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Avery Tools

mdredmond

Well Known Member
If you'll indulge me in what is sort of a 'vanity' post...

Yesterday I was DESPERATE to obtain an adjustable rivet set holder and yoke for my CP-214 - it was unusable without these items. An order from a tool supplier was held up without explanation or notice - order placed on Monday, found out on Friday that it had never shipped.

So I called Avery and they had the holder in stock. I work in Dallas - they're a 2+ hour round trip - no way to get there during my lunchtime. They agreed to leave the tools in a pre-arranged location so I could pick up after hours. I did.

The set holder didn't fit my squeezer. Apparently, some CP-214s (mine is a real Chicago Pneumatic squeezer, one of the early ones) have irregular internal this-or-thats. So it didn't work.

I drove out to Hicks today and caught Bob Avery powerwashing his CNC Lathe's coolant tank (or something, I dunno). He immediately replaced the set holder with one that fit and then VERY graciously indulged a number of questions from this rank-newbie (I'd never dimpled a hole or squeezed a rivet before today), accompanying each answer with a hands-on demo of the operation. I was there for more than an hour learning how to adjust the squeezer, dimple, rivet, drill out bad rivets, etc...

There are a number of cheap(er) sources for some tools, but customer service is where it's at. What a great guy. He even had "olde phart" advice on how to get my wife involved in the building without boring her or pissing her off. They've got my business from now on...
 
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Bob Avery

I chime in on this subject.

Unlike some of the other tool suppliers, Bob is an RV builder just like most of us. Bob started building his RV-4 in the early days when everything wasn't prepunched and it was jig as you go. A machinest by trade Bob saw the need for improved tools and some 20 years later his small business produces some of the best tools on the market for aircraft builders.

For those who can get down to Hicks field and visit the Avery tools showroom your in for a real treat. Bob's showroom, offices, shop and hanger will make any business person/machinest green with envy.

I have spent many hours talking with Bob about tools and business. He has been instrumental in helping me build my business, ExperimentalAero (DRDT-2) and helped me provide a quality tool to the aircraft tool market.

There is a lot of competition out. Some tools are less expensive then others. Good quality tools make building your dream more enjoyable and rewarding. Bob has helped thousands of builders over the years through his innovation and dedication to providing great tools.

Keep up the good work Bob.
 
Avery

Couldn't agree more. Avery is a well run company with quality merchandise and really nice people.

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Wings
San Ramon
 
more on the advice ...

I want to hear more about what Bob said with respect to "advice on how to get my wife involved in the building without boring her or pissing her off"

Oh yeah, I agree--I've only had positive experiences with Avery.

-Jim
 
On a related note, my Avery adjustable set out of my late model cp-214 wont fit in my old Cleveland 41-C squeezer (basicaly a cp-214 copy) despite only minor variation in the body design. Brown Aviation Tools is the only place that mentions compatability with Cleveland squeezers...can anybody varify this before I order one? Thanks.
 
fehdxl said:
I want to hear more about what Bob said with respect to "advice on how to get my wife involved in the building without boring her or pissing her off"-Jim

Well he related a story about a guy who called him once in deep doo-doo... Seems his wife was holding the bucking bar and it slipped, denting the plane. He grabs the bucking bar from his wife and, yelling, flings it across the room into the wall. Bob's advice to me was, "don't do that".

He suggested not having her spend endless hours in the shop watching me work, waiting for when I need a hand. He told me to get everything deburred, primed, clecoed, etc... with rivets in and taped, then call my wife out for a ten minute bucking session (haha). Then she gets to go back in and read/scrapbook/whatever and I'm back to the boring stuff.

That was a gist of it, just don't make her do the tedious stuff - I'm lucky enough that the entire garage is mine and she agreed to the plane without hesitation (though I did have to bribe her with a new car).
 
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