What tool do I need for this?

RATM

Apologies, Im a definitely not a DIY expert. But I want to cut a perfectly round hole into a price of wood and also a couple of rectangular shaped holes- what tool will do the trick? Also is it possible to hire them for the afternoon as I really cant see a time when I would need it again.

aerosol

What size hole do you need to cut? There's plenty of hole cutting bits you can get. If its a large hole I'd say you'd need to draw your circle then a drill a pilot hole just inside your line(large enough to fit a jigsaw blade into then a very steady and slow hand with a jigsaw. Same for your rectangles.

You can hire a jigsaw easily

Alun

Like aerosol said, it depends on the size of the hole. You can get hole saws http://www.axminster.co.uk/category-Holesaws-207894.htm for example, or for holes up to about 35mm a Forstner bit http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-TiN-Coated-Metric-Forstner-Bit-Set-784572.htm.

For square holes, assuming they're pretty big, then just follow aerosols advice and drill a small hole and use a jigsaw or coping saw to cut it out. If it's a smaller hole you're after you may have to first drill a round hole smaller than the size you want and then use a file or a chisel to square it off.

So, if you could give some idea as to the size of holes you're talking about we can help you a bit more.

RATM

Aerosol and Alun- thanks for the replies. The round hole Im cuttingis going to be approx a radius of 2.5 inches. The rectangular holes will be 10 inches by 4. Would the drilling & jigsaw technique be suitable for this ?

Alun

Yes, no problem, especially for the rectangular holes.

For the round holes you could also get a hole saw of that diameter (or it's metric equivalent of 127mm dia.) If you're going to be doing a lot of them, that might actually be an easier option, and possibly more accurate, depending on how handy you are with a jigsaw They're not cheap at that size though.

For the large rectangular holes, just drill a hole in each corner big enough to take the jigsaw blade, and simply saw it out. It might pay you to clamp a straight edge of some sort to what you're cutting the hole in to run the jigsaw along if you want a particularly straight edge, or aren't that confident with cutting straight lines with the jigsaw.

RATM

Nice one, thanks for that Alun. I'll only be cutting one holes so I'll go with the jigsaw. Just hope my hand is steady enough not to mess it up