Rotozip useful?

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So you all use this tool even in place of your hole saws? How can it be more accurate than a standard sized holesaw? Or the adjustable Hole Pros so many like?
 
lordofpi said:
So you all use this tool even in place of your hole saws? How can it be more accurate than a standard sized holesaw? Or the adjustable Hole Pros so many like?
Absolutely not. Not for me. I still use a hole saw for 95% of my round holes. If anything, I've increased my truck stock of hole saws to include Remgrit one's in 3-3/8, 3-5/8, 4-1/8 and 4-3/8. I got tired of destroying hole saws on plaster, so the Remgrit one's are the way to fly.

About the only round holes I still cut with the RotoZip are one's in plaster that I don't have a hole saw for. Customer supplied oddball cans, for instance. In drywall, the keyhole saw is just as quick (or quicker, considering setup) for me.
 
mdshunk said:
Absolutely not. Not for me. I still use a hole saw for 95% of my round holes. If anything, I've increased my truck stock of hole saws to include Remgrit one's in 3-3/8, 3-5/8, 4-1/8 and 4-3/8. I got tired of destroying hole saws on plaster, so the Remgrit one's are the way to fly.
.

Be sure to add 6-3/8 and 6-7/8 to those sometime.
 
480sparky said:
Be sure to add 6-3/8 and 6-7/8 to those sometime.
Last I checked, they don't make them yet. I do have a 6-3/8 generic one from eBay that's mostly worn out.

The inspiration for the Remgrit buying spree is when I didn't even make it through one cutout with a brand new regular 6-7/8 hole saw in plaster. You don't know how sick I felt cleaning the teeth off a 100 dollar hole saw and not even getting one cut made.
 
mdshunk said:
Last I checked, they don't make them yet. I do have a 6-3/8 generic one from eBay that's mostly worn out.

The inspiration for the Remgrit buying spree is when I didn't even make it through one cutout with a brand new regular 6-7/8 hole saw in plaster. You don't know how sick I felt cleaning the teeth off a 100 dollar hole saw and not even getting one cut made.

Check out Greenlee's 35717 and 35715. I've had mine for about 15 years. The blades can be replaced, unlike the RemGrits.
 
480sparky said:
Check out Greenlee's ... I've had mine for about 15 years.
Great. Thanks! I was checking Remmington previously. I just Googled, and see that Milwaukee has them now too. I use the 6-7/8 size pretty hard, since that's what Progress old work 6" cans use. I guess 4-1/8 is the all-time most popular size for bunches of stuff.
 
mdshunk said:
Great. Thanks! I was checking Remmington previously. I just Googled, and see that Milwaukee has them now too. I use the 6-7/8 size pretty hard, since that's what Progress old work 6" cans use. I guess 4-1/8 is the all-time most popular size for bunches of stuff.

So, that makes you..... a holie man? :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

Sorry, couldn't resist that one!
 
480sparky said:
So, that makes you..... a holie man? :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:
Sorry, couldn't resist that one!
I don't think I have any more or less than other guys that do service and old work. I keep a few of the sizes in varying degrees of dullness too, and I use them based on my perception of how I might screw them up. The more dull one's are also less aggressive in drywall, and just right for that application. I save the nice sharp one's for wood and metal.
 
Marc, are you using the Remgrits 100%, or do you still use a regular hole saws for normal duty? I am assuming you are referring to the carbide-tipped ones, btw. My Lenox kit has done me well for a while now, but I don't encounter too much plaster.
 
ceknight said:
The sight of a glowing red bit boring through plaster backed by 100+ year old lath made me uncomfortable, so I have almost stopped using it for old work.

Tile's another story, though -- it's worth the price of admission the first time you have to cut a box into a wall full of irreplaceable tile.

  1. Not all old 'plaster' is plaster some of the old stuff is sanded (silica), some with rock, and some with HORSE HAIR, some with all of the above.... The "Plaster" bits work great on "PLASTER of PARIS", but most wall 'plaster' is much more than that... Most sheet-rock mud is simular to plaster of paris - but it too may contain other stuff if hot mud or fix-all....
  2. Tile bits will not cut wood lathe well at all! The first few chips get hung up in the bit rather than getting cleared - then you just burn through it....
  3. Wood bits dont cut plaster - it is too abrasive and the bit weres to a nub real fast - sure you might get one 1G cut-in per bit, but you sill might not finish it depending on how fast you went...
  4. Tile bits won't cut all tile either - not all tile is the same.... Some tile has glass and othe composites of stone, and polymers
  5. Wood bits don't last long in plywood or other glue or epoxy laden engineered lumber....
  6. Drywall bits wont cut wood - or anything else...Wood and tile bits will will cut sheet rock for some time - but wont be usefull in cutting anything else afterwards....
Bottom line is "it's where they get you" - the bits....
That said I have had one about 12 years.... (Before Bosch saw them as a threat and bought them out...)

Now that you see all bits as diposable:
  • Have some extra ones applied to any job with tile - Use a diamond grinder to do most of the work and finish the corners with the tile bit
  • Apply a pack of 5 wood bits to more than 2 one gang cut outs in plaster and lathe, or use a diamond grinder to get the plaster and chip it out of the way to include the 'keys', then use a wood bit for the lathe (very effective this way!) Just don't touch the plaster or you're toast fast.... The little bit of plaster stuck to the lathe will wear out the bit still, but not nearly as fast.
  • The bigger X bits have to cut more but only last slightly longer - but hey have to cut more material... 1/4" bit have to cut more... 1/8" bits have to cut the least amount of material and IMO if care is taken - cut just as long as the 5/32" "X" bits....
They have a few new bits I have not tried yet like "metal cutting" and a few diamond grit ones for grout that may work good for wall plaster as they are very simular. But they have not made the bit I want, and dout they ever will, as it would last too long.... '5/32" fluted diamond edged' Something like that would be both good on old wall 'sanded plaster' and clear wood at the lathe enough to be effective on both at the same time.
 
e57 said:
Tile bits won't cut all tile either - not all tile is the same.... Some tile has glass and othe composites of stone, and polymers

Excellent point....(no pun intended)
The 1/8 "tile bits will literally melt when dealing with porcelain. The 1/4 " hold up better, but they are very expensive relatively speaking. Thats the time to use the diamond tip side grinder attachment for the rotozip.

Another alternative is a carbide tipped sawzall blade.

c2500
 
lordofpi said:
Marc, are you using the Remgrits 100%, or do you still use a regular hole saws for normal duty?
No, I just use the grit holesaws in plaster to save the regular hole saws. I havn't tried it, but I suspect that the grit hole saws would be rather helpless in metal or wood.
 
mdshunk said:
No, I just use the grit holesaws in plaster to save the regular hole saws. I havn't tried it, but I suspect that the grit hole saws would be rather helpless in metal or wood.

Absolutely not! I've used them in plywood, aluminim & steel soffits, etc.
 
480sparky said:
Absolutely not! I've used them in plywood, aluminim & steel soffits, etc.
Cool, that's good to know. The closest thing I have done along those lines was asphalt shingles and tar and gravel roofs.
 
celtic said:
Anything with a 1" (maybe 1.25" ? ) hose end....check the specs on the vac adapter.


Got it; thanks for all the great info! And my lament to you and yours for the Cowboys this evening -- that was not quite the outcome I was expecting.
 
i use my dremel on every kitchen w/ a tiled backsplash. i've yet to have a tile guy cut the tile around my screwholes (they go up on the boxes i use). they also do a great job of cutting wallplates whenever the trim carpenter puts his work right on the edge of my box instead of setting it off another 1/4". this usually always happens in the dining room when they have a chair rail w/ 1" moulding squares below (supposed to look like a raised panel).
 
lordofpi said:
Got it; thanks for all the great info!
Designed to capture dust and debris from the cutting surface. Connects to standard 1 1/4"" wet/dry vacuum hoses. The transparent base increases visibility of cutting surface.
(From descrip. @ amazon)

I didn't mean to be so abrupt in my earlier post...but it was close to half-time though...
lordofpi said:
And my lament to you and yours for the Cowboys this evening -- that was not quite the outcome I was expecting.
...and they blew it.

Thanks and we'll see what happens next season :cool:
 
so sorry the boys lost

so sorry the boys lost

celtic said:
(From descrip. @ amazon)

I didn't mean to be so abrupt in my earlier post...but it was close to half-time though...

...and they blew it.

Thanks and we'll see what happens next season :cool:
Go big blue! Rotozip is not to be used EVER without EYE PROTECTION!!!!!
 
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