H

HeliCooper

Well Known Member
I just received my RV14 empennage kit and completed the inventory/organization. I am wondering what I should do with the misc hardware bags. Is there a location where it tells you specifically what is in the bag? Do you separate all of the misc pieces or keep them in their specific bags? Just looking for a little guidance.

Thanks,

Jim
 
They do not tell you to go to bag #725 at get two thin washers. The plans say use two AN960-10L washers. Now you have to go find them. :) It is best if you've already taken them out and put them in something to organize them. You should have a bag inventory that lists the contents of each bag.

I inventory the contents of every bag...even the ones that say "Misc Washers" and have 150 washers that all seem different. It gives you the opportunity to get to know washer nomenclature. You'll be surprised how many of those bags contain the same things.

Exceptions I make are for things that I consider "specialty"...rod end bearings, fuel line parts. I generally leave them in the bag and write on the outside of the bag what its in it. If I take something out to use it I decrement the count, or scratch it out completely.

Find a system that works for you, but get those brown baggies broken out.
 
Very good guidance. I made the mistake of leaving it all in the bags, and digging thru them time after time. When I finally took them all out and put them away in an orderly fashion, my project rocketed forward!
 
I put my bags numerical order in cardboard trays that cases of soda come in. I then used the inventory sheets to locate whatever bag held the item I was looking for. Simple, cheap, and worked just fine.
 
organize

I used those bins with all the little drawers. I bought four from Harbor Fright and they are full. Having so many allowed me to separate every nut, bolt, washer. I got lucky and a friend came over on inventory day. Wonder why he hasn't been back?:D

I also used small drinking water bottles for the rivets.
Other containers I've found work great are Truvia sweetener containers and Ovaltine containers. Both have labels that come off easily. Truvia container has a screw top with a snap lid.
I also use pill bottles for smaller quantities of rivets.
Finally, I bought small baskets and separated 426, 470 and pop rivet containers.
It takes forever to organize but really cuts build time down.
 
DonFromTX said:
Very good guidance. I made the mistake of leaving it all in the bags, and digging thru them time after time. When I finally took them all out and put them away in an orderly fashion, my project rocketed forward!
Click to expand...

Same here. For the empennage kit, I just left all the hardware in the bags, and when I needed something, I'd either rustle through the bags or check the inventory sheets, then go looking for the applicable pieces. This got more tedious as time went on, especially when there were bags with very similar items.

When the wing kit came, I put all the rivets, nuts, bolts, and washers in little organizer bins. I put a lot of time into that job - around three hours - but I'm sure I'll save all that time again not digging for pieces I need.

Some of the larger/more unique items I left in the paper bags, wrote the items on the bags, and put in a little drawer unit.

IMG_2893.jpg

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I just spread the bags out on a bottom shelf of a table. When I need something out of a bag, I get the paper that lists what is in each bag to identify the bag number, and then grab the bag. Its not fancy, but its so easy. There are many more elegant solutions. I would probably create more confusion for myself if I were to take everything out of their bags.
 
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I do as Auburnsts. I place the bags in large plastic trays in numerical order, and have the packing list with them. I look up the part on the packing list I need and the packing list tells me what bag to look in.
Sometimes parts look almost identical and if you remove them from the bags and sort them out , you don't notice the small differences. If the parts or hardware is still in it's original bag I find it easier to figure out. Just my opinion after building one RV-10 and a set of RV-14 wings, plus a few other AC.
 
I put the parts in those little bins, and used a label-maker to put the part number on the bin. It was easy to sort them and do that, and now when I need something, it's readily at hand.

The rivets went into empty clear plastic water bottles. I use a funnel for that. They are labeled, too. The advantages are that if you drop a bottle or tip it over, not many escape. I use a small frozen-food tray to put the rivets I'm actually using in, as that's handy when I need them.

I'm very satisfied with all this.

Dave
RV-3B now on the tanks
 
I tried other ways, but finally began using Plano 3700 series boxes. I made a plywood rack for 16 of them and put all the small parts in there. If you use these put a dap of hot glue on each divider or when you try to get the tiny part from the bottom you won't pull out the divider.

http://www.amazon.com/Plano-2-3700-Prolatch-Stowaway-four/dp/B007N5ZULO

I can take out rivets, screws, bolts pull rivets etc and get what I need and carry it. The tops have a tight clearance with the dividers and small parts don't migrate. The drawer bins are ok, but for me I liked the latches.

This has been a system that has grown with the project. It is really good when making those off plan things. I bought extra nut plates, screws, and a full range of NAS rivets. On a side note, I use the NAS rivets for all nut plates, and 8-9 rounds with the deburring tool is perfect for the countersink. I learned that from Bob Axsom.

YMMV
 
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I created a searchable word document from a file provided to me by Vans. When I needed a part I just did a search and up popped the bag number. I did empty and sort all the standard hardware and put them in HF compartment containers.
 
I just got done empting each bag into its own ben. My wife helped me and we bought a label maker for 35 bucks and it all looks great. I have the fuselage and the tail section so I had the big book with its inventory sheet and then the tail section with its inventory sheet and for the past month I have been going from the planes to the bag and back and forth just to find one item. I literally spent hours every day looking through bags. And like one of the threads said is there are a lot of bags with the same parts and now I have the finish kit to inventory so that would make three sets of inventory sheets to go through. By the bens and spend the day organizing.
You won't regret it. Dewalt has a awesome drew set for 38 bucks. Buy it.
 
We build our aircraft by "MS and AN" part numbers. Scouring through countless paper and or plastic bags with the enclosed part numbers
listed is very time consuming. Individual parts bins for each part work well and are easy to find if you apply a search system.
 
What he said

stamper said:
I just got done empting each bag into its own ben. My wife helped me and we bought a label maker for 35 bucks and it all looks great. I have the fuselage and the tail section so I had the big book with its inventory sheet and then the tail section with its inventory sheet and for the past month I have been going from the planes to the bag and back and forth just to find one item. I literally spent hours every day looking through bags. And like one of the threads said is there are a lot of bags with the same parts and now I have the finish kit to inventory so that would make three sets of inventory sheets to go through. By the bens and spend the day organizing.
You won't regret it. Dewalt has a awesome drew set for 38 bucks. Buy it.
Click to expand...

Plastic parts bins and a label maker?best tool purchase I've made yet. It's amazing how this streamlines the work flow. Don't fail to do it.

IMG_0483.jpg
 
See-through bags

I also got tired searching through the bag lists and eventually decided to de-bag most things.

I did keep unique items in bags but I transferred the entire contents of each paper bag into a small freezer bag - the type with a white panel where I could write the bag number. That way, I can see what's inside the bag and find items visually instead of by number.

I have recently stapled all the remaining bags to a section of wall (my workshop is lined with ply) instead of keeping them in the under-bed plastic storage boxes that lived on the floor under my workbenches.
 
Challenge

I must have wanted a challenge so I designated the garage floor as the staging area for any hardware that gravity might be more attracted to than my fingers!
 
Vote for plastic bins

There are so many common parts in different bags it works out best to seperate them by the item. I used 4 different bin cabinets, of course no two were alike as I bought them as needed. The real issue is why are all 4 cabinets still filled with parts even though I made my first flight 4 1/2 years ago:rolleyes:. I have been flying for 550 hrs and occasionally as I float along at 7500 feet over the puffy white clouds my thoughts turn to "WHAT DID I FORGET?":eek:
 
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