.

Best for: The tradesperson who wants one arbor system that will still drive whatever hole saws end up in the bag later.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Milwaukee publishes a 1-5/8 in. depth of cut on every bi-metal HOLE DOZER size, plus RPM figures for stainless steel, mild steel, cast iron and aluminium on each size page.
• The QUIK-LOK arbor set carries a small thread adapter, a large thread adapter and a large thread pin adapter, and Milwaukee states it fits all industry standard threaded hole saw sizes, types and brands.
• Backed by a Limited Lifetime Tooth Break Warranty covering tooth breakage or fracture caused by defects in material or workmanship.

Know before buying

• 3.5 TPI is a coarse constant pitch, which is a compromise on thin sheet metal where a finer tooth is easier to keep engaged.
• The warranty covers tooth breakage from defects only and excludes misuse, alteration, abuse and normal wear.
• The saws top out at 2-1/2 in. in this kit, so larger openings mean buying individual cups.
• The 1-5/8 in. depth is only just past the 1-1/2 in. thickness of a single two-by, and a doubled plate needs two passes.

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LENOX

7PC Contractor's Hole Saw Kit (1815140)

Buy it

Five saws and both arbors you actually need, from the maker that publishes the most complete public speed chart in the category.

Best for: Anyone who wants both thread ranges covered on day one and does not care about quick-change.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• Ships with both a 5L and a 2L arbor, so it covers the 9/16 in. to 1-3/16 in. range and the 1-1/4 in. and larger range without a second purchase.
• LENOX publishes recommended RPM tables by diameter and material for bi-metal, carbide-tipped, carbide grit and diamond saws in its own catalogue.
• The Speed Slot staircase design puts wide slots low on the cup with multiple leverage points, so a screwdriver gets under the plug.

Know before buying

• LENOX does not publish a cutting depth or a tooth pitch for these saws, only that they are 10 percent taller than the previous generation.
• The LENOX product page for this kit states it is not eligible for any warranty.
• Two conventional arbors means a hex key and a threaded change, not a one-handed swap.
• Five saws from 7/8 in. to 2-1/8 in. is a starter set, not a coverage set.

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Diablo

13 pc Carbide Teeth Hole Saw Set (DHS13SPLCT)

It depends

The deepest published cut here by a wide margin, on a mandrel that other brands' saws can join but Diablo's cups cannot leave.

Best for: The plumber or remodeller boring through thick or nail-embedded stock who is happy to standardise on one brand.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Diablo publishes a 60 mm (2-3/8 in.) cutting depth, against the 1-5/8 in. that the bi-metal saws in this comparison publish.
• Rated by Diablo for clean wood, nail-embedded wood, plastic, aluminium, metal, cast iron and stainless steel using the same cup.
• Tool-free plug ejection at the mandrel rather than a slot you have to lever a plug out of.

Know before buying

• Diablo lists the shank of its hole saws as Diablo Mandrel and states the mandrel fits all Diablo hole saws, so the cups are tied to Diablo's own system.
• The included 1/2 in. and 5/8 in. adaptor nuts convert other brands onto Snap-Lock Plus, which is the opposite direction to the one that would free you.
• Diablo does not publish a recommended RPM by diameter and material on these product pages, which matters more with carbide than with bi-metal.
• Diablo has since introduced a second mandrel generation, Snap-Lock Demon, whose published bullets claim compatibility with Diablo hole saws only.

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We'd skip it

Milwaukee

SHOCKWAVE Impact Duty Thin Wall Hole Saw, 1-1/2 in. (49-56-9835)

Skip it

A good sheet-metal tool sold in the same aisle as real hole saws, and rated by its own maker for a fraction of the work.

Best for: Someone drilling a knockout in a steel box or a panel with an impact driver, and nothing thicker.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• The included ejection spring pushes the slug out automatically, which is the cleanest plug solution in this comparison.
• A stop shoulder is designed to prevent over-drilling into the inside of an electrical or junction box.
• The 1/4 in. quick change hex shank drops straight into an impact driver with no arbor to buy.

Know before buying

• Milwaukee rates it for plastics and thin gauge metals up to 1/8 in. thick, which rules out most of what people buy hole saws for.
• The line stops at 1-1/2 in. diameter, so it cannot cut a 2-1/2 in. hole at all.
• The integral hex shank is not threaded, so it shares no arbor, no pilot bit and no adapters with the rest of the category.
• Milwaukee publishes an overall length of 2.5 in. for this saw but no depth of cut, so there is no figure to plan a cut against.

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How we judged the field

Five things decide whether a hole saw purchase is a good one, and only one of them is the saw. First is the arbor, because it sets what you can mount now and later. Second is the published depth of cut, because it is the number that tells you whether a cut is one pass or two. Third is the tooth: pitch, whether it is constant or variable, and whether the cutting edge is bi-metal, carbide-tipped or diamond, since each is rated for a different job. Fourth is plug removal, which sounds trivial until you have levered forty slugs out of a cup with a screwdriver. Fifth is what the maker is willing to write down, from a recommended RPM chart to a warranty, because a spec you can check is worth more than a claim you cannot.

The field splits cleanly. On one side are the bi-metal kits built around industry standard threads, where Milwaukee and LENOX both publish the same two thread sizes and both sell arbors described as fitting other brands’ saws. On the other is the carbide side, where Diablo has built a deeper cup and a faster change but hung it on a mandrel of its own. Sitting apart from both is the impact-driver thin wall saw, which looks like a hole saw and is not sold for the same work. We picked one kit from each of those three positions, plus the thin wall saw, because the mistake we see most often is buying that fourth thing while shopping for the first.

Milwaukee 12PC QUIK-LOK HOLE DOZER Bi-Metal Hole Saw Kit (49-22-4702) - buy

Milwaukee’s 49-22-4702 is the kit to buy if you want the arbor question settled once. It holds nine bi-metal HOLE DOZER saws from 3/4 in. to 2-1/2 in., a five-piece 7/16 in. QUIK-LOK arbor set with the adapters pre-assembled on the cups, two 1/4 in. by 4 in. high speed steel pilot bits and a PACKOUT Compact Organizer. The reason it wins is documentation. Milwaukee publishes a 1-5/8 in. depth of cut on every bi-metal size and a recommended RPM for stainless steel, mild steel, cast iron and aluminium on each individual size page, so you can look up the number before you pull the trigger instead of guessing. The QUIK-LOK arbor set is stated to fit all industry standard threaded hole saw sizes, types and brands, with small thread, large thread and large thread pin adapters plus a hole enlargement adapter. The tooth is a coarse 3.5 TPI constant pitch, which favours wood and thicker metal over thin sheet, and the Limited Lifetime Tooth Break Warranty covers defects rather than wear. For anyone building a kit over years, it is the safest foundation here.

LENOX 7PC Contractor’s Hole Saw Kit (1815140) - buy

The LENOX 7PC Contractor’s Kit is the honest cheap answer. It is five Speed Slot bi-metal saws at 7/8 in., 1 in., 1-1/8 in., 1-1/2 in. and 2-1/8 in. plus a 5L arbor and a 2L arbor, which is the detail that matters: those two arbors between them cover the 9/16 in. to 1-3/16 in. thread range and the 1-1/4 in. to 6 in. range, so you are not discovering at the second hole that your one arbor does not fit. LENOX also publishes the fullest public speed data in the category, recommended RPM by diameter and material for bi-metal, carbide-tipped, carbide grit and diamond saws, which is genuinely useful whatever brand of saw you end up holding. Against that, LENOX publishes no cutting depth and no tooth pitch for these saws, describing them only as 10 percent taller than the previous generation, and its own page states the kit is not eligible for any warranty. It is a starter set with good bones and thin paperwork.

Diablo 13 pc Carbide Teeth Hole Saw Set (DHS13SPLCT) - it depends

Diablo’s 13 pc Carbide Teeth set is the one to consider if depth is your constraint. Eight TiCo carbide cups run from 1-1/8 in. to 3-5/8 in., with a Snap-Lock Plus mandrel, a carbide pilot bit, a cobalt pilot bit and 5/8 in. and 1/2 in. threaded adaptor nuts. Diablo publishes a 60 mm (2-3/8 in.) cutting depth, which is close to half again what the bi-metal saws here manage, and rates the same cup for clean wood, nail-embedded wood, plastic, aluminium, metal, cast iron and stainless steel. Plug ejection is tool-free at the mandrel rather than a slot you lever. The catch is structural. Diablo lists the shank of its own hole saws as Diablo Mandrel and states the mandrel fits all Diablo hole saws, while the adaptor nuts convert other brands onto Snap-Lock Plus. Traffic flows in, not out. If you are content to be a Diablo household it is excellent. If you already own threaded cups you value, read that paragraph twice.

Milwaukee SHOCKWAVE Impact Duty Thin Wall Hole Saw, 1-1/2 in. (49-56-9835) - skip

The Milwaukee SHOCKWAVE Impact Duty Thin Wall hole saw is a good tool bought for the wrong reason more often than almost anything in this aisle. Milwaukee’s own description is unambiguous: a thin wall 8 TPI design with a 1/4 in. quick change hex shank for impact drivers, an ejection spring that pushes the slug out on its own, a stop shoulder to prevent over-drilling into the inside of an electrical or junction box, and a rating for plastics and thin gauge metals up to 1/8 in. thick. Every one of those is a virtue if you are punching knockouts in a panel. None of them helps if you are boring through a stud. The line stops at 1-1/2 in. diameter, Milwaukee publishes an overall length of 2.5 in. but no depth of cut, and the integral hex shank means it shares no arbor, no pilot bit and no adapters with anything else you own. Buy it as a sheet metal tool or do not buy it.

Milwaukee 12PC QUIK-LOK HOLE DOZER Bi-Metal Hole Saw Kit (49-22-4702) vs LENOX 7PC Contractor’s Hole Saw Kit (1815140): which should you buy?

The Milwaukee kit and the LENOX kit reach the same place by different routes. Both are bi-metal, both mount on the same two industry standard threads, both use a slot in the cup that you lever a plug out of with a screwdriver. The difference is what you get for the extra money and what each maker is prepared to state. Milwaukee gives you one arbor with adapters that convert it to either thread range and a documented claim that it fits other brands, a published depth of cut and a published RPM on every size page, and a warranty against tooth breakage from defects. LENOX gives you two conventional arbors that between them cover the same ground for a lot less, plus the best public speed chart in the category, but publishes no depth of cut, no tooth pitch and no warranty on the kit.

Choose on how often you change saws. If you are on ladders swapping between four sizes in an afternoon, the QUIK-LOK arbor set earns its keep and the pre-assembled adapters mean no hunting for a hex key. If a hole saw comes out of the bag twice a month, two threaded arbors and a hex key cost you thirty seconds and save you real money, and the LENOX cups will screw onto a Milwaukee arbor later if you upgrade. The one purchase order that makes no sense is a single arbor: the two thread ranges are not interchangeable, and finding that out at the second hole is the classic version of this mistake.

What to look for

• Count the arbors, not the saws: a kit with one arbor covers only one of the two thread ranges, 1/2 in. x 20 for saws below 1-1/4 in. or 5/8 in. x 18 for 1-1/4 in. and above, so check that both are in the box or that adapters are.
• Read the quick-change footnote: LENOX states its saws fit both quick change and traditional arbors and then footnotes an exclusion for proprietary arbor systems that require adapters, which is the whole compatibility question in one sentence.
• Find the published depth of cut: Milwaukee lists 1-5/8 in. for bi-metal HOLE DOZER and Starrett lists 1-5/8 in. (41 mm) for Fast Cut against 2 in. (51 mm) for Deep Cut, so if a listing does not state one, assume it is in that ordinary range.
• Match the cutting edge to the material, not the price: LENOX’s own selection guide puts carbide-tipped at the top for stainless steel and cast iron, multi-material carbide for nail-embedded wood and masonry, carbide grit for abrasives such as fibreglass and ceramic tile, and diamond for tile and granite.
• Look for a speed chart before you buy the saw: Milwaukee publishes an RPM for stainless, mild steel, cast iron and aluminium on each size page and LENOX publishes full tables by diameter, and running a large saw at drill speed is the usual way one dies early.
• Decide how the plug comes out: slots need a screwdriver, Diablo’s mandrel ejects tool-free, and Milwaukee’s thin wall saws use a spring, and whichever you pick you will use it on every single hole.

Our final take

Hole saws are one of the few categories where the accessory decides the tool. Get the arbor right and every cup you ever buy will fit; get it wrong and you own a drawer of saws that will not mount. Milwaukee’s QUIK-LOK kit is the safest version of that decision because the adapters cover both standard threads and the company says in writing that they fit other brands. LENOX gets you to the same compatibility for much less by giving you two ordinary arbors instead of one clever one, at the cost of a published depth figure and any warranty at all. Diablo is the one to think hardest about: the deepest published cut here, on a mandrel that only takes traffic in one direction.

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