The tools on the market for cutting lightning holes in your airframe parts have
never impressed me much especially if the holes are larger than a couple of
inches in diameter. Panel knock put punches and hole saws work well for holes
that are aren’t too big but it gets harder and more expensive as the size of the
hole increases.
You can cut holes with a router but cutting holes with a router is a
cumbersome ordeal. The router is really just too big a tool to be swinging 360
degrees easily. You can set it to cut holes down to around 1.5 inches and up to around 10 inches.
The tool’s small size allows you to easily see your work as you are cutting. If
you want an arc you can start and stop anywhere you want. It will cut any
thickness of sheet aluminum and I even made the Mustang-II flap handle
notch plates in the photo out of .06 thick 4130 steel.
The cutting speed in 032 thick 2024-T3 aluminum is around 40 inches per minute so you can cut a 4-inch diameter hole in less than 20 seconds.
Tools - Specialty Tools
