I have almost completed my RV6 with a 4" vise, an un-American "hand powered" hack saw and a single Scotchbrite disk mounted in a cheap Craftsman drill press. I wouldn't do without the drill press, and although there isn?t a ragged edge anywhere on my plane I have only dressed the Scotchbrite disk once! Avery's hand squeezer with various yokes was expensive but a God send. Pop rivet dimplers and a nut plate drill jig were too. I threw away my air drill ? noisy, difficult to control, pain in the bahooky hose dragging, and wasteful of compressed air - and have succeeded this far with a trusty 14V DeWalt. Avery's small right angle attachment has been a big help, as has the offset "pancake" attachment for reaching those awkward spots that a long aviation drill won't flex into. A small electric screw driver with a deburring bit has smoothed the edges of a bazillion holes and so far I have avoided carpal tunnel syndrome. I gave up on the swivel flush set - couldn't get flush rivet heads - but I now know that I should have trimmed the edge of the rubber! The edge roller was more trouble than it was worth too and all of my edges are tight without it. Cheap dial calipers, a decent 12" steel rule and a spring loaded center punch are indispensable. You can never have too many clamps, spring or ?C? type ? cheap ones will do. Get few decent files - and a file card to clean them. Use cobalt aircraft drills for aluminum ? they?ll last for ever. And don?t try and make big holes in thin sheet with a twist drill ? they?ll be lobed like a Wankel rotor, God knows why! Use a stepped hole-cutter - but beware, they wander. The drill press and clamps help here. Invest in Sharpie, Scotchbrite and Duct Tape ?futures?. I used a high-speed Rotozip with a right angled head and a metal cutting disk to trim the canopy. It worked great. I threw away the Avery canopy deburring tool and used sandpaper instead. Do use the proper drill bits though. I know you asked about band saws but the rest of the ramble could be useful too.
Jim Sharkey
RV6 Tip-Up
Final 10%