I want to cut round clean-out doors in my birdhouses and wish there was a hole saw with a very thin kerf, like a metal bandsaw blade (.035" thick).
All the hole saws I can buy have about .100" kerfs, which is too much to "fudge". Cut with a band saw works well, but, it's not a central hole.
Even have the idea to try to make one from a 1 1/16" wide metal band saw I have... I'd gently feed it in a drill press.
Al
What's wrong with a Forstner bit?
They come in sizes to fit most birds, and as long as you back the bit that will be the birdhouse with some scrap they make weally nice holes.
A clean-out (the old nest for next time) DOOR, not the entry hole (which, yeah, forstner is great--got a dozen of em). Use the hole saw cut-out to plug the hole. My birdhouses are over-the-top decorative. Art pieces really, so there are advantages to this for me.
I haven't seen one in better than 30 years but there used to be a hole saw that you could bend and insert a piece of a hacksaw blade into it and lock it in with a setscrew. I didn't find one by googling but look at the pic here
On Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:28:37 -0500, the infamous Allan scrawled the following:
I helped a neighbor build a dozen of his and we used a hinged bottom plate with a removable screw in the front. The whole bottom dumps for ease in removing all the old nesting material.
- Press HERE to arm. (Release to detonate.) -----------
I have/had sets like this, lite duty. Just measured some loose pieces, the thinnest is .050, from Lennox, 1.5". Also Starrett, and I think Blue Moly. I think I have seen Milwaukee hole saws .050, as well.
You might try a place like Garrett Wade woodworking in NYC, or maybe Constantines, who used to be in Bronx, NY, but is now in Florida, iirc.
Someone with a surface grinder and spin fixture should be able to thin these down pretty quick. Poss. even a lathe, with a carbide tool. You'll proly lose some kerf clearance, but for shallow cuts it shouldn't be a big problem.
I think that he wants to use the plug from the hole as the door, so he wants a minimum kerf. Something rather difficult to do with wood, I think.
*I* would use the Forstner bit, and turn a plug to fit from some of the scrap left over from making the birdhouse itself.Agreed -- but I think that he does not want the birds to go through these doors -- instead he wants t be able to remove the door after the bird season is over, so he can clean it out for next year's tenants.
Enjoy, DoN.
I think I've seen something like that but can't remember...
My idea was to insert a length of metal cutting blade the right length to form a circle inside another "normal/usual" hole saw with the teeth 3/4" outside. Tack weld it a few places.
I'll take a look, thanks.
Or I considered spinning them and holding them to the belt sander for a while to thin them down... Surface grinder'd do it nice though...
Use your regular hole saw. Find some veneer a bit thinner than the blade and laminate a strip around the edge of the "door".
How about cutting a tapered plug with a saber saw at an angle? Drill a short line of small holes to get the blade through to start. With the taper big inside just push up the bottom to clean out the old stuff. This should work unless the bottom is too thin.
Charlie
Thought of that too. I'll try it a bit... but it's "inelegant" I think. Perhaps it could be a feature, not a bug as I say.
The 1/10" kerf is probably too thick to bend dry in one layer though come to think of it.
That sounds like what 'Hawkie' needs. Remove the screw and he falls to the ground, then drives his bent beak into the dirt.
Cut the plug from a piece of scrap. or
Use a scroll saw set at a slight angle. The tapered plug may protrude a bit on the narrow end, but you can trim it off if the birds complain.
replying to Allan, Arek Papelian wrote: I'm searching for the same. None exist - but I have found a great alternative: This solution has tested extremely well, against Bass wood, and Red Oak. Get a brass pen tube - make the edge jagged - I used a scroll saw and made very minimal random edges. I used just enough force to hold the tube my drill press and it worked better than any solution I can imagine. Also very cheap.
replying to Allan, Arek Papelian wrote: I'm searching for the same. None exist - but I have found a great alternative: This solution has tested extremely well, against Bass wood, and Red Oak. Get a brass pen tube - make the edge jagged - I used a scroll saw and made very minimal random edges. I used just enough force to hold the tube my drill press and it worked better than any solution I can imagine. Also very cheap.
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