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Echo Tango

Well Known Member
What was the one tool that you bought during your build (or build in progress) that really made you say WOW! This thing is great! Not necessarily your most-used tool or most expensive tool, but the one tool that you really admired for doing its intended job so well.

I'm still working on my HS so I don't have much experience to speak of, but I've been really impressed with my air drill.

CP7300 Reversible, Keyless Chuck by Chicago Pneumatics
powerful, light, easy on the wallet, and the trigger is butter. Bit changing takes 3 or 4 seconds. Love it :D
Think I paid around $130 for it.

Chicago-Pneumatic-CP7300RQC-lg.jpg
 
It just might be this sorting tray from Harbor Freight. I have several and use them to store the bits and pieces of separate small tasks going on simultaneously.
 
without a doubt ...

....my Cleaveland tool rivet squeezer ... the "Main Squeeze". Incredibly well designed and works flawlessly. And you use a rivet squeezer throughout the duration of the build, be it riveting, dimpling, or other. (...like flattening out dimples you did the wrong way :eek:)
 
Rupester said:
....my Cleaveland tool rivet squeezer ... the "Main Squeeze". Incredibly well designed and works flawlessly. And you use a rivet squeezer throughout the duration of the build, be it riveting, dimpling, or other. (...like flattening out dimples you did the wrong way :eek:)
Click to expand...

im still considering buying one of these. i just purchased my hand squeezer and dimple die set so i imagine it will take me a while to get "frustrated" with it enough to pull the trigger on something bigger and badder :D
 
wow

Most tools did the job expected of them, drills, die cutters, squeezers, etc. One that really amazed me was the cheap belt sander from HF. Just could not believe how easy it was to shape aluminum parts. Could not get by without it.
 
One of my favorites

Die Grinder! I find more uses for this thing; cutting, shaping, edge finishing, etc. The quickest way to deburr an edge is with the 1" Skotch Brite wheel. Makes deburring the inside of a hole very fast and even fun.
 
Definitely the pneumatic rivet squeezer! Don't get to use it too much on an RV12, but I hate the hammering sound of pounding a rivet, and the big ones squeeze too hard for me wth the hand squeezer. Always find it amazing to watch it squeeze a rivet so effortlessly.
 
My Sioux air drill.
rivet squeezer from avery. The build is done, but I have the dies for rivetting brake pads. Great tool for this job.
 
Favorite tools...

Hands down has to be my bottle opener and can crusher...however they reduce productivity, quality and refrigerator space. I do use them almost every build session...only during cleanup though...and they survived a full 16 years of build, 3 shop moves and I havent had to do any maintenance on them !
 
Something I would never have expected.

2 decades ago, I bought (mail order) the super cheap Harbor Freight table top 3 wheel band saw, & a combination 1" belt sander/8" disk sander. The band saw was a total piece of junk, so I basically ignored the sander, expecting the same quality.

As I got into the build on my -7, I was struggling a bit with shaping & edge dressing of small aluminum parts. The Scotchbrite wheel works, but I found a lot of situations (inside curves, etc) where it was an ineffective or cumbersome solution.

For some reason, I dragged out that old 1" belt sander. Looks kinda like this
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200406679_200406679
but sold for about $50.00 (HF no longer sells the belt drive model, but they have a direct drive that might do the same job).

I took off the table, guides, most of the guards, etc. It became the 3rd most used tool in the shop, after drills & dimplers. With a 100 grit belt, you can shape small parts, or edge/deburr almost anything, even the notches in wing rib flanges.

At $50, it's been the most bang-for-the-buck tool I've ever used around the -7.

Charlie
 
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