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Newbie... Question about tool kits

PatMac

Active Member
Hello. Received my customer number today for a -14A... It's surreal... and finally coming together...Excited and nervous.

Question about took kits. Have looked at many kits provided by the several vendors Vans reco's. Best to get a full kit and compliment along the way or build it in pieces as you go.
Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to VAF

Hello. Received my customer number today for a -14A... It's surreal... and finally coming together...Excited and nervous.

Pat, welcome aboard the good ship VAF-----and congrats on getting the kit ordered:D
 
There's a modest discount for ordering the whole kit at once and you only have to pay shipping once and won't have to pause your build for a missing tool. If you're pretty confident you are committed to the build, you might as well order at all at once. Even if you eventually decide to sell an incomplete project, you can sell your tools for a reasonable fraction of what you paid for them.

I built an RV7A, which is a slightly different tool set. I bought the recommended tools at the start, and then added many more over the course of the build. I came to particularly appreciate the tools I bought through Cleveland Tools and they are now my first choice supplier for important tools that I will use regularly. Many other vendors have a versions of tools from acceptable to excellent, and when I'm not experienced with the tool, I have trouble judging which version to buy.

An electric drill, electric screwdriver, clamps, file set, die grinder, angle grinder, drill press, and grinding wheel were key medium-ticket items not in my baseline kit. I went to a nearby readily available shop for the bandsaw, circular saw, lathe, and mill. I also was glad to get a full set of letter and number size bits and a set of quality screwdriver bits (including ACR and 6-point) for the electric screwdriver. Over time, you'll find you want an assortment of AN hardware to replace things you strip or misplace.

David
 
An electric drill, electric screwdriver, clamps, file set, die grinder, angle grinder, drill press, and grinding wheel were key medium-ticket items not in my baseline kit. I went to a nearby readily available shop for the bandsaw, circular saw, lathe, and mill.
David

Wait, are you saying I can tell my wife that I need a lathe and mill to build an RV? Fantastic! :D
 
Wait, are you saying I can tell my wife that I need a lathe and mill to build an RV? Fantastic! :D

Well, you don't NEED a lathe and mill, but they sure come in handy! I bought my small mill during the build specifically to make a custom firewall mounted fuel filter bracket, but I continued to use it throughout the rest of the build. You can't use tools you don't have ;)

I have bought tools from Cleaveland, Brown, ATS and US Tool, pretty satisfied with all of them. The tool you will use most often is a rivet gun. I bought a 2X Atlas Copco gun which frustrated me because although it was rated up to 1/8 (or 5/32?) rivets, it really didn't have enough power to drive them easily. Demoed a 3X Atlas Copco gun and "had" to buy it, it worked so much better. Also bought a tungsten bucking bar part way through the build and since then the standard cast iron bars have been gathering dust.

Apart from the counterbalanced piston, the Atlas Copco guns are nice in that the trigger can be turned to set the pressure, so no need to go to the main air regulator every time you change rivet size/length.

If possible, try to demo some rivet guns to find one you like. I recommend a 3X gun.
 
Nah, you won't need a lathe or mill to build an RV. Just didn't want to mislead a newbie.

I'm building an RV-3B. This is a project that was not developed to be as mature a kit as the newer ones. And on top of that, I have made a few modifications. With all of that, the one time I needed to ask a lathe-owning friend for help was with a part that the kit did not include. I also needed some small milling work on mods that were basically, my choice. The cost to have that done commercially was far less than even a cheap mill.

With an RV-14A, you will not need either of those. The kit is far more highly-developed than the RV-3B kit.

Dave
 
Nah, you won't need a lathe or mill to build an RV.

Take it back Dave! I am looking for someone to enable me, not talk rationally! I've been looking for an excuse to buy a lathe and mill for years. Kind of like when my wife asked why I needed a welder - how else am I supposed to build a welding cart if I don't have a welder?
 
Thanks for the great info. Talked w/ a few guys here in the EAA and they offered to help w/ tools too. Appreciate the replies. Btw, I am ordering a lathe anyway... It's cheaper than a divorce and my wife's To Do list is growing in direct scale to my time spent on my new -14 project. ;)
 
Have you looked at Isham's tool kits at planetools.com. I bought my tool kit there when I built my RV7, 10 years ago. The kit is very complete and ideal for getting started with your build. Isham is a stand up guy and recently overhauled my air drill that I bought over 10 years ago, guess I wore it out building my -10.
pretty sure he didn't charge me either..

my .02,
 
I don’t think you can go wrong with either Cleveland or Plane Tools. Great service and if you have an issue they stand behind their tools.

Keith
 
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