Best tool to cut 4"-6" circle hole?

[speedy2020]

I am plan to add a 4"-6" PVC feeder. What is the best tool to cut a clean circle hole to plywood?

 

[Kias]

You'll want a hole-saw. They look like this, and a six inch one will cost about $15.00 if you hunt around. Of course if you plan to use it a lot, get a better one, you get what you pay for. They can run up to a hundred bucks. They sell kits of these too, but normally a six inch one is not included.

Have fun! I'm off to the intro section now.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I like a jig saw. This is something you probably own or can borrow from neighbor.

Start the hole with a drill. Draw your circle, drill inside of that then jig saw out to then along your mark.

 

[Tweakster]

I'll second the jigsaw method. A jigsaw will not give you as clean and uniform hole as a hole saw, but the cost of a large hole saw, coupled with the difficulty in using it, always drives me to use a jigsaw for holes much over 2 inches. When using a hole saw to cut 2 & 1/8 inch round holes for door handles in wood doors I find the hole saw binds a lot. Trying to cut a 4 to 6 inch hole with a hole saw would be even tougher. Like Jr says above, mark the hole on the wood, drill a small hole inside the circle for the jigsaw blade and cut the hole from there. If you're real good with a jigsaw you can plunge cut and not drill a hole. If you haven't started a plunge cut you will break a few blades learning how.

If you choose to use a hole saw go slow and watch you alignment so the hole saw doesn't bind. Use a higher amperage drill as the larger blade will need the extra amps. If the blade is spinning in the hole without making very much sawdust, the blade will heat quickly, so watch for that. Cutting a larger hole will be an adventure as the drill will buck harder when the saw binds due to the larger moment arm caused from the large hole size.

BTW, if you have friends that do drywall they might have a large hole saw you could borrow. Drywall is one of the few exceptions where a hole saw works well because of the softer material. Drywallers use these for installing down lights in the ceiling.

Good luck!

 

[Kias]

I too would just use a jigsaw. My brain got stuck on "best way" and "clean circle" and totally throwing out the fact it's a feeder we're building, not an airplane.

You can make an easy jig for the jigsaw to make an almost perfect circle! I'll find a video of it if you wish. I'm sure there has to be one somewhere!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[speedy2020]

Thanks for the input. I will go with the jigsaw because it can cut various size and different pattern holes.