4" Core SDS plus Masonry hole saw - Thoughts?

Maybe gets an audience now that it is moved here? ha @TomRFD

Not many sds plus if any are rated to core that size

If you’re looking to be cost effective and if you’re widening existing holes it may be more effective to drill many holes with a smaller bit

Red_Army wrote: ↑ Not many sds plus if any are rated to core that size

If you’re looking to be cost effective and if you’re widening existing holes it may be more effective to drill many holes with a smaller bit

I have another 4" hole to drill. Homedepot is advertising 4 inch hole saw that is installed on a drill, which looks to be inadequate, last time I had to use a big core drill with a core bit to go through the masonry, cant imagine what HD advertises with using just a drill.

If it’s just through brick veneer and for only one hole, I would drill a series of holes around the circumference of your circle with a sds masonry bit on your bulldog. You can use a chisel attachment on the bulldog to connect the dots. The flange on the dryer vent will cover it up anyway.

In my experience, 4” bit is not good for 4” dryer vent. Need 4-1/4”

Jerico wrote: ↑ In my experience, 4” bit is not good for 4” dryer vent. Need 4-1/4”

So 4"3/8 isn't enough ha :P. That darn 1/8th.

Drthorne wrote: ↑ I have a 4" core bit with a 15amp Makita SDSMax rotary hammer and it's not that easy going through brick veneer. I wouldn't want to use a SDSplus drill

It is an SDSPlus Rotary hammer as well. What do you mean not that easy? The core drill I rented took me 15 mins to go through the brick slowly without cracking, however going through the other layers, I had to use a drill and drill holes through them.

Red_Army wrote: ↑ Not many sds plus if any are rated to core that size

If you’re looking to be cost effective and if you’re widening existing holes it may be more effective to drill many holes with a smaller bit

I think that I will follow your recommendation, also, for the other hole that I am creating, will draw a 4"1/4 circle and drill holes at the edges then chisel them out.

Do you think these bits are okay for brick? I already used them on basement cement flooring.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/bosch- ... 1001099002

PriceHunter wrote: ↑ It is an SDSPlus Rotary hammer as well. What do you mean not that easy? The core drill I rented took me 15 mins to go through the brick slowly without cracking, however going through the other layers, I had to use a drill and drill holes through them.

The difference is that you are talking about SDS Plus and he is talking about SDS Max. Max drills are bigger and more powerful. When you’re talking about a hole this big most people would use a Max not Plus. If you are going to use your SDS Plus and buy a bit you should reference your manual for your drills to see if they are rated to do a 4”+ hole, odds are they aren’t rated for that and you may damage them. Just because you can find a 4” SDS Plus bit doesn’t mean you should use it. They are harder to find than a 4” SDS Max bit for a reason.

EDIT: The drill you would have rented in the past would almost certainly have been an SDS Max and you said it took you 15 minutes. SDS Plus will take even longer and there’s no way you’re getting through brick with a 4”+ hole on batteries.

I bought the cheap ones off amazon recently. They work, and can you can get the longer extension for them which is necessary if drilling through a 10" block wall. I've only done a couple of holes with them but they did a clean job so cant complain. I'd recommend them if you are just doing a few around the house - different story if you are a contractor.

Only downside is its near impossible to remove the threaded shank from the core after use, so if you get a multipack of different size bits, buy some extra shanks and just leave them in.

https://www.amazon.ca/YaeTek-Concrete-C ... hi&sr=1-18

Get a chisel bit for that hammer drill, easy to enlarge the hole. Could even do it with a cold chisel and hammer manually in 15 minutes, brick breaks easy.

davidmc01 wrote: ↑ I bought the cheap ones off amazon recently. They work, and can you can get the longer extension for them which is necessary if drilling through a 10" block wall. I've only done a couple of holes with them but they did a clean job so cant complain. I'd recommend them if you are just doing a few around the house - different story if you are a contractor.

Only downside is its near impossible to remove the threaded shank from the core after use, so if you get a multipack of different size bits, buy some extra shanks and just leave them in.

https://www.amazon.ca/YaeTek-Concrete-C ... hi&sr=1-18

This one is 2 inches .

Zamboni wrote: ↑ Get a chisel bit for that hammer drill, easy to enlarge the hole. Could even do it with a cold chisel and hammer manually in 15 minutes, brick breaks easy.

I have a chisel bit for my SDS+, and also have a manual chisel, might go that route for widening the dryer vent, and will drill small holes around for the new one then chisel them out.

PriceHunter wrote: ↑ This one is 2 inches .

That is because it is for SDS Plus not Max. As I mentioned above you shouldn’t be drilling 4” masonry holes with a Plus. SDS Plus is the wrong tool for the job. SDS Max is the proper tool for the job.

I linked the wrong one but they did have 4" (110mm) at the time and the SDS plus had no problem cutting the hole (below kit was 63 dollars last summer). Again, for occasional use that's probably ok.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07V2D ... UTF8&psc=1

When enlarging a cored hole it can be a real pain because the pilot (guide) bit has nothing to grab onto/keep it straight. If you start in hammer mode to create a bit of a groove, with a bit of patience it usually works. As others have mentioned you might be better off drilling a bunch of small holes and chiselling out the gaps.

One other option most people dont think of, if it is just the veneer brick, is a masonry disk for an angle grinder. It will create a ton of dust (where a mask), but they are really good at fine tuning the size of a hole.