On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 09:06:55 -0800, W7TI wrote:

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 13:33:28 GMT, "Dale Parfitt"
wrote:

Seems to me the framing can't move- unlike a piece of sheet metal.

Correct, that's why I said to clamp it securely.

I have
many times used 2.5" bimetal hole saws to make openings for meters in 0.125
and 0.25" aluminum panels. The panels were in each case held to the mill (or
drill press) table with at least 2 clamps. There is absolutely no way that
one person could make that size hole with a hole saw w/o clamping.

Correct, clamp it.

And forget a hand drill if you want the hole to look decent.

Incorrect. Easily done if you hold it tightly. Of course you MUST USE
a hole saw which has a center drill bit for alignment purposes. I
believe there may be hole saws without the center drill bit, made for
use ONLY IN A DRILL PRESS. I don't own any of those. Done it with a
hand held drill many times, works fine.

Yes, one can use a handheld drill with the circular hole cutters with
center bit, although a drill press will give a neater job.

The problem was with the fly-cutter style, which has a center drill
bit and an arm holding the single cutter. Small misalignments will
cause a lot of torque to fling the workpiece or the drill.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom