Cutting a hole in a red fiberglass boat: I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a...

Tom Wasz

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

J in Cleveland Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Absolutely use tape. If you use a jig saw get a down cut blade. They chip way less. I would use a hole saw running backwards to start the cut then once I had a good clean start through the fiberglass I’d switch to the jig saw with a down cut blade. Others may have better methods but I’d be confident in the method I suggest. You could also use an isolating type cutter with a fine blade but they are harder to control.

Tight lines
J

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

Tom Wasz wrote:

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

What I would do is cover the desired area with blue painters tape making sure that tape extends at least 2 inches beyond the desired diameter of the cut. I would use a holesaw bit with a Milwaukee style angle drill, much easier to control than a hand drill. I would stay away from using a jigsaw, the blade pulls up and down as it cuts, could lead to chipping the fiberglass and won’t be as accurate of a cut.Use the angle drill on low speed and let the holesaw do the cutting, don’t put pressure on the drill motor. Take your time. I have holesaw bits in 4&6 inch. I’m not certain if a five inch bit is available, might need to look into that. Also if u choose to use a hand drill make sure that it has a 1/2 chuck to utilize a holesaw bit of that diameter. Hope this helps and good luck!👍

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

Tom Wasz wrote:

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

Sounds like ya got some good advice so far. I'd watch some you tube videos an ask them the same question. Good luck man an share some pics of your project it just might help someone else on here later on 👍

Waterdog101 Loc: London, Ky

Tom Wasz wrote:

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

use a hole saw with a smaller center pilot bit and go slow, very slow until it cuts a ring through the clear coat!

nutz4fish Loc: Colchester, CT

Tom Wasz wrote:

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

T W : Looks like good advice thus far. I don't have any of these, but Ive seen hole saws that haven't got teeth, instead they have an abrasive material bonded to the cutting surface, and they look like they would leave a nice clean finished hole. IMHO, using any kind of reciprocating saw would be taking an unnecessary risk. Just Thinkin'.

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Tom Wasz wrote:

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

Tom haven't drilled any holes that size in my glass boat.

I did use a hole saw to mount a new seat pedestal on from deck of my aluminum tracker.

It worked very well. I'd avoid a jigsaw.
It it grabs n jumps it could chip or crack
the fiberglass. As already said. Use tape. Good luck brother 👍

J in Cleveland Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Grizzly 17 wrote:

Tom haven't drilled any holes that size in my glass boat.

I did use a hole saw to mount a new seat pedestal on from deck of my aluminum tracker.

It worked very well. I'd avoid a jigsaw.
It it grabs n jumps it could chip or crack
the fiberglass. As already said. Use tape. Good luck brother 👍

I fully agree with avoiding the jig saw. Only explained how to use in case it was his preference. In the right hands with the right blade a jig saw can do things no other tool can. But it needs to be in the right hands.

Tight lines
J

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

J in Cleveland wrote:

I fully agree with avoiding the jig saw. Only explained how to use in case it was his preference. In the right hands with the right blade a jig saw can do things no other tool can. But it needs to be in the right hands.

Tight lines
J

🤣 that's not my hands Jason.

I know guys that are. It does take a good saw n good blades 👍

Lockman54 Loc: Alliance,Oh

Still above water wrote:

What I would do is cover the desired area with blu... (show quote)

Most hardware stores that have plumbing tools have pretty much the sizes that you need. You could check to see what they have.

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

nutz4fish wrote:

T W : Looks like good advice thus far. I don't have any of these, but Ive seen hole saws that haven't got teeth, instead they have an abrasive material bonded to the cutting surface, and they look like they would leave a nice clean finished hole. IMHO, using any kind of reciprocating saw would be taking an unnecessary risk. Just Thinkin'.

The hole saws that have the abrasive coatings (small diamond stones) are used for cutting though cast iron, marble, granite and hard material. I wouldn’t recommend them for cutting through fiberglass.

Bigbum Loc: Washington

Tom Wasz wrote:

I want to put a access hole in my fiberglass Skeeter. It is what I would call a red candy apple and I know about reversing the drill to drill a hole but should I use a hole saw or a jigsaw with a vertical moving blade or something else. I don't want to take a chip out of the surface and should I use any tape to cut through to hold the fiberglass. The hole will be on a side panel and about 4'' or 5'' in diameter. Advice is appreciated.

I have some experience cutting fiberglass- boat hulls, shower stalls, hot tubs. Since fiberglass is very hard (glass mesh and shards) I would recommend nothing less than a bi-metal hole saw. Carbide tooth ideal but pretty expensive. Definitely mask off the area to stabilize the edge of cut. Cut at a slow speed to minimize heat, maybe wet cut to cool and control dust. I have used diamond hole saw bits on stone and granite and I'm sure they would handle fiberglass but a 4 or 5" diamond bit would probably break the bank. Eye, ear, nose protection. Good luck.

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

read a lot of interesting posts in regards to this subject. Decided to call my friend who owns NorCal corvette restorations. ( corvette bodies are a hundred percent fiberglass.) he said that their shop only uses bi-metal hole saw bits on all their restoration projects. As a far as using an abrasive style bit, be ready to send it back to the body shop! Not allowed in his shop! He stated that fiberglass may be hard , it becomes very brittle when cutting through it wonce u penetrate the gel coat. The fibers have a tendency to rip, causing more damage!

Bobfromfremont Loc: Fremont Ca

J in Cleveland wrote:

Absolutely use tape. If you use a jig saw get a down cut blade. They chip way less. I would use a hole saw running backwards to start the cut then once I had a good clean start through the fiberglass I’d switch to the jig saw with a down cut blade. Others may have better methods but I’d be confident in the method I suggest. You could also use an isolating type cutter with a fine blade but they are harder to control.

Tight lines
J

You can get abrasive blades for jigsaw too

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

Still above water wrote:

read a lot of interesting posts in regards to this... (show quote)

He also stated that abrasive bits have a tendency to burn through fiberglass rather then cutting though it.and that heat compermizes the initial strength of fiberglass.