Which Annular Cutters Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 12 annular cutters options head to head. Champion came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Champion
Price shown in test: $183 for three cutters or $61 each
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Euroboor
Price shown in test: $44
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Euroboor
Price shown in test: $44
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“Champion definitely seems to make the best cutter but it is very expensive for that reason I would likely go with the euroboor if the price was right”
Best in 3 of 6 measurements, including Medium Hardness 4140 Cut Time, Spring Steel Cut Time and Ar 500 Cut Time.
Placed top three in 3 of 6 measurements.
Placed top three in 3 of 6 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Aluminum Cut Time
- 1Champion44 seconds
- 2Euroboor50.5 seconds
slowest result of all cutters tested at that point
- 3Hougen Copperhead64 seconds
slowest result of all cutters tested
- 4Evolution Cyclone48 seconds
2 seconds faster than Steel Dragon at the time
- 5Hermes36 seconds3rd
third best result, only 1 second slower than Unibor
- 6DeWalt38 seconds4th
fourth best result
- 7Unibor35 seconds2nd
second best result
- 8S&F49 seconds
about the same pace as Steel Dragon and Evolution
- 9Steel Dragon50 seconds
doing a great job of chip removal
- 10Jestuous46 seconds
about the same pace as Steel Dragon and Evolution
- 11Slugger by Fein39 seconds5th
fifth best result
- 12Milwaukee28.7 seconds
best result of all cutters tested, credited to its 20 percent thinner wall construction
Mild Steel Cut Time
- 1Champion25.2 seconds4th
fourth best result, teeth still looked new
- 2Euroboor29.3 seconds
teeth still looked as good as new
- 3Hougen Copperhead31.3 seconds
slowest result, but teeth held up very well and still looked new
- 4Evolution Cyclone25 seconds3rd
third best result, experienced a couple of chipped teeth
- 5Hermes28 seconds
lost some sharpness with a couple of chips
- 6DeWalt26.7 seconds
became stuck at breakthrough, minor wear and tear
- 7Unibor23.4 seconds
best result of all cutters tested, no chips but some wear
- 8S&F25.9 seconds
minor chips and some sharpness loss
- 9Steel Dragon31 seconds
minor chip on one tooth
- 10Jestuous23.7 seconds2nd
second best result, minor wear
- 11Slugger by Fein25.8 seconds
experienced a chip and some sharpness loss
- 12Milwaukee28.8 seconds
lost quite a bit of sharpness
Spring Steel Cut Time
- 1Champion31 seconds
tied for the best result with Hougen Copperhead, teeth still in great shape
- 2Euroboor34 seconds3rd
third best result, still very sharp with no chips; the drill press struggled to supply enough torque and had to be released and restarted several times
- 3Hougen Copperhead31 seconds
tied for the best result with Champion, teeth in very good condition
- 4Evolution Cyclone38.2 seconds5th
fifth best result, still faster than Steel Dragon
- 5Hermes36.2 seconds4th
fourth best result, took the lead from Evolution at the time, some visible wear
- 6DeWalt53.1 seconds2nd
second slowest result, quite a bit of visible wear
- 7Unibor54.2 seconds
12 seconds slower than Steel Dragon, lost a lot of sharpness
- 8S&F51.8 seconds
quite a bit of visible wear
- 9Steel Dragon42.7 seconds
quite a bit of visible damage to the cutters
- 10Jestuous40.5 seconds
quite a bit of visible wear
- 11Slugger by Fein54.5 seconds
lost a lot of cutting speed, cutters left in pretty poor condition
- 12Milwaukee
did not finish, the spring steel completely wiped out the cutters and the test had to be stopped
Mild Steel Retest Performance Loss
- 1Champion27.6 seconds3rd
on the retest, only 2.4 seconds slower than the first pass, a 9.52 percent loss, third best durability result
- 2Euroboor31.2 seconds2nd
on the retest, a 6.48 percent loss, second best durability result; an earlier mention in the transcript of a 62 percent slower figure for this same result appears to be a transcription artifact missing a decimal point
- 3Hougen Copperhead33.1 seconds
on the retest, only a 5.75 percent loss, the best durability result of all cutters tested
- 4Evolution Cyclone30.1 seconds
on the retest, about 20 percent longer than the first pass
- 5Hermes34.3 seconds
on the retest, over 6 seconds slower than the first pass
- 6DeWalt35 seconds
on the retest, about 31 percent longer than the first pass
- 7Unibor
needed almost 40 seconds on the retest, described in the transcript as 7 percent longer, though the raw times given (23.4 seconds to almost 40 seconds) suggest a much larger increase; kept as stated due to a likely transcription error
- 8S&F34.8 seconds
on the retest, about 34 percent longer than the first pass
- 9Steel Dragon35.3 seconds
on the retest, a 13.9 percent loss in cutting speed
- 10Jestuous34.2 seconds
on the retest, a 44.3 percent loss, the worst durability result among the cutters with a stated percentage
- 11Slugger by Fein32.8 seconds
on the retest
- 12Milwaukee
could not complete the retest, the cutters were finished
Ar 500 Cut Time
- 1Champion24 seconds
best result of the three cutters that cut all the way through the AR500 plate, teeth in very good shape with only minor wear
- 2Euroboor30.1 seconds
second of the three cutters that cut all the way through the AR500 plate, teeth in very good condition with just a small amount of wear
- 3Hougen Copperhead34.6 seconds
third of the three cutters that cut all the way through the AR500 plate, about 10 seconds slower than Champion, very clean hole with only minor wear
- 4Evolution Cyclone
did not cut through, ran out of steam after about 40 seconds, made slightly more progress than Steel Dragon before the cutters were in bad shape
- 5Hermes
did not cut through, lasted around 40 seconds before progress stopped, finished third by depth among the high speed steel cutters behind Steel Dragon and Evolution
- 6DeWalt
did not cut through, made about the same amount of progress as S&F
- 7Unibor
did not cut through, described as too dull to take a bite out of the AR500 and mostly scratched the paint
- 8S&F
did not cut through, was nearly out of steam before the test even started, made a little more progress than Unibor
- 9Steel Dragon
did not cut through, made it about two thirds of the way through before giving up after about 40 seconds, cutters in bad shape
- 10Jestuous
did not cut through, described as way too hard for its high speed steel cutters, left only claw marks and the cutters were wiped out
- 11Slugger by Fein
did not cut through, cutters walked sideways and failed to make progress beyond scratching the surface, cutters wiped out
- 12Milwaukee
did not cut through, cutters were finished, only scratched the paint
Medium Hardness 4140 Cut Time
- 1Champion11.1 seconds
best result of all cutters tested
- 2Euroboor12.1 seconds2nd
second best result
- 3Hougen Copperhead13.8 seconds
- 6DeWalt12.8 seconds2nd
described as the second fastest pass at the time, just behind Unibor
- 7Unibor12.8 seconds3rd
third best result
- 9Steel Dragon14.85 seconds2nd
second place behind Unibor at the time
- 10Jestuous14.35 seconds
beginning to lose speed compared to the carbide brands
- 12Milwaukee13.8 seconds
lost quite a bit of speed
- 4Evolution Cyclonenot tested
- 5Hermesnot tested
- 8S&Fnot tested
- 11Slugger by Feinnot tested
How it was tested
- cutting speed through 3/4 in aluminum
- cutting speed through 3/8 in mild steel
- cutting speed through medium hardness 4140 steel
- cutting speed through 7/16 in spring steel
- cutting speed and performance loss on a mild steel retest after the harder metal tests, used to measure durability
- ability to cut all the way through 3/4 in AR500 hardened steel plate
“Champion definitely seems to make the best cutter but it is very expensive for that reason I would likely go with the euroboor if the price was right”
