Customer Reviews

Hole Pro X-230 Kit: 1-7/8" to 9-1/4" and all fractional sizes between. Infinitely Adjustable Cutter with Twin Tungsten Carbide Blades needs ¼ drill power of a hole saw to quickly cut Plywood Sheetrock Plaster Fiberglass OSB Plastic MDF Hardie Board

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Hole Pro X-230 is a well built tool that makes the task of cutting holes much simpler. If you are required to cut holes into drywall, you cannot live without this tool. It is also capable of cutting woods, plastics, and other materials.

This worked great with my puny 14.4v Dewalt drill. The plastic shield does an *excellent* job of containing dust, debris, and flying chunks. Anyone doing renovation work or a job where cleanup is a big issue, this is a must have tool. I cannot ever imagine going back to cutting holes with a drywall saw.

All of the parts are heavy duty and well built. The shield doesn't leave marks, the blades are strong, and the spinning motion is perfectly balanced. Do not waste your money with the cheaper imitations (~$50).

Because the saw blades are adjustable, this can literally replace a dozen hole saws of various sizes. The only reason to keep hole saws is for specialty applications such as cutting metal or tight locations. While the shield is removable, the "bar" that the blades attach to is a fixed length.

I'm very pleased with the Hole Pro I bought. It's pricey, but, as long as you've got a high-torque drill, it makes neat, tidy holes in sheetrock, without the ragged edges I get with the traditional hole saws I've used. The dust cup thing really does work. Tip: get the blades spinning fast, freely, then press them gently into the surface you're cutting, to avoid jamming. I regret I only got this at the end of my recessed lighting project!

I use this for any hole larger than 3 inches in diameter when I need an exact size hole or for holes larger than 6 inches in size. Great to be able to set it to any size with recessed can lights and ceiling speakers as they are all different. I use it on Hardie, vinyl, aluminum, and wood siding, on tongue and groove, plaster, and sheetrock ceilings. High speed steel blades cut cleanly in plastic or acoustic tiles or wood paneling and T&G with no splintering. Once I realized I could use the little orange knob to limit how deep it cuts I stopped worrying about cutting something by accident in a wall or ceiling - with so many old homes and buildings I never know what is behind the surface I am cutting until it is too late.
A very professional quality tool that I would recommend for anyone who wants no mess and safe cutting.

We did a recent hotel job where we had to put in over 1000 high hat recessed lighting cans and this tool did it all and still looks like new. We changed the blades every 150 hole but that was it. It will cut the hole faster than you could trace the circle and start cutting with any other tool. Average time to cut a hole is about 10 seconds and no cleanup time as everything is caught in the shield. Being able to limit how deep it cuts is a great feature. We have not had a accidental cut of wiring or a water line since we started using the X-230. The high speed steel blades are terrific for fast clean holes in tongue and groove ceilings and we can use a 18 volt cordless drill to cut dozens of holes in wood with a single battery charge.

Carry case is a good one and it keeps everything ready for the next job. You have all you need to cut any size hole in anything but metal or ceramic tile (work fantastic on even fiberglass and Hardie cement board and particle board) and being able to put on a new set of blades saves time and money. The twin blade design is a lot better than the single blade hole cutters from Lightolier, BES, and LSD, with no wobble and perfect holes even in soft sheetrock.

Vacuum adapter they sell makes it simple to attach a HEPA vacuum on job sites where lead paint is present. Neat extra.

I purchased the X-230 about a year ago and use it with my home renovating business. I found the clear surround keeps the cutting blades more stable than other methods. A slight pressure is all you need to cut a perfect circle. The real value becomes apparent when you install ceiling cans in a furnished room. Drywall dust always gets in everything but with this tool (and a little patience to hold it still for a minute after you cut the hole) there is no fallout. I love it.

I got this for installing about a dozen recessed lights in an existing home. It's a pleasure to use, well worth it even for such a small job (it's more intended for professionals) because of the amount of time saved in prep and cleanup. (I.e., it eliminates prep and cleanup -- the seal works that well.) The holes are very clean.

Hole Pro X-230 Cutter tool was used with a 18V variable speed cordless drill to cut holes for recessed lighting fixtures in a plastic ceiling . Adjusted for the hole size and practised on a few scrap ceiling sheets (note type of cutting blades and rpm recommended in mfr's manual) before undertaking actual job.
I found the shield together with the drill was a bit heavy lift and operate when working on the ceiling. Also, the ceiling started to flex while pushing the drill to over come the tool's spring tension.
I opted to used the tool without the shield (safety goggles and respirator worn for protection from debris) and holes were cut clean.
In all it's a very good tool and customer service responded promptly to email queries.

This tool should have been one of my standard tools in my toolkit. Note that 5" recessed lighting is not 5", nor is 6", nor any other. Typically this is I.D. not O.D., which are all different for each manufacturer. This tool, when used properly does the trick AND when working on ceilings collects the wallboard cruft. I highly recommend that if you purchase this tool you have a high grade drill with the side handle bar for two hand operations, the torque will kill you if you don't. Also, I have read other reviews which made odd complaints that it didn't work when they hit the strapping or joist in the ceiling. Ummm, this is not the tools fault, you goofed by not finding the center of the opening (always a problem in existing construction).

Now, if someone can provide an inexpensive tool that can cut nice parallelograms that would be great ;)