# Milwaukee 'grit edge' recessed light hole saw



## wirenut90 (Mar 6, 2010)

I have a good size, old work recessed lighting job comin up. Has anyone ever used this product. Its supposed to cut through plaster, wire and wood lath.


----------



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Yeah, it's Milwaukee's version of the Remgrit hole saws, which have been around for years. I use Remgrit hole saws when the material demands it, and they're fantastic. A little slower sawing (more like core drilling), but worth every penny. Hard plaster will clean the teeth off a regular hole saw in no time flat. The grit hole saws last and last. I used one the other day to get through some Dryvit to install some octagon boxes for some exterior lights.

I wouldn't really recommend grit hole saws for going thrugh solid wood, but on lath they're fine. They tend to burn through wood more than saw it. I had a pretty nice smoke plume coming off one of my grit hole saws one day when I thought it would be a good idea to use it to saw through some 3/4" tongue and groove boards on a porch ceiling. It already had the mandrel in it, so I figured, "what the heck". That was a bad idea. I'm not certain, but I think you could start a fire using a grit hole saw to go through just wood.


----------



## JohnJ0906 (Jan 22, 2007)

I have one of the Remgrits, and agree with Marc's assessment. Can't really comment on the Milwaukee version


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

We saw the sprinkler guys using them on a remodel project and ordered some to use for our smoke detector boxes. They last forever.....


----------



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

X3 Marc's comments.

Grit saws are great for plaster & lath, drywall, steel/vinyl/hardiplank/aluminum siding & soffits, etc. 

Plus, you can run the drill in either direction, making them last a lot longer. I've been using the same 6-3/8 Greenlee for can lights since '94 or so.


----------



## J.D. Electric (Sep 22, 2007)

check out these hole saws https://pga1.readyhosting.com/ProFitMPHolesawE.asp
they are great I use the 4" one for old work round boxes .
goes threw plaster and lathe quickly and easily . They seem to last forever to.


----------



## BIGRED (Jan 22, 2007)

For plaster and wood lathe I use two different hole saws. First I use the carbide GRIT on the plaster then change to carbide TIPPED for the wood lathe. The carbide GRIT tends to burn the wood lathe.


----------



## BIGRED (Jan 22, 2007)

J.D. Electric said:


> check out these hole saws https://pga1.readyhosting.com/ProFitMPHolesawE.asp
> they are great I use the 4" one for old work round boxes .
> goes threw plaster and lathe quickly and easily . They seem to last forever to.


I would be afraid of that hole saw catching the wood lathe and pulling half of the ceiling down.


----------



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

BIGRED said:


> I would be afraid of that hole saw catching the wood lathe and pulling half of the ceiling down.


I looked at that site for a minute, and lost interest quickly. I really don't want hole saws that take special mandrels. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but mandrels seem to get away from me.


----------



## KayJay (Jan 20, 2008)

For plaster & lath I use one of these with the tungsten carbide blades and a 1/2"cordless hammerdrill a the side handle attached.

http://www.holepro.com/powerseries.html - Twin-det


----------



## van2977 (Jan 13, 2010)

wirenut90 said:


> I have a good size, old work recessed lighting job comin up. Has anyone ever used this product. Its supposed to cut through plaster, wire and wood lath.




The one I use is Remgrit plows right thru the plaster and wood lath great product not real sure of Milwaukee's version, but the Remgrit is great, unsure of how it would work on plaster with the wire mesh behind it .


----------



## Forgery (Mar 6, 2010)

I wasn't aware that the Remgrit was for plaster, I remember looking at them but I didn't see it say plaster on it. 

If it's good on plaster and it lasts for a while, I'll definitely pick it up.


----------



## van2977 (Jan 13, 2010)

Forgery said:


> I wasn't aware that the Remgrit was for plaster, I remember looking at them but I didn't see it say plaster on it.
> 
> If it's good on plaster and it lasts for a while, I'll definitely pick it up.



Ya know I cant remember if it says palster the sides of mine are rubbed away , but it does work great.:thumbup:


----------



## Forgery (Mar 6, 2010)

van2977 said:


> Ya know I cant remember if it says palster the sides of mine are rubbed away , but it does work great.:thumbup:


As long as you guys say so, I am definitely investing in a couple.


----------



## Mike_586 (Mar 24, 2009)

J.D. Electric said:


> check out these hole saws https://pga1.readyhosting.com/ProFitMPHolesawE.asp
> they are great I use the 4" one for old work round boxes .
> goes threw plaster and lathe quickly and easily . They seem to last forever to.


Yeah I was using something similar for metal lath and plaster ceilings recently and they worked very well. Normal bi metal hole saws would completely lose their teeth after only several holes, we ordered something very similar made by Sarrette.



BIGRED said:


> For plaster and wood lathe I use two different hole saws. First I use the carbide GRIT on the plaster then change to carbide TIPPED for the wood lathe. The carbide GRIT tends to burn the wood lathe.


I usually do the same when I have both. Gets far more life out of the teeth on the carbide tips.



BIGRED said:


> I would be afraid of that hole saw catching the wood lathe and pulling half of the ceiling down.


I thought the same thing too when I looked at the ones I was using recently. I couldn't see how something with only a few teeth wouldn't tear the hell out of everything. But they actually worked very well. Though there was a bit of a knack to using them.



MDShunk said:


> I looked at that site for a minute, and lost interest quickly. I really don't want hole saws that take special mandrels. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but mandrels seem to get away from me.


I checked it out too and dug a little deeper. Although their arbor looks a little different, the thread and pin configuration are standard. The bits will fit a standard arbor.


----------



## Johnpaul (Oct 2, 2008)

The continuous rim carbide grit are great for "wall" tile which often is actually floor grade tile because people want something larger than 5x5 inches in size though it is four times as hard as real wall tile. Problem is that with all the new high hats for CFL and LED lamps I would need a dozen different ones and I would need sizes that are not even available like 3-3/4, 5-1/2, and 6-1/4 for Halo for starters. 

We use the Hole Pro adjustable hole cutters on plaster for that reason. The X-230 adjusts from 2" up to 9" so I can use one $130 hole cutter instead of a half dozen $50 hole saws. When the tungsten carbide blades are dull on the X-230 after several dozen holes in plaster it takes 60 seconds to put on a new pair ($18 a pair) and continue cutting. 

The Hole Pro blades only cut to a depth of 1-1/8" but that is 1/2" more than the Greenlee and 1/8" more than the Milwaukee recessed light grit hole saws. I often run into thick plaster or plaster with a layer of sheetrock over it and the Milwaukee grit hole saws are not able to cut all the way through. Similar problem with cutouts in stucco for exterior soffit lighting. 

Where I like using the X-230 adjustable hole cutter is with old construction as I can limit how deep it cuts. If there is something I don't want to cut up in the ceiling there are no worries. It holds the dust and the cut plug so no drop cloths and no shop vac is needed and I can cut a hole faster than I could trace the circle on the ceiling to use for a jab saw. 

Twin blades work best in plaster, Hardie board, and with drywall it makes a round hole with no wobble like I would get from my single blade hole cutter from Labor Saving Devices - and the Hole Pro cost less and cuts faster and the blades last longer.


----------



## beartp515 (Oct 25, 2009)

we have the Rem-grit one and love it. i makes a nice hole. i would recommend the Dust bowl also cause it makes ALOT of dust!!!

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/prodCat06.php 

we just got it today and used it......AWESOME!! No drywall dust to clean up....well worth the $19. IMO

Hope this helps


----------



## Johnpaul (Oct 2, 2008)

Rack-a-tiers dust bowl is cheap and better than nothing but that is it. For the rim grit cutters we bought one of the Hole Pro 7" shields and their arbor kit. Difference is that the arbor is ball bear mounted so every hole is perfectly straight and the arbor lets me limit the cutting depth of the hole cutter which makes for few accidents with cutting something in the ceiling that was not planned.

The Hole Pro shield comes pre-cut with a hole for a vacuum adapter. Only have to take off the plastic cap and screw on the adapter and attach it to a shop vac. We use it for hospital jobs and now with the EPA lead paint rules we use it in our remodel work. We use the same vac adapter on our Hole Pro adjustable hole cutter shields as the kit comes with two cover caps for the holes when not using a shop vac and it is quick to put on and take off. 

Setup and cleanup time when we go into existing commercial or residential sites is a small fraction of what it used to be before we started using the shielded hole cutters.


----------



## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

I also have nothing but good to say about the remgrit hole saws.

~Matt


----------



## BuzzKill (Oct 27, 2008)

............


----------



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

MDShunk said:


> I looked at that site for a minute, and lost interest quickly. I really don't want hole saws that take special mandrels. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but mandrels seem to get away from me.



I use the Greenlee grit holesaws..... uses the same mandrels as all my other holesaws.


----------



## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

I have just become a HUGE fan of it too.I had a nice little high hat job a couple of weeks ago and I drilled 8 holes in no time through plaster and wire lath. Its a bit messy so I had a vacuum going at the same time. It would have been a bitch with a regular hole saw or even my lightolier hole kit.


----------



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

One thing to know about grit holesaws............ they cut both ways. Sometimes it's easier to run the drill in reverse when you're in an awkward position. :thumbsup:


----------



## gold (Feb 15, 2008)

rotozip with the circle cutting jig. Cuts tile wood rock p&l brick mortar ..


----------



## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

480sparky said:


> One thing to know about grit holesaws............ they cut both ways. Sometimes it's easier to run the drill in reverse when you're in an awkward position. :thumbsup:


 Yea my buddy showed me that last year as a matter of fact. When I use a regular hole saw on Plaster I always go in reverse first.


----------



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

captkirk said:


> Yea my buddy showed me that last year as a matter of fact. When I use a regular hole saw on Plaster I always go in reverse first.



I always run toothed holesaws in reverse when cutting plaster & drywall.... saves the teeth.:thumbsup:

But grit holesaws will always cut the same, forward or reverse.


----------



## Rudeboy (Oct 6, 2009)

480sparky said:


> One thing to know about grit holesaws............ they cut both ways. Sometimes it's easier to run the drill in reverse when you're in an awkward position. :thumbsup:


That's true but then you get more plaster flying in your face.
:whistling2:


----------



## DontKnowWye (Dec 11, 2010)

What grit hole saws do you guys use? The RemGrit brand says "ceiling tile and drywall", nothing about plaster.


----------



## Johnpaul (Oct 2, 2008)

Any manufacturer that makes any kind of hole saw makes them for the standard 5/8"-18 thread which is all that is ever used regardless of who makes it or where it was made. Most have the holes for a 2 pin arbor which makes it a lot easier to remove the hole saw when you are done. 

We tried the dust bowl from Rackatiers but we could not control the depth or be sure we had a straight but and I worry about nicking a pipe or wiring. 

The Milwaukee have a 1" cutting depth like the Rem-grit hole cutters which is plenty deep enough for ceramic tile which is about the only place we use carbide grit hole saws. Milwaukee makes odd sizes like 3-1/8" and the ONLY remodel high hats I know that takes that size cutout are the Commercial Electric cans that Home Depot sells. Same with the Milwaukee 4-3/8 that only works with some Juno and some WAC recessed light cans but not the 4" size cans from Con-Tech, Progress, Commercial Electric, Halo, Nicor, Utilitech, or some of the WAC and Juno cans either. 

With a fixed size carbide grit hole saw you are locked into a few models by a few manufacturers and better hope that the two match. Halo won't even tell you the size cutout you need but says to check the template in the box. Works if we are the ones to specify the fixtures and buy them but that is often not what happens.


----------

