We received word that Milwaukee will be refreshing all of their Hole Dozer hole saws with a new slot form.
All Milwaukee Hole Dozer hole saws, including bi-metal, carbide-toothed, and diamond hole saws will be updated to the new style, with the new hole saws hitting starts starting in December 2019.
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Milwaukee says that their newly updated slot form features an all-access design that provides for:
- Greater pilot hole visibility for accurate hole placement
- Increased chip ejection for cooler and faster cuts
- Improved productivity from less downtime between holes
Sounds good all around.
Here’s what the slots looked like before, courtesy of Ben’s Milwaukee Hole Dozer factory tour.
Shown here (above) is another image of the older/outgoing style of Hole Dozer hole saw.
And here is the new one again – BIG difference, isn’t it?
The SKUs are staying the same, and I would presume the pricing won’t change either.
If you want to ensure you get the new style, you might want to shop locally, or deal with an online retailer who’s willing to answer questions about which version you’ll receive.
Discussion
I describe Milwaukee Hole Dozer hole saws as “the best” in the title, but that’s just my opinion as I haven’t fully verified it yet. These are, however, my favorite hole saws. Milwaukee isn’t the only brand I’ve bought in recent years, but I’ve bought the most of them, and like them most, for both personal use and for drill testing activities. I like consistency. Forgive the embellishment if you disagree, and please feel free to chime in about your own preferred brand of hole saw.
Anyway, is there a downside to this new design? Faster and easier plug ejection is always a good thing, and the “improved pilot hole visibility” aspect is a benefit I hadn’t considered. Will more holes allow for faster chip ejection and cooler cutting/drilling? That seems possible.
I have different generations of Milwaukee hole saws, and these new ones look like Swiss cheese in comparison. The holes look so much wider than the slots on recent Hole Dozers, and single slots on my Milwaukee hole saws from well before “Hole Dozer” branding. (According to my notes, Hole Dozer branding and the new style was introduced in January 2015.)
Is anyone else hoping that the holiday season promo sets feature the new styling?!
Thom
I have the older set of these from 2017. Do these come with the hard case too?
Stuart
My understanding is that all of the new Hole Dozer hole saws will simply replace all of the previous ones. Hole Dozer sets packaged in hard cases should continue to be packaged in hard cases.
JR3 Home Performance
I really like the big hawg carbide hole saws. Don’t think I’ve destroyed one yet. Did a drill and fill dense-pack insulation job on a stucco house. Those big hawgs worked great. Didn’t even seem to show wear but I wasn’t measuring or watching closely. Pretty sure I’m still using that same hole saw now. Just have to change the pilot bits here and there
Nathan
are they the only carbide hole saw? I think they were the first or first I’ve ever seen.
anyway interesting pattern.
Stuart
Diablo also makes carbide-tooth hole saws.
fred
So do Bosch, Profit (Boorwerk BV), Lenon, and Morse (M.K. Morse)
Mosh
Lenox also or just started but they just updated there’s to
Matt
I was going to say Morse. I have used them for years and they’re excellent! I’ll have to give the new Milwaukee a shot.
no sense of humor
also champion cutting tool
http://www.championcuttingtool.com/
used by a lot of big league trailer manufacturers on the west coast
you’ll notice they look a LOT different than the others!
Jim Felt
This is soooo long overdue. They’ve all been skating imho forever.
“If” these clear faster and easier then the ancient slot pattern these are going to be great.
Now if I could just rationalize “gifting” our existing red boxed sets to Jimmy Carter (Habitat for Humanity) yet again…
Decisions decisions. Grrr.
Noah
Isn’t the outgoing design the “step” pattern, and not the one pictured?
Milwaukee saws are more accessible but I prefer Lenox.
Stuart
Depends. Mine have the hole and slot. It seems that some of the sets and larger diameter hole saws have the stepped hole design.
If you look at the new Hole Dozer Packout bundle, 49-22-5606, the hole saws have two slots.
I can’t tell you why some current sets have two slots and others have a continuous step, but press materials say that all of the Hole Dozers are now moving to the new design.
Koko The Talking Ape
I’m sold. The old ones were fine in sheet metal or thin plywood, but if you drilled/sawed into thicker material, you soon smelled smoke, because the sawdust and whatnot couldn’t get cleared away. Anything to reduce friction is a good thing.
davper
I am waiting for a set that is actually oval instead of round. An oval hole saw will actually make it much easier to extract the plug from the saw because the plug would be smaller than normal.
Rob
I still think that Spyder’s Rapid Core Ejection system is the best.
Matthew Nagel
Just bought the 4″ hole dozer and got 8 holes out of it through 1/2″ lumber core pine plywood. Hole number 9 barely made it through. Now it’s shot. Garbage.