On Nov 28, 12:22*am, zxcvbob wrote:
It says it will cut metal; does that include mild steel and stainless?
I need to cut a 2 1/8" hole in a steel door for mounting a deadbolt.
Actually, it's a hollow core wooden door that someone laminated on both
sides with steel sheet (I think it might be stainless.) *Is it worth a
try for $20?

Or should I just drill a bunch of 3/32" holes, knock it out with a cold
chisel, and clean it up with a half-round file? *I assume I'll have to
do some filing if I use the oscillating multitool, but not a lot.

The hole saw I bought didn't do much except draw a circle for me and
make a pilot hole.

Let's say it doesn't work for this. *Is it worth $20 anyway? *Thanks.

-Bob

Yes, the MF tool is worth $20, but when mine breaks I'll replace it
with the $40(?) variable speed model. Depending on what my requirement
is, I might buy the VS model before my single speed fails because
there have been times when I've said "This tool works, but I wish I
could slow it down a bit."

A hole saw made for metal shouldn't have a problem cutting through a
steel-skinned door, although not knowing exactly what you have that's
tough to say from where I'm sitting.

The MF tool will indeed cut metal when a metal cutting blade is used,
although I don't know if I'd try cutting a circle in what is basically
a solid piece of material. That sounds like a function that doesn't
fit in the list of multi-functions that the tool can handle easily.

I suppose you could use one of the narrow plunge cutting blades and
make a series of flat plunge cuts, but that sounds like a lot of work
and something that would be hard to keep straight as you enter one
side of the door and exit the other.

I've used a plunge cut blade to cut through nails so I could remove
some window stops. Even though the blades said they were for metal,
the teeth wore down fairly quickly. I had to keep moving to different
sections of the blade since the nails would flatten a small section of
the blade and make it useless. Still, even though I went through 2
blades, it was the easiest tool to use for the job.

For your project, I'd buy a decent hole saw made for metal and use
that.

I'd then buy the VS multi-function tool anyway. ;-)