Geico266

Geico266

Well Known Member
I have most of the suggested tools ready, I have an Avery tool kit. I ordered a pneumatic cleco gun. I have a belt / disc sander, two 3M wheels mounted to old grinders, two air lines to the work area, two EAA 1000 work benches, 2 folding tables. I have all the files & finishing tools.

I'm waiting for "Black Friday" to buy my drill press & band saw.

What else do I need?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.....unless they involve jumping off a bridge. ;)
 
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Getting the Shop Ready

From the photo's of shops seen on the web it is compulsory to have a motorbike. I had to get rid of one but still have the little one in the corner.

Jim D
 
tools ...

You might consider an assortment of clamps ... hand squeeze and the longer ones that slide on a skinny rail, they are 100% necessary ... usually on sale at Harbor Freight. Also a spring loaded punch, scratch awl, scotch brite wheels (1" and large one for bench grinder) from Averys, a B & D power screw driver to debur holes and a Dremel to attach that 1" scotch brite wheel. (I have not used my belt sander yet.)

Have fun & good luck.

Jerry
 
Shop Prep

Larry, we thought about a cleco gun, but at the rate that you'll be pulling cleco's, I don't think it's really a necessary tool, and I took my drill press back to Harbor Freight. We use the belt/disk sander for deburring, and I've used the Dremel a good bit.
Good Luck.
Meade and George
#16:)
 
Jamesey said:
From the photo's of shops seen on the web it is compulsory to have a motorbike. I had to get rid of one but still have the little one in the corner.

Jim D
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Kewl! I'll start looking for a Harley to set in the corner! Not sure why I need it, but you are right, it will look cool in the pics!

JerryG150 said:
You might consider an assortment of clamps ... hand squeeze and the longer ones that slide on a skinny rail, they are 100% necessary ... usually on sale at Harbor Freight. Also a spring loaded punch, scratch awl, scotch brite wheels (1" and large one for bench grinder) from Averys, a B & D power screw driver to debur holes and a Dremel to attach that 1" scotch brite wheel. (I have not used my belt sander yet.)

Have fun & good luck.

Jerry
Click to expand...

Thanks Jerry. Will do on the clamps & deburring stuff. I have 3 DeWalt drill drivers. That should do it?

meadeduck said:
Larry, we thought about a cleco gun, but at the rate that you'll be pulling cleco's, I don't think it's really a necessary tool, and I took my drill press back to Harbor Freight. We use the belt/disk sander for deburring, and I've used the Dremel a good bit.
Good Luck.
Meade and George
#16:)
Click to expand...

Really? No need for a drill press? I thought I would at least mount a Scotch brite wheel to it. I thought I saw some pics where a drill press is being used on the -12 parts. :confused:
 
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Tools - my 2 cents worth

I am nearing finished with the FUSE kit. I use a drill press a bunch, even thou I have several hand drills. Much better holes in brackets you have to make etc. I have found a 3/8" air drill has been VERY valuable. Can't believe how many holes you have to drill in the fuse kit. Just much faster. If I were to do it over, I might buy another squeeze tool or three to keep from changing all the dies. I now know what James Cone has several. One day, I believe I changed dies at least 20 times. I use a Scotchbrite wheel in an air die grinder a lot. Fairly fast and gets into places pretty well.

John Bender
Iowa
 
JBPILOT said:
I am nearing finished with the FUSE kit. I use a drill press a bunch, even thou I have several hand drills. Much better holes in brackets you have to make etc. I have found a 3/8" air drill has been VERY valuable. Can't believe how many holes you have to drill in the fuse kit. Just much faster. If I were to do it over, I might buy another squeeze tool or three to keep from changing all the dies. I now know what James Cone has several. One day, I believe I changed dies at least 20 times. I use a Scotchbrite wheel in an air die grinder a lot. Fairly fast and gets into places pretty well.

John Bender
Iowa
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Any size squeezer yoke you can recommend?
 
Suqeezer(s)

The 3" you get with the Avery kit is fine. It is just all the changing, then changing back etc. The remaining kits may not need as many squeeze rivets, just don't know yet. When you get to the fuse kit, you will understand. Not a major deal, but it would be nice to have them.

John Bender
Iowa
 
Larry et al
Request for RV-12 tool update some months on from the start of this excellent thread.
Given your experience so far, can you or any other RV-12 builders give an update on tools needed, desirable, or found to be not needed?
I am considering an Avery kit but want to pick brains of those who have gone beforte as to what should add to Avery kit?
Any consumables that I should order upfront (I saw the recent thread on scotchbrite wheels)?
I am far far away from US and expensive to freight after thought tools.
John
 
rjtjrt said:
Larry et al
Request for RV-12 tool update some months on from the start of this excellent thread.
Given your experience so far, can you or any other RV-12 builders give an update on tools needed, desirable, or found to be not needed?
I am considering an Avery kit but want to pick brains of those who have gone beforte as to what should add to Avery kit?
Any consumables that I should order upfront (I saw the recent thread on scotchbrite wheels)?
I am far far away from US and expensive to freight after thought tools.
John
Click to expand...

John... I keep reordering one and two inch scotch brite wheels so consider buying a bunch up front. You will need to make an aligning tool from a wood awl. Other useful stuff includes a band saw, drill press clamp, a set of rivet gauges, set of drill stops, a full set of punches, electronic micrometer, modified spring powered center punch to remove rivets, a sheet metal nibbler, #8 and #4 screw machine 100 degree countersink cutters, number drills #19 and #31 and an edge roller.

You are going to have a lot of fun placing the three AN470 4-6 rivets into the flaperon!!!! How you solve this puzzle depends on your budget and ability to contort tools. At a minimum I think you will need a bucking bar, a large punch and a very big hammer :) Alternatively, consider borrowing a 3X rivet gun and an AN470 rivet set or modifying a set of squeeze dies to clear the bar angle. If you use a rivet gun and bucking bar, practice practice practice. Don't lift off the gun until it stops running or you will be drilling out rivets. I ended up using a rivet gun to start, a squeezer to do some work, and a hammer to meet specs.

Have fun. You CAN do it.
Jeff

Edit: Oh, I forgot that I bought a hand die grinder which I use a LOT to de-bur edges with the one and two inch SB wheels.
 
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Don't need no stinking bandsaw...

554868771_pdT46-M.jpg

Thirty minutes work with a hacksaw did the flaperon pivot brackets. If you get a cheap bandsaw for the project it probably won't work as well as the hacksaw. If you get a pricey one, that's OK, provided you are planning to build the -8 next.

"my 2 cents worth"
Tony
 
Drill Press - YES

Some tasks are much better done with the drill press. Case in point -- drilling the flaperon stainless steel counterweight. Trying to hand match drill the SS thru the skin holes is likely to ruin the skin as the drill will try to go off center. To do this right you need a setup like this.
554868583_XJ7AD-M.jpg

The holes are marked and centerpunched thru the skin holes. Then everything unclecoed and the holes drilled #40 in the drill press, then cleco it all back together and match drill the holes #30 by hand. Perfect.
My drill press is a 12" bench top Ryobi model from Home Depot. About $160 when I bought it a couple years ago.
The V-Block is available from Aircraft Tool Supply. Highly recommended for a drill press as well as a drill press vise.
554868639_XFm9p-M-2.jpg


You can also run the 6 inch SB wheel in the drill press and you wouldn't then need a bench grinder.

Tony
 
Extra tools

Besides the Averytools kit I bought;
* SB cutting and polishing wheel
* 60 ft roll of SB
* 1" and 2" SB wheel (I use them in the drill press, easy to debur the nags in the ribs)
* Boelube
* 8" Vixen file (for draw filing the shear marks)
* Shop head rivet gauges / 4 pc
* Rivet length gauge (not really necessary, but just to make sure you are using the right rivet)
* edge rolling tool (Avery & Cleaveland)
* drill stop set / 4 pc
* #41 & #33 cobalt drill (to drill out rivets)
* Punches to punch out the rivets
* extra micro step countersink tool
 
Besides the tools & supplies mentioned, the power tools I use the most are the bench band saw, 1" belt sanding, 6" scotch bright wheel on one side of the grinder and a 6" fine wire wheel on the other. I mounted them on a bench so I can save space.

bench_tools.JPG


The most used hand tools are the Avery "close" pop riveter, hand deburr tools, can opener for beer. ;)
 
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I found after fooling around with a drill press and fancy adjustable drill press vice, that it is easier and faster to just use my trusty battery operated drill, a sharp drill bit and cutting oil. After marking your hole locations by match drilling a small divit with a #40, you place the counterweight in a vice, add a drop of oil and drill. Use a fair amount of pressure and a slow drill speed. If you see smoke, your drill speed is too fast, pressure is too high or you need another drop of oil. I found this to be the best method after I destroyed a drill bit (actually melted it) and had to replace the $45.00 counterweight as the hole had been welded shut by the melted drill bit leaving me with an extremely hard unknown alloy. It happened so quick I could not stop it. Part of the cause was the excessive speed of the drill press.
You may find the drill bit is dull after performing this task, so check it before you use it again.
 
Yup... I matched drilled the flaperon counterweight, but with the counterweight attached to the spar, using a spring punch to create a divot, a #40 drill to center the drill and final drilled #30. I used the standard technique: hand twist and set, burst and set and then drill and remove while drilling technique with an air drill at 80 psi.

Jeff
 
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