Hi
I am building a cabinet using a combination of plywood and hard wood. I will be making four recessed doors pull for the sliding doors. The door is made of Maple plywood and the door pulls will be made from Cherry. The door pulls are about 1 3/4″ in diameter. The door pull is basically a ring of 1 3/4′ outer diameter and 1 1/2″ inner diameter, a sample is posted in this article I am think of using an adjustable circle cutter from Lee Valley to bore the holes on plywood, and also using the same tool to make the door pulls. I welcome opinion on the best tool to cut hole on plywood to avod chipping along the side. Will it be Forstner drill bit, circle saw cutter, or circle cutter? I have to buy at least 3 bits if I go with the forstner bit or circle saw cutter. I am think of the adjustable circle cutter because it means buying one tool can bore the hole on the plywwod and also making the door pulls. Thanks
Patrick Lee, Toronto, Canada
Replies
Holy holes, Batman! ;-)
If you can use a drill press, good Forstner bits will give you the cleanest holes. Using a Forstner bit in a hand drill, however, can be tricky. If the alignment isn't perfect, the drill will want to "walk" across the surface, causing damage. Sharp, good-quality hole saws would be the next best option. I like Starrett carbide-tiped hole saws. They aren't cheap, but tend to provide cleaner edges than hole saws with conventional teeth.
I have never had any luck with adjustable circle cutters if you mean the kind with the horizontal beam holding a vertical cutter. I also don't think you can use them in a hand drill. My choice would be forstner bits in a drill press.
router bit
I've used the adjustable circle cutter and they work good in hardwood not ply. You will get chip out. I minimized it with taping the area real well and then cutting but sill not perfect. Forstners may work but I like the higer speeds. Take a piece of mdf and cut your whole to the diameter you want to get a pattern. then take a pattern bit with bearing, and use that to cut circle in multiple passes. Take the first one very light to protect the surface veneer (I still tape just because I'm paranoid). After that first pass you can get more agressive which depends on your router power.. Will work like a charm.
best way to cut holes in plywood.
I used forstner bits to drill holes in 1/2 sepele mahogany with great success but be sure to clamp the piece down to a block underneath or the tear out will destroy your work. The bit will not walk unless you are trying to start it on an angle. Freud makes one in that size but they are high dollar carbide bits. Unless you will have use for it in the future it may not be worth it .
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