How to cut hardwood floor?

[M.alex]

I need to run a coax cable through the floor from the basement. Fishing through the wall isn't going to be a viable option.

What type of bit is safest to cut with - fostner, hole-saw, something else? Also, should I drill a pilot hole from the top-down (i.e., good side of floor down into the basement in order to make sure I'm in the middle of the floor to prevent slipping) and then use the hole-saw/forstner/etc.. to drill upwards, or do I always want to drill downwards?

[speedog]

Forstner bit will get you a very clean hole through your hardwood, the problem is how far is it to whatever you have to drill through on the lower floor. What I would do is drill down from the upper floor with the Forstner bit, then use an extension and a small bit, 1/8th inch or so, to keep drilling down into the ceiling of the lower floor to act as a pilot hole and then the Forstner bit once again up from the lower floor.