Cutting holes in aluminum soffit?

[Gavin Allan]

I want to install some can lights under the eaves of my house. I need to cut several 5" diameter round holes in the aluminum soffit. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can use to cut the holes? I am thinking that shears/snips are going to be difficult with the ridges and working upside down on a ladder. Just wondered if anyone had any better ideas?



THANKS

 

[Todd Z]

Home depot and Lowe's sell a special sized hole saw ( it is green) in the electrical department for such just that thing... A regular 5 inch or 6 inch hole saw just is not the right size..





i think mine was $30.00



Todd Z

 

[Gavin Allan]

Thanks Todd. Would this thing work OK for the thin aluminum sofitting?



(I had thought about a BF hole saw or maybe a fly cutter on then end of a drill, but figured either one would "grab" as soon as the aluminum was pierced in one spot.)

 

[Todd Z]

Gavin, the one I bought had no teeth, it had a carbide coating,,,,, no teeth to grab... It was for cutting tile.... Then i used the hole saw for wood to drill the wood...



Todd Z

 

[TRACket Paul]

At the link below, scroll down to see the coated hole saw.

 

[Jim P]

I used a "roto zip tool", which is a big drill but uses a special bit to cut holes in just about any material known. check out lowes or home depot, you just have to push the zip tool bit thru the material, then work it like a jig saw, great for sheetrock, etc., but different bits are available depending upon the material you're cutting. You don't really need to cut the hole that big unless you don't have access to eave from inside the attic and need to install the junction box in the eave from the outside. I had room in my garage to access the eave from inside but that's because this garage is not finished on the inside, exposed studs. Seems like you would have access to the eave from the attic since you are going to run the wire from inside I assume. another option would be to mount the flood ligths on the exterior wall and along with junction box, would just have to use those nicer looking outdoor boxes mounted up close to the eave and just run the wire down into the nice looking box. my .02.

 

[Dreman]

I think his lights are supposed to be recessed into the soffit.

 

[J Piroth]

I used a 3" hole saw recently to cut some plexiglass, but there's a trick to it.



If you run the drill in reverse, the teeth will actually shave the aluminum instead of really grabbing it.



With the plexi, the grabbing when the drill was run forward resulted in splitting the whole piece of plastic. If the teeth grab your soffit, it could rip or twist it instead of giving your the nice round hole you want, so I'd give running it in reverse a try first.