How to do Circular Cut-Outs for Grilles

Circular Cut-Outs in Grilles

In this video, we will be processing in-panel circular cut-outs for 1100 series Cross Piece Grilles. Grilles are very adaptive with other kinds of mechanical penetrations like sprinklers, speakers, or other circular cut-outs.

What tools do I need?

Regarding the tools you are going to need, we’ve shown everything you’re going to need here. In particular, you’re either going to want to use a 1/2” cordless drill with a side handle with the appropriately sized hole saw and arbor or you’re going to want to go back to the variable speed jigsaw in order to make your cuts.

We know that job sites can be tricky when it comes to finding a location to do your cutting, but make sure that you have found a safe location where you can do fine detail work.

Verifying the cut

The first step would be verifying with the installing subcontractor exactly what the mechanical penetration will be and how big it is. You also need to know if there’s a trim plate, as that will change the size of the hole you will have to make.

Once that’s been verified, you’ll need to measure where it’s going to fit inside your panel and mark the location off. Prep the area with painter’s tape, take your measurement again, and mark on the tape exactly where you’re going to be making your cut.

Perform the cut

If you’re going to be using a hole saw, it’s very likely that the pilot bit is not going to be directly on a member. If that’s the case, you can use a scrap piece of plywood and attach it inside where the hole is going to be cut to give you a surface to start your hole. The members will then be able to guide the hole saw down, so you have a straight cut.

You can also use a jig saw for the cuts, but you’re going to want to make sure that the foot is flat and that you have consistency throughout your cuts. If you want to stop and ensure that you’re on mark with the next cut, that’s fine, you can do that, but you want to make sure you finish the cut of a member completely before you move on to the next one and reset.

Final steps

Upon completion of the cut-out, you’re going to want to verify that the size of the hole is correct, remove the tape and sand off any fibers that might be remaining. Then you can use the 9Wood-supplied touch-up finish to seal the area and match the color and install the panel around the mechanical penetration.  

If you have any questions about field cutting or have project specifics you need to go into detail about, please contact 9Wood and we’d be happy to get someone in touch with you. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.