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Save the Cleco!

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
My friends consider the plight of the poor cleco. It works and slaves for you day after day, month after month, year after year. Despite the abuse of being thrown in a dark bucket with others of its kind, despite the abuse of being sprayed with primer, despite the abuse of being stuck in pro-seal - it toils away to do its master’s bidding. It lives a hard and difficult life, asking only that it be used again and again – yet when it happens to tire and slip just a bit, what happens? It is thrown into a dark corner of the workshop to roll under a bench or chest. It lives in the darkness, surrounded by spiders, dirt, and aluminum shavings. Abandoned by its master, it dwells in the eternal shadow world between life and death – a tool purgatory, forgotten by all…..

I say, gentlemen that we can do better by these hardy servants! I say that we can take the time to rehabilitate our sorry Clecos! Those that have given so much of themselves, those that have toiled and held through thick and thin! Those few, those poor wounded Clecos – they can be SAVED!!!

A drop of oil can go a very long way towards saving the life of a cleco – just a drop, a little mist, a tiny spritz down its throat can free a corroded mechanism. A little exercise can knock of that hardened epoxy. Even the dreaded pro-seal can be cut free with a razor blade so that the cleco can go back to a life of useful work!

We can no longer ignore the squalor in which the aged and infirm Clecos live I tell you – we simply must make an effort to save these, our most humble (yet essential and maybe even noblest) little friends! Why, just today I saved ten Clecos that would otherwise have been discarded – ten of our little helpers that will see yet another bulkhead through fabrication, another longeron held in place. All it took was a little TLC and a few moments of time…

Save the Clecos I say – save them all so they may clamp again, and help to build another day…..

Paul
 
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You probably run your paper plates through the dishwasher, too... ;)

Seriously, though, after less than a year some of my clecos are showing surface rust. Any pointers on the best way to rehab the little guys so long as I'm oiling them and razor blading off the pro-seal?
 
I have one with a #30 hole drilled in the side :D Should I put the oil in there? Poor little cleco...
 
Lubrication

Seriously, though, after less than a year some of my clecos are showing surface rust. Any pointers on the best way to rehab the little guys so long as I'm oiling them and razor blading off the pro-seal?

Must be that good Midwestern up-bring that Paul and myself will not waste a cleco. I spray the inside of the coffee can, where they live, with LPS-3 every so often and stir them up.

Do not over work the top clecos. Give some of the bottom ones a chance to perform as well. You got to get he bottom ones to the top every once in a while or the only work they get is when you drilling several skins.
 
And you composed this on the night before a launch?

Carpe clecum
or is it Carpe clecoum?
 
I'm not a Cleco saver

I have a lot of the 3/32", less 1/8", a few 3/16" and 1/4" clecoes from building the RV-6A. I respect the essential job they do very highly but sometimes in the process building a plane some critical assemblies seem to required the sacrifice of a tool for the greater good of building perfection. Subsequent to sacrificial applications involving epoxy, RTV, etc. clecos that visually appear to be OK stick in the unclamp position after releasing them with the cleco pliers. I exercised them and eventually got many to work only to experience the problem again on the next assembly. After plodding through this experience many times I started throwing them away after the first stick and then the "will the cleco work" anxiety went away - life was better for me. However, every time it happens I have a little twinge of regret for ending the life of a faithful tool. Now you arouse hope that this wasteful process need not continue. I think we we should all fabricate a cleco saver box in every RV shop where we can collect these handicapped servants and mail them to Paul for revival when each box is full.

Thanks Paul, I feel much better now.

Bob Axsom
 
Clecos do work that other American fasteners just won't do. You can't find them locally, but they sneek into our shops smuggled into shipping boxes and they are usually transported by plain Brown trucks. Think I'm kidding? Try finding paperwork to document any cleco.

Next thing you know they will want free health care. :rolleyes:
 
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...we simply must make an effort to save these...most humble friends....Why, just today I saved ten Clecos that would otherwise have been discarded...
Hail the mighty cleco! As an equal opportunity cleco saver, some of the little friends are covered with paint overspray, others gunked with sealer, even drilled through exposing the spring. Asking very little, not even oil, rarely do they ever fail me.

34eymmf.jpg
 
cleco abuse

there must be a 12 step program.....

yes, its true.........

I've abused my clecos......

Its not something I'm proud of and its a difficult thing to admit.....

maybe admitting I have a problem with help with my recovery:D

who knows, I may need them again someday.........

Dave
-9A finish kit
N514R reserved
 
Funny Bob

I think we we should all fabricate a cleco saver box in every RV shop where we can collect these handicapped servants and mail them to Paul for revival when each box is full.
Bob Axsom

... and Paul, love ya, you obvioulsy have the time on your hands! Ha!
 
Bob Axsom said:
<snip> I respect the essential job they do very highly but sometimes in the process building a plane some critical assemblies seem to required the sacrifice of a tool for the greater good of building perfection. Subsequent to sacrificial applications involving epoxy, RTV, etc. clecos that visually appear to be OK stick in the unclamp position after releasing them with the cleco pliers. I exercised them and eventually got many to work only to experience the problem again on the next assembly. After plodding through this experience many times I started throwing them away after the first stick and then the "will the cleco work" anxiety went away - life was better for me. <snip>
Bob Axsom

Gee, Bob, I never figured you for the "Love 'em and Leave 'em" type... :D


plehrke said:
Do not over work the top clecos. Give some of the bottom ones a chance to perform as well. You got to get he bottom ones to the top every once in a while or the only work they get is when you drilling several skins.

Phil,
Maybe you could rig up a suitable container on a spindle, kind of like a compost barrel. Every so often, you give the barrel a half-turn, and the clecos that were on the bottom are now on the top...
 
Cleco Aphorisms

There's already a thread of cleco aphorisms, but you've made me think of another to add. On the topic of this thread, though, I find that rust is not my biggest worry (and cured proseal does not seem to interfere with cleco operation at all. If anything, it just turns it into a cushioned cleco). Instead, it is the bent tab that causes me the most difficulty. If the prongs bend, they are usually easy to restore. But I find a small number of clecos have the tab warp just enough to make it difficult to insert them into a hole and they are notoriously hard to straighten again as they usually seem to warp along the thickest dimension.

On the other hand, when you have 1000 of them, tossing 1 or 5 does not seem to be a tragedy.
 
Personally, I disassemble each and every cleco on a monthly basis to clean and lubricate, exercise and then return to the box. And they're not only segregated by color and function, but neatly lined up in rows in special velvet-lined, walnut boxes that I made for them. The rows allow me to rotate them sequentially so that they all get used equally.

And if anyone believes that ... you've never been to my hangar! :D
 
Character of the Cleco

Why is it that when I think of the caricature of the Cleco, I think of the bullets from the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbt?

2456-21221.gif

3966-21221.gif

66864-21221.gif
 
My thanks to all !! ...

.... for making me LOL on a cold, windy, rainy, Permacloud day in the Midwest. I'm heading out to the garage now to disassemble and rebuild all my cleco buddies.
 
In honor of this important tool, our new dog, a jack russel/chihuahua mix, has been named Cleco.
The only problem is our non aviation friends just don't understand. Oh well, have to find new friends.
 
Cleco?

So an old worn out cleco goes into his doctor's office.

He says, "Hey doc, I just can't seem to keep my sheet together"! :eek:
 
As long as we're doing groaners:

A guy walks into the doctor's office with a cleco in his ear. When the doctor asked "What happened to you?" the cleco replied, "I'm not sure; it started out as a wart."
 
An observation on the cleco container

A friend of mine abondoned his RV-4 project about 15 years ago. All the pieces and tools spent the last 15 years sitting in a utility trailer parked in our dry Utah climate. Some of the clecos were sitting in an open-topped old coffee can, and the others in a leather pouch. The leather pouch was sitting in the bottom of a covered plastic toolbox.

All the clecos in the coffee can show significant rust, some so much as to not really be usable. All the clecos in leather pouch are just like new. I can't tell them from clecos I just purchased.

Perhaps the storage environment for clecos will have an effect on their long term health and happiness.

Another note ... The aluminum parts all look pretty good, even those that were not primed or painted.
 
Seriously??

Paul, Don't you have an airplane to finish or something??:p


My friends consider the plight of the poor cleco. It works and slaves for you day after day, month after month, year after year. Despite the abuse of being thrown in a dark bucket with others of its kind, despite the abuse of being sprayed with primer, despite the abuse of being stuck in pro-seal - it toils away to do its master?s bidding. It lives a hard and difficult life, asking only that it be used again and again ? yet when it happens to tire and slip just a bit, what happens? It is thrown into a dark corner of the workshop to roll under a bench or chest. It lives in the darkness, surrounded by spiders, dirt, and aluminum shavings. Abandoned by its master, it dwells in the eternal shadow world between life and death ? a tool purgatory, forgotten by all?..

I say, gentlemen that we can do better by these hardy servants! I say that we can take the time to rehabilitate our sorry Clecos! Those that have given so much of themselves, those that have toiled and held through thick and thin! Those few, those poor wounded Clecos ? they can be SAVED!!!

A drop of oil can go a very long way towards saving the life of a cleco ? just a drop, a little mist, a tiny spritz down its throat can free a corroded mechanism. A little exercise can knock of that hardened epoxy. Even the dreaded pro-seal can be cut free with a razor blade so that the cleco can go back to a life of useful work!

We can no longer ignore the squalor in which the aged and infirm Clecos live I tell you ? we simply must make an effort to save these, our most humble (yet essential and maybe even noblest) little friends! Why, just today I saved ten Clecos that would otherwise have been discarded ? ten of our little helpers that will see yet another bulkhead through fabrication, another longeron held in place. All it took was a little TLC and a few moments of time?

Save the Clecos I say ? save them all so they may clamp again, and help to build another day?..

Paul
 
Paul, Paul, Paul. Next thing you'll probably turn animal rights activist and ask us to stop shooting skeet. Enough aready!

Bob
 
Personally, I think Paul kicked off work and got an early start of 5 o'clock :D

I wish someone could invent a cleco for woodworking! Until such time, my clecos sit in a bag in a cabinet on the far side of the shop. Vacationing but not forgotten.
 
Light Fantasy Writer?

Paul,

I really enjoy reading your posts and this one really made me laugh because I like when authors shift reality just a little bit to create their story.

These authors are usually classified in the Light Fantasy genre and my favorite are English writers Jasper Fforde or Terry Pratchett.

If you don't know them, find one of their books - any one - and enjoy. I don't know what these guys drink, eat or smoke but I'm sure my Lycoming would run on it.:D
 
What about lazy clecos? You know the kind. You buy them brand new and they decide not to spring back even with a few drops of oil. Bad cleco.
 
Yes!

I have one with a #30 hole drilled in the side :D Should I put the oil in there? Poor little cleco...


I think we should drill a hole in the side of all clecos and stamp "Oil" above the hole.

I have found that a teflon spray lube works best for my clecos.
 
LOL!

What kind of a crowd comes up with this stuff????

If you got a kick out of this tread like I did, Go directly to Pay Pal and forward 25.00 to dr!
 
Wax'em too?

Gee Paul I just wash and lube them with an occasional day out in the sun. You wax them too?
 
Cleco workout

In the mid 80's the economy was in a bit of a slump so I decided to leave aircraft maintenance and landed a job with the city as a firefighter. The shift work allowed plenty of time to do other things and having the aircraft background and a bunch of tools I ordered my first RV6 kit. I had started a Mustang Two but a friend with a 4 kit convinced me the new 6 was the way to go. These early kits had no predrilling and were very labour intensive and clecoe's went in and out by the thousand's.I finished the 6 in 92 sold it and ordered another.I was heavy into the second kit (12 month build) when the local university approached the FD about getting some guys to do some phisical fitness testing for a group of students doing a study. I was just over 40 at the time but went along, I had kept in decent shape as part of the job but didn't go at it like many of the guy's. I completed the tests and was probably in the average catagory in most of it except for one. I had never done a grip test before but what they had was sort of like picking up a suitcase with one hand then the other, when you grasped the handle you squeezed as hard as you could and it registered on a scale. I did one hand and noticed a funny look come over the young student's face then similar with the other hand. I remember the readings were about 85 on the left and a bit higher on the rt. I asked the student how I had done and still with a questioning look on his face he said I had gotten 100% on that one, apparently the best he had seen prior was around 60.
If your working steady a your RV and clecoing every day be carefull with those handshakes, don't want to hurt anyone.
Jerry
 
Ah yes the handy little cleco is a workhorse and mild mannered but be wary of its cousin the side grip cleco clamp. Is there any builder who has not been bit by one of these?
 
Old Cleco home...

This is kinda sweet. It sounds like Paul is getting ready to setup a retirement home for Clecos. We can send all our old clecos there to be taken care of. It is:

"The place where clecos go to Dye."

Dkb
 
Personally, I disassemble each and every cleco on a monthly basis to clean and lubricate, exercise and then return to the box. And they're not only segregated by color and function, but neatly lined up in rows in special velvet-lined, walnut boxes that I made for them. The rows allow me to rotate them sequentially so that they all get used equally.

And if anyone believes that ... you've never been to my hangar! :D

Yea, I'm calling "bull****" on that one! Tho, the clecos would be happy for the attention. Yea, way way BS. ;-)

(I should add, before submitting anything to VAF, I should check the log. I had the gall to post "anybody lube their clecos?" ... hmm, quite a thread already alive.)
 
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In honor of this important tool, our new dog, a jack russel/chihuahua mix, has been named Cleco.
The only problem is our non aviation friends just don't understand. Oh well, have to find new friends.

I'lll be your friend, and our yellow lab won't have any issues with the name. As long as he/she smells good....
 
I used to theorize that wire coat hangers reproduced in the darkness of the closet. But where does the extra mass come from?

I now theorize that, at night, clecos sublimate to vapor and re-condense in the closet as wire hangers. That would explain a lot.

I wonder if I could get a government grant to prove this theory?
 
My friends consider the plight of the poor cleco. It works and slaves for you day after day, month after month, year after year. Despite the abuse of being thrown in a dark bucket with others of its kind, despite the abuse of being sprayed with primer, despite the abuse of being stuck in pro-seal - it toils away to do its master?s bidding. It lives a hard and difficult life, asking only that it be used again and again ? yet when it happens to tire and slip just a bit, what happens? It is thrown into a dark corner of the workshop to roll under a bench or chest. It lives in the darkness, surrounded by spiders, dirt, and aluminum shavings. Abandoned by its master, it dwells in the eternal shadow world between life and death ? a tool purgatory, forgotten by all?..

I say, gentlemen that we can do better by these hardy servants! I say that we can take the time to rehabilitate our sorry Clecos! Those that have given so much of themselves, those that have toiled and held through thick and thin! Those few, those poor wounded Clecos ? they can be SAVED!!!

A drop of oil can go a very long way towards saving the life of a cleco ? just a drop, a little mist, a tiny spritz down its throat can free a corroded mechanism. A little exercise can knock of that hardened epoxy. Even the dreaded pro-seal can be cut free with a razor blade so that the cleco can go back to a life of useful work!

We can no longer ignore the squalor in which the aged and infirm Clecos live I tell you ? we simply must make an effort to save these, our most humble (yet essential and maybe even noblest) little friends! Why, just today I saved ten Clecos that would otherwise have been discarded ? ten of our little helpers that will see yet another bulkhead through fabrication, another longeron held in place. All it took was a little TLC and a few moments of time?

Save the Clecos I say ? save them all so they may clamp again, and help to build another day?..

Paul

It says a lot about Pauls writing ability, that I actually started to get sad there for a minute for all my clecos!

Now, back in the bucket....
 
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