Last week Stuart covered some of the new tools Ryobi is introducing in 2016. One of these products is a new drywall repair kit that aims to make fixing holes smaller than 4″ in diameter a much simpler process. The thing that really makes this process strange is that the hole saw itself becomes part of the patch.
Ryobi describes its use as a 3 step process, but for clarity we’ll expand the steps to help explain what’s going on.
Step 1 (patch placement): Apply the round template over the area you want to patch up, sticking it in place using the pre-attached adhesive backing tape. The area the template covers is exactly where your patch will be.
Step 2 (drilling prep): Chuck the mandrel into your drill, connect the drive plate to the mandrel, and attach the hole saw/patch to the drive plate.
Step 2.5 (drilling): Once you have placed the patch template and set up the hole saw, insert the pilot bit into the center of the template, and start drilling.
The consumable part of the hole saw has 2 main features. It has saw teeth at the leading edge, for cutting a hole into drywall. At the rear, there are screw threads, for securely fastening the hole saw into the drywall after the hole is cut.
The drive plate and mandrel are removed, leaving the hole saw in place. You’re left with a flat and solid backing for applying joint compound to.
Step 3 (finishing): Spackle over the patch, smooth it over, and paint.
You can see in the picture below that the hole saw has a pretty aggressive saw tooth pattern, complete with two sharper teeth for scoring the drywall. You can also see that the hole saw/patch has a single thread molded around the perimeter. Once the teeth have cut the hole, this thread will engage with the drywall and keep the patch securely in place.
Also, it appears that the hole saw/patch is friction fit to the drive plate with only four studs, making it easy to remove the drive plate and mandrel once the patch is secure.
The back of the drive plate has wings so that you can use the plate without a drill to fine tune the depth of the patch after it’s in place.
The Ryobi Drywall Repair Kit includes 1 drive plate, 1 template, 1 hole saw, 1 cover plate, and 1 mandrel with black oxide pilot drill bit. It should be available in either April or May of 2016.
Price $12
Ryobi will also sell refill kits, with additional templates and hole saws/patches. We don’t have any pricing information for the refill kits. With the refill kit, you only need to buy the starter set once, for the mandrel with pilot drill bit and driving plate once.
To see the drywall repair kit in action check out the video below on the Charles & Hudson YouTube channel, where a Ryobi rep demonstrates the product. In the description they claim the kit will be available in 3 different sizes.