I bought this a little while back in preparation for installing some 6" can lights. As others have noted, there are a couple obvious flaws with this version - the fact that you have to take it apart in order to adjust the diameter, and the marks on the spreader bar aren't that precise. But once the tool is set, it's great and sure beats the heck out of running a jig saw over your head.

Now, my biggest complaint - NO REPLACEMENT BLADES? Really?? After about 5 minutes of searching, it became quite evident that Hole Pro intentionally does this to force you to buy their "professional" hole cutter. 3 of the 4 holes I just cut were through drywall seams, so I had to go through mesh tape and plaster. The blades really took a beating, but I had no choice - that's where the lights needed to go! Sure, I can sharpen these, but c'mon...even if a pair of blades were $5, I'd gladly put another $20 into this thing and give it a 5-star review. But at this rate, I'll be lucky to get 10 holes out of it before it's time to throw it away.

I bought this a little while back in preparation for installing some 6" can lights. As others have noted, there are a couple obvious flaws with this version - the fact that you have to take it apart in order to adjust the diameter, and the marks on the spreader bar aren't that precise. But once the tool is set, it's great and sure beats the heck out of running a jig saw over your head.

Now, my biggest complaint - NO REPLACEMENT BLADES? Really?? After about 5 minutes of searching, it became quite evident that Hole Pro intentionally does this to force you to buy their "professional" hole cutter. 3 of the 4 holes I just cut were through drywall seams, so I had to go through mesh tape and plaster. The blades really took a beating, but I had no choice - that's where the lights needed to go! Sure, I can sharpen these, but c'mon...even if a pair of blades were $5, I'd gladly put another $20 into this thing and give it a 5-star review. But at this rate, I'll be lucky to get 10 holes out of it before it's time to throw it away.

So so much easier than cutting by hand
I bought this for speakers, I tested it first on some scrap and it works like a champ. Can't speak to the durability of blades and I will concede that disassembling to change the blade offsets is not ideal. But most jobs you cut the same sized holes so you are not changing w each cut
One mistake I did make - I bought this for installing 6" and 8" ceiling speakers, thinking it's an 8" hole cutter , should be fine - my bad. If I had read the instructions for the speakers, the 6" requires an 8 3/8 inch hole. So back this goes and I've ordered the X-305. My short experience with it was fine though

Also - do go slow and steady as the center drill bit goes in and the blades start to bite

So so much easier than cutting by hand
I bought this for speakers, I tested it first on some scrap and it works like a champ. Can't speak to the durability of blades and I will concede that disassembling to change the blade offsets is not ideal. But most jobs you cut the same sized holes so you are not changing w each cut
One mistake I did make - I bought this for installing 6" and 8" ceiling speakers, thinking it's an 8" hole cutter , should be fine - my bad. If I had read the instructions for the speakers, the 6" requires an 8 3/8 inch hole. So back this goes and I've ordered the X-305. My short experience with it was fine though

Also - do go slow and steady as the center drill bit goes in and the blades start to bite

My complaint is about the durability of the blades in light of the cost of the product. If the hole cutter was $20 and I was only able to complete 3 cuts in my ceiling for recessed lighting, then I think I would be less bothered by the experience. But having paid $60 and only been able to effectively get 3 holes cut in my ceiling seems like something to warn other buyers about.

Here is my experience. My goal this past weekend was to install 8 recessed lighting fixtures, and I took last Friday off from work to focus on this project over the weekend. We have an old home with thick (2 layers of drywall) ceilings, but there's no wire mesh in the ceiling except in the corners where I was not cutting. After two successful cuts, the blades on this tool were so worn down and flat that it took an absurd level of strain to push the tool into the ceiling so it could scrape away the drywall for the third cut. When I had gone as deep as I could go, I had to finish with a handheld drywall saw just because the blades had worn down so far. I wasn't able to complete my project over the weekend because of this. Perhaps you know what I'm saying that when one uses a really effective tool, it's a special feeling of satisfaction and gladness. And to the other extreme, when you are relying on a tool and the tool fails, it can be an incredibly frustrating experience. This was an extremely disappointing tool experience because the blades dulled and wore away so rapidly. I gave this tool 2 stars because, outside of that deal-breaking durability issue, the cuts it did make were very good and the dust shield was very helpful.