Workbench hight for RV-14 tail kit (empennage)

Workbench height for RV-14 tail kit (empennage)

I'm getting ready to build two EAA workbenches for my basement shop I've been preparing. Here is my question.... The standard workbench height is 33 inches, the height of my basement is 93 inches. If I build the standard work bench will there be enough height above the table to compete the empennage kit (60 inches from the top of the bench to the ceiling). In the builder logs, it looks like you need some height when completing the empennage. If this is not enough height, any other options I should consider like shorter workbenches. I'm 6'3 and would like to keep the bench height as high as possible. Many thanks in advance for your help....

Bench height

Hi yank just finishing emp. Kit my bench is standard 33", I'm also 6'3" . Have never had a problem with not enough ceiling height although I have 10' ceiling,building in heated pole building . Wouldn't advise getting bench to low as it will be hard on your back being bent over working on parts. Good luck building emp kit it's be fun and learning experience. Dennis

Dennis,

Any guess as to how high your empennage is from the bench to the top of the vertical stabilizer? Hopefully it's not more then 60 inches....

Workbench Height

On page 10-13 the tailcone goes up on some sawhorses at least 39 inches high. Then bulkheads and the forward bottom skin go on upside down for backriveting.
I think your benches will be okay but watch that height when you get there.

When I built my 1000's I put a 2 inch lip around the edge for clamping. It has come in handy when I needed to clamp trailing edges down to keep them straight.

Good luck

I built a couple of EAA benches. I also put a lip around the top. The main thing that I would do different would be to raise the height of the bottom shelf to allow easier sweeping underneath.

One thing that I did do differently was to screw/glue the bottom shelf to the bottom of the 2x4 stretchers. This helps keep things from falling off when you are working on the bench or moving it.

Here is a picture of a vise that I use for working on guitar necks. Look close and you'll see it is mounted to a board and then clamped to the bench. I'm 6'2 and having this mounted like this allows me a lot of flexibility on where I work on smaller parts. The vise is called a parrot vise... highly recommend it.

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under-shelf storage

I looked on VAN's website at the height of the shipping crates for each sub-kit. I then added some "fudge" height. The end result being that I used this dimension for the UNDER-SHELF dimension so I could use all/any of the shipping containers as storage under the shelf.

That's a great idea attaching the vice to a board and then clamping it down to your bench when you need it (I would have never thought of that). I'm going to do that with my old vise, it should free up some space. Thanks to all for the advice!

Work bench

Hi yank, measured from bottom of emp. To top of vert. Stab. Was 55". I didn't build the aft fuse. On the work bench,built on saw horses, bench is to hi to rivet skins on. Used various saw horse legs to make unit easy to rivet top skins. Had help to buck riv. Did them reaching in from front and rear of aft fuse.,actually was not that bad hope this helps, Dennis