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Avery, Brown or Plane Tools???

CDBridgesRV7A

Active Member
Hi All,

As I sit here in the desert, dreaming of being home and beginning work on my RV, I decided to do some research (mainly on this site) to see which company (Avery, Brown or Plane) has the better tool kit. I really can't see much of a difference between the 3 kits other than the price. Brown being the cheapest. Would any of you experienced RV builders be so kind as to post your recommendations as to who may have the better set (quality, bang for buck etc)?

Plane Tool is also advertising (with their kit) a "much better" dimpler. If anyone has used it, is this statement accurate?

About a month before I rotate home I would like to order my tools and empennage kit so that it is sitting there waiting for me upon my return. Not too sure how the missus is going to like me being squirreled away in the garage after being away from home for 7 months :eek:

Cheers

Chris
 
Got ours from Brown. Upgraded the drill, rivit gun and some of the other tools.... You probably really going to want a 3 inch yoke too.
 
Cleveland

Got a lot of quality tools from Cleveland. Actually, seems that all of the major tool suppliers are good.. One suggestion - don't buy 'cheep' (as opposed to inexpensive) tools. Do some more research and take your time. I bought my tools from several sources. Good luck.
 
Truth is, they're all fine and you really can't go wrong with any of them. Since you're in a position to be choosy, you might want to hold off and see if anyone offers a holiday deal (that's how I ended up with an ATS kit) and go with the best deal. Also hawk the classifieds here on VAF (and perhaps EBAY) as you might be able to get a used kit for a discount.
 
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All good choices but it was Plane tools for me and I have loved the kit. The pneumatic squeezer and the DRDT-2 dimpler are both nice to have and included which sold me compared to the others. I would purchase from them again, service was excellent.
 
As a single reference point from 3 years ago on just one of the items - I bought some of my clecos at Avery and most of the rest from Brown. The ones from Avery have gotten pretty rusty, the one's from Brown haven't. I don't know if they still buy from the same vendors or not.
 
I have several catalogs and since I'm on a tight budget I price shop a lot. I've had good service from all of them.
 
I have used Avery for over 10 years. Bob is an RV builder and attends most of the major RV functions. They support LOE with raffle prizes and will help you with anything he can. You will not be sorry using Avery.

Pat
 
I've bought from both Avery and Cleaveland a variety of tools. Don't forget to leverage the cheaper alternatives when the tool isn't specialized towards airplane building - Harbor Freight, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.
 
I've bought just about everything from either Avery or Cleaveland. I think that they are both excellent businesses to deal with.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Much appreciated!! I've been browsing the Vans Airforce Classifieds for tools, but alas they are sold by the time I get around to seeing the post. No big deal as I'm not ready to by tools at the moment.

The DRDT-2 dimpler and pneumatic squeezer that is offered by Planes Tools, is it in fact better than the ones offered by Avery, Brown or Cleveland tool kit? I may do as other builders have and by from all the tool manufacturers.

Many Thanks

Chris
 
Hmm..don't buy a kit?

Rather than buying a kit, I picked and chose what I wanted from Avery, BrownTool and The Yard. By doing this I was able to get pretty much everything in the 'standard kits', PLUS a used pneumatic squeezer ('Used' as in "..was probably used to build B52's!..")

Here is my take on the vendors I have experience with:

The Yard (www.yardstore.com) -- Great for used tools at good prices (bought my squeezer from them)

BrownTool - New tools (especially during sales!) and most 'off the shelf' bits and pieces (drill bits, abrasives, dies, hand tools, etc). Sometimes they will also have used tools on sale (such as a pneumatic 90 degree drill, probably just as old as my squeezer). I bought most of my clecos from them because they have free shipping on orders over $95

Avery -- Somewhat higher-priced, but any 'custom' tool they make is well worth the money. Their vice-grip based tools (seaming pliers, dimplers) are a must-have, and their back-riveting plate is a work of art. For those of us in Texas, they also have the advantage that UPS ground will usually deliver my order within 1 day.

As far as support, I've had product 'issues' with stuff bought at all three places, and it has alway been a very positive experience.

By the way, at some point during your build, you will feel the urge to buy tools from Harbor Freight. Unless said tool is a screwdriver you plan to use once, my advice would be to stay away :).
 
Cleaveland is great and has been very flexible. I got the bulk of my tools from them - started with one of their kits, removed the rivet gun and modified a handful of other bits. (nothing wrong with their gun, I just learned with a Chicago Pneumatic and so that's what I wanted - got it from Brown) They got everything right and have been hassle free with exchanges and such as I learned exactly what I wanted once I got the initial delivery.

But like others, I've ended up with a mix of tools from several vendors. And each vendor I bought from - ATS, Avery, Brown, and Cleaveland has been great. Whoever you go with, don't let web sites limit you. Give them a call and talk to someone since they are all more capable and flexible than their sites. They are also all very quick to put a tech on hand help you work through things.
 
you will end up ordering from all of them, i have yet to see a comprehensive tool kit unless you are speaking of an estate sale post or something

you'll spend anywhere from $200-$500 a month for a while on tools
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Much appreciated!! I've been browsing the Vans Airforce Classifieds for tools, but alas they are sold by the time I get around to seeing the post. No big deal as I'm not ready to by tools at the moment.

The DRDT-2 dimpler and pneumatic squeezer that is offered by Planes Tools, is it in fact better than the ones offered by Avery, Brown or Cleveland tool kit? I may do as other builders have and by from all the tool manufacturers.

Many Thanks

Chris

Also keep in mind as another option, most of the tool kit suppliers will let you subtract and substitute within reason. I did this for my plane tools kit.

Also, I bought my kit from plane tools...but have bought misc tools from Avery and Cleaveland along the way, which have also been outstanding as well. We, as RV consumers, really are spoiled with the quality tool suppliers out there...you can pretty much close your eyes and pick one and not go wrong!

I also want to add, getting my tool kit was in some ways more exciting to me than recieving airplane parts. You'll enjoy it. :)
 
There is only one make of DRDT-2, doesn't matter who you buy it from its all from the same guy. unlike pnu squeezers, rivet guns, etc there are quite a few different makers and even clones of certain ones (like cp214, etc)
 
The DRDT-2 dimpler and pneumatic squeezer that is offered by Planes Tools, is it in fact better than the ones offered by Avery, Brown or Cleveland tool kit? I may do as other builders have and by from all the tool manufacturers.

I believe that they all get the DRDT-2 from the same vendor, Experimental Aero ([email protected]). I wanted to buy just the head and build my own body. Everyone was out of the head alone so I got it from EA and got a great price with free shipping. Then I welded up my own body for it out of aluminum stock. Somehow I got the wrong size stock and didn't realize it until I started cutting. It flexes a little but does the job just fine, dimpling .040 sheet metal which is what I think the steel ones claim.

I posted a blog entry about it.
 
By the way, at some point during your build, you will feel the urge to buy tools from Harbor Freight. Unless said tool is a screwdriver you plan to use once, my advice would be to stay away :).

This is true in a lot of cases with Harbor Freight but there are always exceptions to every rule. I bought a floor model band saw from them three years ago and have used it a lot. It has worked great and the quality of the saw seems to be right up there. And of course being from HF the price was very good.

Most of my aircraft tools have come from Cleaveland and The Yard Store. For quality in aircraft tools Avery and Cleaveland are as good as it gets.
 
Agree with everyone else :)

I bought the RV kit from Plane Tools and it is awesome. I splurged and got just about all the upgrades you could get except for the mechanics tool set as I already had a tool chest/cart full of wrenches and sockets etc....

The pneumatic squeezer has me hooked. I use the drdt-2 to dimple everything I possibly can and use the hand squeezer only when I absolutely have to.

I have also purchased a bunch of stuff from Avery and they are great too.

Definitely don't go "cheap" on your major tools like drills and rivet guns. You definitely get what you pay for.
 
I'm not really fond of off-the-shelf solutions. They cater to the masses, and work well for most people. But i'm not most people, so I assembled my kit by putting together the best bang-for-the-buck parts from Avery, Brown, Cleveland, and Clear Air Tools. In total, I spent about what I would have to just buy the complete kit from any one vendor, but I know I ended up with a better kit of tools at the end of the day.
 
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