Bad Flanges

I tried out the new hole flanging tool from Aircraft Spruce, on a piece of scrap aluminum. I wasn't terribly impressed by the results. The metal tends to warp considerably and the flange itself has this wavy edge that just doesn't look right. I'm sure it would be acceptable but for the time it took to do the flange this way, the results are just not very positive. So I don't recommend doing your hole flanges with this kind of tool. I am sure someone could argue the point but I don't like it at all.

I don't consider this a failure, just part of the learning process that will go into my future projects! I went back to my home made dies and the test piece was nearly flawless! The die is made of hardwood so I have no idea how long it will last but the .020 aluminum is nice and soft so I can't imagine it really beating up the die, at least not in the short term. The added benefit is that the die cost me less than $5! It's hard to argue with that price! I may find some use for the tool I bought, but at this point I don't know where it will be used.