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Tools Needed to Build RV14

mags591

Member
Hey everyone,
I’m in the planning stage of building my very first airplane (others think I’m crazy when I say that, but I cannot wait!) I have decided on building an RV14. Overall, I have the budget to build it, however it’s not that I’m sitting in the lump sum of money and will instead be getting the money as I go.

With that being said, I have researched and discovered that there are many tools needed to build the aircraft, and some are very specific. I don’t have many, if any, metal working tools. I came across Cleveland Aircraft Tools which look to be very good, and they even have it laid out as a set where you pick the aircraft you are building and I’m assuming they send you every tool you need (for the most part) to complete the project. It is a hefty up front investment however. I’m sure their tools are of the highest quality, but because I’m paying for things as I go rather than sitting on gold to spend at once, I was hoping to buy the tools as I go/need them as well, and possibly find cheaper alternatives if they are of good quality and available.

Does anyone have any recommendations or input on tools? Maybe a list of things you can buy cheap and things you certainly wouldn’t want to skimp on? I would really appreciate all the help!
 
I think most folks find that they buy tools all throughout the build. The kits from Cleaveland, Isham, etc. are a good start, and all of them allow you to finetune your order to add/subtract specific tools. You'll find about as many opinions on what tools are "essential" vs. "nice to have" as you will those on priming or not priming. My suggestion is to start with one of the suggested kits and subtract anything you already own. There's also a list of tools published by Vans in their plans section 5, which is generally considered minimalist at best. As with most projects, your skill set has a lot to do with what tools you wind up buying, there are some folks who seem able to build pretty much anything with duct tape and pliers, while others own a warehouse full of tools and struggle with the most basic tasks. In my own case, I owned a lot of tools prior to starting the build, but few specific to airplane construction. My initial purchase from Cleaveland totaled around $3000, and I've probably added another $1000 to that from them and other venders since. I doubt I'm through purchasing yet, but I am something of a tool junkie. I also subscribe to the philosophy that with tools, you buy once and cry once; that is to say that quality eventually pays for itself.
 
Pawn shops

Many of Van’s parts are ‘siamesed’ together, even six to ten parts, sometimes, in a strip that need to be separated...a cheap band saw with a metal cutting blade makes quick work of this (and your fingers!), then a belt sander to remove the ‘nubs’ from where you cut...a 1” belt sander is really handy..you’ll use it more often than you can imagine, including sharpening that filet knife in seconds...😊 I like to peruse pawn shops for bargain items like these.

Regards,
 
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