1. Milwaukee 49-22-4025 Hole Dozer — the kit that covers the jobs
This is the kit to reach for if you want one box that handles the everyday round-hole jobs and keeps cutting for years. Its nine saws run from 19mm up to 64mm, and that spread includes the 54mm size a door handle needs — the one job a lot of cheaper kits skip. Those bi-metal teeth are why one saw handles a timber stud, a sheet of ply and a length of steel bracket in turn, without chipping out on the metal.
Matt’s the one who pushed for this at the top. His case is simple: you buy the sizes once, they outlast the job, and there’s no second purchase the day a cheap kit’s teeth round off. It’s the dearest here, and a few holes a year won’t ever wear it out — so if that’s you, the budget kit below covers most of the same range for far less, bar that 54mm door hole. But for a renovator drilling through timber and metal most weekends, the Milwaukee is the one that keeps going, and you won’t find it on the shelves at the big hardware chains here, so buying online is the easy way to get the whole set.
2. Bosch HSBIM9 — quick size changes
The Bosch’s trick is its arbor — the shaft that holds the saw and carries the pilot drill in the middle. Bosch calls it SpinLOCK, and it lets you swap from one saw size to the next by hand, with no spanner and no fiddling with a threaded centre. If you’re stepping through a few diameters on the one job — a cable hole here, a bigger pipe hole there — that saves a real amount of mucking about. The six saws are bi-metal, like the Milwaukee’s. Bosch makes them from steel with 8% cobalt blended in — the cobalt keeps the teeth harder, so they hold their edge as metal drilling heats them up.
The catch is the spread. Six saws cover the common small and mid holes, but the set skips two the bigger kits carry: the 54mm size a door handle needs, and the 64mm top. So it suits lighter hole work more than a kit you’d throw every job at. Joel rates the quick-change arbor enough to live with fewer sizes; Matt would rather have the extra diameters. If your holes stay in the common range and you value swapping sizes fast, this is the tidy, trusted-brand way to do it.
3. Greywolf 15-piece M42 — the budget spread
Here’s the one that makes the budget case hard to argue with. The Greywolf spans the same 19-to-64mm range as the Milwaukee — nine saws in real M42, a cobalt high-speed steel — for roughly a third of the Milwaukee’s money. The one gap is the door: it carries a 57mm where the Milwaukee has the 54mm a handle needs, so it covers nearly everything the trade kit does for a fraction of the price.
What you’re trading is the name behind it. Milwaukee and Bosch have the name and the track record; a no-name brand has neither, and there’s nothing telling you how the welds hold up after a hard year. The listing also says up front it’s not for stainless or tile — but nor are the other two, so that’s no mark against it here. Joel’s take is that for a few holes a year, paying up for a trade badge is money you don’t need to spend: buy the cheap spread, and if a saw ever lets go on you, you’ve lost far less than the gap in price. For occasional use, it’s the smart money.
Getting a clean hole — and what these kits won’t do
A hole saw wants a drill with a bit of grunt and, more to the point, a low speed — spin it too fast and the teeth overheat and blunt. A corded drill, or a decent 18V cordless like the Makita DHP484 on its low gear, is the tool for it. Let the pilot bit — the small centre drill that stops the saw skating — do the starting, keep the pressure light, and back the saw out now and then to clear the plug, the disc of waste that packs into the cup. Where you can, clamp the work and come at a big hole from both sides so the face doesn’t tear as the teeth break through.
Two jobs sit outside these kits. Downlights and vents need a bigger single saw — usually 68 to 92mm — than any of these general sets reach, so you buy that one size on its own. And tile, stone or glass needs a diamond hole saw, not a toothed one; a bi-metal saw just skates and burns on a glazed surface. If you’re not sure which bit does what, our drill bits guide sorts the types out.
Hole saws are wear items — the teeth slowly round off with use, and a saw that’s gone blunt is worn out. A weld that cracks or a saw that gives out on a fair first cut is a different thing: that’s a manufacturing fault. One catch on the trade brands: Milwaukee honours its own warranty only through authorised sellers, so a marketplace purchase may not carry the maker’s cover. Australian Consumer Law, though, says a faulty product may entitle you to a repair, replacement or refund no matter where you bought it — so keep the receipt on a pricier kit.
The verdict
You want one kit that covers the job list and lasts: the Milwaukee Hole Dozer 13-piece. Nine sizes to 64mm, the 54mm door-handle size the cheap kits miss, and bi-metal teeth that keep cutting — buy it once and it’s done.
You do lighter hole work and like swapping sizes fast: the Bosch HSBIM9. Six saws and no 54mm door bore, but the tool-free SpinLOCK arbor makes stepping through diameters painless, and it’s a trusted brand for less money.
You’ll use it a handful of times a year: the Greywolf 15-piece. Nearly the Milwaukee’s range in real M42 bi-metal for about a third of the price — you give up the 54mm door bore, the brand and the back-up, but for occasional holes it’s the sensible buy.
Whatever you pick, match the saw to the material: bi-metal for wood, plastic and thin metal, and a separate diamond saw the day tile or stone turns up.
