thinish brass: hole saw okay?

Sandwich it between two pieces of wood , and turn your drill/press slow . Paraffin makes a nice lube for this . Clamp it to the table unless you like pain .

A lot depends on what you have for tools. If the best you've got is a hand drill and the hole saw, you won't have a very nice hole, it probably will be off position in one or more dimensions and it probably won't be a very close fit. As a means of removing material for filing to a closer fit, it would work. Clamping between thin wood and securing in a vise is higly recommended unless you like being called "Stub"! A drill press would be a better idea than the hand drill. The work could be clamped down to the table in that case.

I've got an adjustable trepanning tool made by General from the local hardware store that I'd be more inclined to use in a drill press than a hole saw, just because it can be adjusted to required size. I've used it on thin aluminum with good results.

If you've got access to knockout punches of the right size, these would make quick work of the job, you'd just have to make sure the pilot holes are well located.

If you've got access to a lathe, screw it down to a backing plate, put it into the lathe with your choice of fixturing, 4-jaw or faceplate, and bore the hole(s) out. Finish will be a lot better, size will be as good as you can make it as will hole placement.

A vertical mill and boring head should make easy work of the job.

Then there's the ever-popular, old-timey, chain-drilling procedure, mark the hole's periphery, drill around the circle with a small bit and knock out the slug when done. File to smooth up. It's not that slow with a good drill press and thin stock. Good for irregular holes, too.

Just other options.

Stan

the short answer is yes, it will work, unless your hole saw is that amazingly pathetic hole saw set that harbor freight sells for $3.99, in which case it may well go dull before it drills anything

but as others pointed out, be careful to get the holes located accurately

and beware of the brass getting caught and swinging around and really hurting you (as was already pointed out)

The hole saw worked out for me. I didn't use that HF one, but the one I did use had a guide screw in the middle too dull to go through the brass. I predrilled the guide hole, and then had no problems with the hole saw cutting the brass. The holes weren't perfect, but close enough that they worked great.

As part of the wood sandwich, I put screws all the way through and then clamped the bottom piece of wood down. My drill press is currently in need of a new belt, so I did it with the hand drill. No problems.

Some pictures:

------ went shopping for a belt yesterday but didn't find the right size

Looks great ! Most would have trashed the door and installed a new prehung unit .