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  #1  
Old 09-05-2007, 10:44 PM
flyboy96 flyboy96 is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 37
Default Going ahead with a -7

Hi guys, just new on the forum, after much prayer and trembling I've decided to go ahead with a RV 7, I'm looking for tools and wondering what the best way to go is. I posted in the clasifieds section hoping to find someone that isn't using their tools anymore and is willing to part with them. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for you all as this project progresses. This site and the support it offers is one of the reasons I decided to go with vans. Thanks for any info.

Ted
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  #2  
Old 09-06-2007, 12:08 AM
Stephen Lindberg Stephen Lindberg is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Olympia, WA
Posts: 272
Default

Welcome, Ted.
Occasionally a complete set of used tools will be offered for sale and should be much less expensive than buying piecemeal. Van's preview plans gives good advice on choosing tools. I think a kit from one of the tool houses is probably most cost effective if you want to buy new tools. I have no favorites. I have ordered from them all and had good experiences from them all: Avery, Cleaveland, Brown, The Yard, Isham's, Aircraft Tool Supply...maybe others I can't think of. I have had good luck buying used air tools from The Yard and Isham's. You can save a few hundred dollars that way. Common questions: 3x or 2x gun? I prefer a 3x. Do you need a pneumatic squeezer or can you get by with a hand squeezer? I have used both kinds, all brands. I own a pneumatic and consider it money well spent. I don't have a hand squeezer and I have never missed it. Don't get an alligator style air squeezer. You can get by on a portable air compressor but the oilless type are too noisey. Get one that runs on 220 volts so you aren't short of air. I did OK for years with a Craftsman. Put it somewhere else and run a 1/2 iron pipe to where you are working if you can, just to avoid the noise. Don't use PVC pipe, it will eventually blow up. I didn't buy a right angle drill (small head, threaded drill bits) until I got to the fuselage. It is very handy but maybe only absolutely necessary for the crotch strap anchors. I never liked the right angle attachments for the standard drill motors..too clumsy. I'd spend $150 on a used RA drill. Most used non-aircraft tool: 12 inch disc sander, if you don't count the Scotch Brite wheel. Band saw and drill press are also must haves. Chinese imports are good enough, I think, but I have Craftsman. These are my favorites, others may differ. Good luck and Welcome Aboard. Plenty of help and diverse opinions are available here 24/7. Oh yeah, my latest new favorite is the jelly Boelube, instead of the stick. Biggest tool regret: Not buying a #8 nutplate drilling jig until recently.
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RV-7A N783Z 0-360 Hartzell
canopy skirts, panel
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  #3  
Old 09-06-2007, 06:28 AM
DaX's Avatar
DaX DaX is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: newnan.ga
Posts: 426
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Ted. If you're patient and can wait up to a month or two, you might come across a great deal on tools - I found mine through Barnstormers from a gentleman who lived only an hour away. For $2500 I was able to get a completely unused Avery tool kit, with a pneumatic squeezer, longeron yoke, and a rolling tool box. You might also want to look through Trade-a-plane.

Steve made some great suggestions. I like using the pneumatic squeezer on long rows of AD4 rivets, but actually prefer bucking over squeezing now that I am using a tungsten bar. As he said, a good air compressor is an important investment. I have an oiled Ingersoll Rand - 60 gal vertical, 220V, 3 HP, 11.3 CFM @ 90 psi. CFM is probably the most important thing when looking to buy a compressor - air drills, die grinders, etc use a lot of air. Around 10 CFM @ 90 psi and a 60 gallon tank means the compressor won't cycle as often.
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RV-7 Wings, Tail, & Tools FOR SALE
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  #4  
Old 09-06-2007, 07:05 AM
RV_7A RV_7A is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Round Rock, TX
Posts: 807
Default Any choice is a great one!

Ted,

Congratulations on your decision to purchase any RV. They are all spectacular airplanes. You are gonna have a blast building it.

-Jeff
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  #5  
Old 09-06-2007, 07:22 PM
flyboy96 flyboy96 is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 37
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Thanks for the great info guys. I've got an old AME freind that I'm going to try to borrow some tools from to get me through the tail group and by the time I'm done that somthing might come up on barnstormers. If any one has used stuff for sale let me know.

Ted
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  #6  
Old 09-13-2007, 08:29 PM
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777Dave 777Dave is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Picton, Ont., Ft. Myers, Fl
Posts: 294
Default tools

Keep your eyes open Ted... I picked up many of the tools I will need from a classified add on this forum. Saved about 30%, tools in great shape. Still haven't started to build but I did take an EAA workshop sheetmetal course last spring and hope to start in the next few months.

Cheers;
Dave (fellow Canuck)
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RV-4 0-360-188 Catto 3-blade C-FTDQ...
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  #7  
Old 09-16-2007, 09:13 PM
flyboy96 flyboy96 is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 37
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The more I get into this site the more I can't believe how much info there is on here. I don't know how people used to build these things without the net. My tail has been shipped and should arive this week, I also went ahead and ordered a tool kit from Isham, he was a great help and I think I'll end up saving time in the long run. If anybody has other helpfull advise before I buck the first rivet, holler.

Ted
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  #8  
Old 09-17-2007, 10:59 AM
dekky111 dekky111 is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Posts: 107
Default Best method

Best way to finance all those tools is to sell all your other toys, which you won't need for the next two years, and buy whatever you want.

I'm close to done and can't even remember where I put all those old toys.

Enjoy,

dekky111
RV7A
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