Best RPM for Hole Saws when Cutting Any Material

August 9, 2021

You may think using a hole saw is simply a matter of chucking it up and drilling. While that may work in many cases, setting the best hole saw cutting speed with your drill—even if you only get close, will save you from burning out the blade and possibly even ruining the material. We thought it might be handy to create a guide for setting the best RPM for hole saws when cutting any material.

Many of the best cordless drills operate on high and low speeds, and some have multiple modes or even software that controls the RPM (rotations per minute) of the keyless drill chuck. Even if you need to throttle the drill by hand, however, speed is crucial. Understanding your drill’s speeds helps you drill more quickly and without ruining your hole saws. With a little practice, you can save a lot of money in the long run.

Best RPM Speed for Using Carbide-tipped Hole Saws

Following is a table representing the best RPM speed for using carbide-tipped hole saws. It guides you through the optimal speeds for cutting through aluminum, stainless, fiberglass, ceramic tile, and even cast iron. As a general rule—the harder or more brittle the material, the slower you should cut.

Size (in)	Size (mm)	Aluminum RPM	Stainless RPM	Fiberglass RPM	Ceramic RPM	Cast Iron RPM
11/16	17.5	1800	690	270	550	240
3/4	19.1	1700	640	250	500	210
7/8	22.2	1500	550	210	430	180
1	25.4	1300	480	190	370	150
1-1/8	28.6	1100	420	170	330	140
1-1/4	31.8	1000	380	160	300	130
1-3/8	34.9	900	350	140	270	110
1-1/2	38.1	900	320	120	250	100
1-5/8	41.3	700	290	110	230	90
1-3/4	44.5	700	270	110	210	90
2	50.8	600	240	90	190	80
2-1/8	54	600	220	90	180	70
2-1/4	57.2	600	210	80	170	70
2-3/8	60.3	600	200	80	160	70
2-1/2	63.5	500	190	70	150	60
2-9/16	65.1	500	190	70	140	60
2-5/8	66.7	500	180	70	130	60
2-11/16	68.3	500	180	60	120	60
3	76.2	400	160	60	120	50
3-1/4	82.6	400	150	60	110	50
3-3/8	85.7	400	140	60	110	50
3-1/2	88.9	400	140	50	110	50
3-5/8	92.1	400	130	50	100	40
3-3/4	95.3	300	130	50	100	40
4	101.6	300	120	50	100	40
4-1/8	104.8	300	120	50	90	40
4-1/4	108	300	110	50	90	40
4-1/2	114.3	300	110	40	80	30
4-3/4	127	300	100	40	80	30
5	120.7	200	100	40	80	30
5-1/2	139.7	200	100	40	70	30
6	152.4	100	80	30	60	30

Of course, we also had to include a table for setting the best RPM speed when using bi-metal hole saws. These hole saws seem much more prominent in the trades and cost less than their carbide-tipped brethren. Consider these the general speeds you want to use for optimal cutting through mild steel, stainless, cast iron, brass, and aluminum. You can use the highest speeds on aluminum and mild steel, while cast iron and stainless require a bit more patience.

Size (in)	Size (mm)	Aluminum RPM	Stainless RPM	Fiberglass RPM	Ceramic RPM	Cast Iron RPM
9/16	14.3	580	300	400	790	900
5/8	15.9	550	275	365	730	825
11/16	17.5	500	250	330	665	750
3/4	19.1	460	230	300	600	690
25/32	19.8	425	210	280	560	630
13/16	20.6	425	210	280	560	630
7/8	22.2	390	195	260	520	585
15/16	23.8	370	185	245	495	555
1	25.4	350	175	235	470	525
1-1/16	27	325	160	215	435	480
1-1/8	28.6	300	150	200	400	450
1-3/16	30.2	285	145	190	380	425
1-1/4	31.8	275	140	180	360	410
1-5/16	33.3	260	135	175	345	390
1-3/8	34.9	250	125	165	330	375
1-7/16	36.5	240	120	160	315	360
1-1/2	38.1	230	115	150	300	345
1-9/16	39.7	220	110	145	290	330
1-5/8	41.3	210	105	140	280	315
1-11/16	42.9	205	100	135	270	305
1-3/4	44.5	195	95	130	250	295
1-13/16	46	190	95	125	250	285
1-7/8	47.6	180	90	120	240	270
2	50.8	170	85	115	230	255
2-1/16	52.4	165	80	110	220	245
2-1/8	54	160	80	105	210	240
2-1/4	57.2	150	75	100	200	225
2-3/8	60.3	140	70	95	190	220
2-1/2	63.5	135	65	90	180	205
2-9/16	65.1	130	65	85	175	200
2-5/8	66.7	130	65	85	170	195
2-11/16	68.3	125	60	80	160	185
2-3/4	69.9	125	60	80	160	185
2-7/8	73	120	60	80	160	180
3	76.2	115	55	75	150	170
3-1/8	79.4	110	55	70	140	165
3-1/4	82.6	105	50	70	140	155
3-3/8	85.7	100	50	65	130	150
3-1/2	88.9	95	45	65	130	145
3-5/8	92.1	95	45	60	120	140
3-3/4	95.3	90	45	60	120	135
3-7/8	98.4	85	40	55	110	130
4	101.6	85	40	55	110	130
4-1/8	104.8	80	40	55	110	120
4-1/4	108	80	40	55	110	120
4-3/8	111.1	75	35	50	100	105
4-1/2	114.3	75	35	50	100	105
4-5/8	117.5	75	35	50	100	105
4-3/4	120.7	70	35	45	90	95
5	127	70	35	45	90	95
5-1/2	139.7	65	30	40	85	90
6	152.4	65	30	40	85	90

The Best Hole Saw Cutting Speed is to Slow Down? Yep.

It may very well be that you can’t achieve these speeds using the tools you have. In that case, just do your best. Be sure to use that variable trigger to lower speeds when cutting harder or more brittle materials. It takes patience, but these hole saws work best when used properly—and you may very well end up cutting through the material more quickly than if you run the tool at full speed. You will most certainly go through fewer blades!

Methods to Set Lower RPMs

Method 1: Smart Connected Tools

Tools that use technology like Milwaukee One-Key or DeWalt Tool Connect can let you set different speed ranges for your drill. This lets you assign up to four different speed ranges—and more easily control your RPMs. While we don’t expect anyone will rush out to buy a smart tool just for use with hole saws, it may help if you already have one of these drills in your collection.

Method 2: Multi-speed Drills

It used to be that drills had one speed or gear. Now, they typically come with two—but some do better than that. If you happen to have a drill that has three or more speeds, get familiar with your settings. Manufacturers set those differing speeds at specific breakpoints. Knowing the top RPM for each mode will help you better understand how to feather the trigger to achieve the desired drilling speed.

After some practice, this should become second nature to you.

Method 3: Set Your Gear Mode and Feather the Trigger

Obviously, if you don’t have an electronic way to control speed or a 3- or 4-speed drill, go manual. If you know your drill’s top speed, then feathering the trigger can at least get you in the ballpark RPM range. In any case, it will certainly do better than pulling the trigger all the way in High speed and burning up your bi-metal saw during its first cut!

Conclusion

The two charts above should give you a fairly definitive list of how to configure your drill speed for the optimal hole saw cutting. This keeps your blades sharp and stops the metal from heating up so much that it deforms the blade tips on the material. Once you lose that edge, you might as well rub a flat piece of steel across it—you’re done.

Sometimes, slow and steady does win the race!

Special thanks to Lenox Tools for providing specifications for both bi-metal and carbide-tipped hole saws.