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Best Workbenches for RV-10

Vlad

Well Known Member
No I am not building The Ten:D A friend of mine is about to plunge into an adventure, fitting his shop and is asking my advice what size suits the best to build RV-10. The control surfaces are bigger, longer and corresponding tables should be larger than standard EAA benches? Anyway, would appreciate advice and/or pictures of your workbenches guys, his web-searching skills and command of foreign language is getting better and better... :) Please post your experience and references.
 
I built two EAA benches and had a large rolling table (approx. 4X6 surface) that had electrical outlets on each side and a cable to plug it into a wall outlet. My vise was on the rolling table. I built my RV-10 with this setup and it worked well. I was able to lay a wing across the two EAA tables when I wanted to work on them laying flat, but did quite a bit of the wing work in the cradles. I built a couple of short saw horses to support the fuselage in the early part of the construction. Used regular height saw horses while assembling the tailcone. I had an air manifold from from Cleavland http://www.cleavelandtoolstore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ACDLXKIT mounted on one of the EAA benches. Very nice to be able to plug my compressor into the manifold and use the light weight quick disconnect hoses to have multiple air tools hooked up and ready to go.
 
I've found having a "hollow core" interior door around to use as an extra work bench very handy. They are straight and light and can be thrown across a couple saw horses when you need an extra straight, flat work area.
 
I went to local university surplus and found a 10' table to work with. It's one of the steel folding leg types, not the cheap ones you get from office supply but heavy duty. The top is a bit marred but not warped; I can always top it with some particle board if I need to. Cost? $25, plus having to pick through the other tables they had to find one not badly damaged. I'm going back Monday for an 8'X3' desk and a good file cabinet; this is perfect hangar furniture and the price is right.
 
I built a 12'x4' table. Frame was 2x4, braced and the top clad with flooring board. Also a lower shelf for storage. Its big but no problems with the wings or flaps. Now they are nearly finished, I amy well cut it in half to make room to work on the fuselage!
 
What ever table you do end up using, put a MDF (medium density fiberboard) top on it. Make it removable. There are a lot of holes to drill/ream and you can just drill right into the table top, when one side has too many holes, you can just flip it over or throw it away. Worth the 25 bucks.
 
Build tables

Well I am in the middle of building the tail of a rv-10, and I did build 2 ea of the EAA tables. Tey work out just fine and even with the larger control surfaces. I just place them end to end and made braces to bile them together if needed to keep them alligned.

Nice size especailly when building bigger parts that are not on the tables like the tail cone they dont take up to much of the very valuable garage space.

If you have any questions shoot me a e-mail and will be glad to send pics.:)
 
Just built mine today.

Two 30"W X 84"L X 36"H, 4" Fixed casters on one end and swivel on other, 2" lip all the way around. Also building 36" square work station for 6" bench grinder, small drill press, small combination sander, small Delta bandsaw with no wheels.
 
I took the shipping boxes from Van, flipped them over, and put 2x4 legs on them. Pulling all the staples holding the 2x2s was a pain but it sure makes a great table.
I started out with just a folding banquet table with MDF on top - still use it.
John
 
updates?

Looks like search produced a very old thread.
I'm going to need to build my workbenches. Given I'm starting from scratch, what is the latest thinking? EAA benches with lip for clamping?

Something longer than EAA?
 
Looks like search produced a very old thread.
I'm going to need to build my workbenches. Given I'm starting from scratch, what is the latest thinking? EAA benches with lip for clamping?

Something longer than EAA?


I built two EAA benches but with overhanging lips for clamping. Then I placed the two tables a few inches apart, leveled them so they present a flat plane with a gap in the middle. The tables have a shelf between them on which I can install my DRDT-2 when needed for dimpling long skins, or remove it when I need the full length for something else. I built the wings across these two tables.

Now that I'm on the fuselage, I'm finding that I'm able to build most of the parts (up through section 28) on them, but I'm going to build a low-slung fuselage stand and/or a rotisserie with two engine mounts for the later part of the fuselage build.

I actually built two non-standard EAA tables as well (8 feet long x 2ft wide each) but ended up using them as workbenches as the more standard size ones are adequate for most of the RV-10 assembly.
 
Thanks! I see some folks have 8' tables so I wasn't sure of the EAA versus the 8'. I will be going with a DRDT-2 and read about doing what you have, using a shelf between two connected EAA tables. I may go this route unless others find a more optimal solution or see issues with this option.

I built two EAA benches but with overhanging lips for clamping. Then I placed the two tables a few inches apart, leveled them so they present a flat plane with a gap in the middle. The tables have a shelf between them on which I can install my DRDT-2 when needed for dimpling long skins, or remove it when I need the full length for something else. I built the wings across these two tables.

Now that I'm on the fuselage, I'm finding that I'm able to build most of the parts (up through section 28) on them, but I'm going to build a low-slung fuselage stand and/or a rotisserie with two engine mounts for the later part of the fuselage build.

I actually built two non-standard EAA tables as well (8 feet long x 2ft wide each) but ended up using them as workbenches as the more standard size ones are adequate for most of the RV-10 assembly.
 
While I have two EAA workbenches (mounted on wheels) that I clamp together, either end to end, or side by side, what I build most all wings and control surfaces on are two sawhorses padded with moving blankets; i just lay the spar on the sawhorses and build on that.

Basically, don’t really need anything fancy or large, so I’d say just use whatever you have a build on.
 
Flexibility is key

Whatever you choose to do, flexibility is key. You will need to reconfigure your work area as you go along. I always maintained at least one bench for assembly and parts prep. The balance of the work area was constantly reconfigured based on the needs of the part I was working on.

Here is a photo showing my basic bench(s) made of 2X4s, 2x6s to support the top. I had two of these. I added a sheet of 1/2" plywood (wafer board to be exact) ripped in half for two tables for the sacrificial layer, then outdoor carpet (the cheep stuff pre-cut from home depot) to provide a scratch resistant surface to work on. This was replaced as needed since it gets pretty beat up. The basic dimensions are 2' X 8' by 36" high. They are very strong and solid.

The work surface behind the table was my tool area and location for all of the small part organizer bins. It looks a mess, but was actually well organized so I could access almost any tool or part quickly.

20180321-223510.jpg
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Beyond the tables, lots of storage space for both large and small components will be needed, As will saw horses, special fixtures for wings, stabilizer, etc. You will also need to make provision for priming components as well as possibly painting if you choose to do that as well.
 
Very helpful, thank you very much!!

Whatever you choose to do, flexibility is key. You will need to reconfigure your work area as you go along. I always maintained at least one bench for assembly and parts prep. The balance of the work area was constantly reconfigured based on the needs of the part I was working on.

Here is a photo showing my basic bench(s) made of 2X4s, 2x6s to support the top. I had two of these. I added a sheet of 1/2" plywood (wafer board to be exact) ripped in half for two tables for the sacrificial layer, then outdoor carpet (the cheep stuff pre-cut from home depot) to provide a scratch resistant surface to work on. This was replaced as needed since it gets pretty beat up. The basic dimensions are 2' X 8' by 36" high. They are very strong and solid.

The work surface behind the table was my tool area and location for all of the small part organizer bins. It looks a mess, but was actually well organized so I could access almost any tool or part quickly.

20180321-223510.jpg
[/url][/IMG]

Beyond the tables, lots of storage space for both large and small components will be needed, As will saw horses, special fixtures for wings, stabilizer, etc. You will also need to make provision for priming components as well as possibly painting if you choose to do that as well.
 
If you have mobile tool chests, make the table the same height

My first post on VAF.
I usually come here for info, it's great!
Built 5 EAA tables stained and polyurethaned per wifes request.
My tool chests work for extra table width or in this case for wing skin dimple flexability. (also keeps the tools organized)
The C Frame dimpler sits on a 2X4 frame between two tables and is 1/8" above the top at the dimple head. Everything is bolted together for dimple operations so the C Frame is VERY solid and the quality is nice.
Oh, if you are forced to use the backup hammer, wear gloves and add a piece of thick foam to the top of the C Frame. (I have a great deal of experienced in learning from my mistakes)

Mark
 

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