If you’ ve been looking at these reciprocating saws and really wanted one but didn’ t know why, then here’ s the reason to go shopping. They are fantastic for cutting the slots for hinges. I used to use a plastic guide for finding the centre of the control surface, then cut a slot using a V shaped blade, then picked out the debris with a special hook shaped blade. When I finished all of this work, I would find that the three hinge slots on a strip aileron were not perfectly in line which results in the control binding.
Using the 20mm blade on the saw, place a guide in front of the surface to be cut which is half the thickness of the wood. If you want to be very accurate, the saw blade is 0.6mm thick so your guide should be half the thickness less another 0.30mm to get the exact centre. Start the saw and push the blade in to the depth of your hinge using the measuring scale on the blade.
Repeat the process for the wing / fin / tailplane, ease out a s m a l l r e b a t e t o accommodate the hinge pin moulding and the job is finished. When you come to fit the surfaces to the plane after covering, remember to glue and then pin the hinges for a strong, long lasting job. Now that you know why you want a R e n o v a t o r / M u l t i tool / Reciprocating saw, go out and treat yourself!