Tools

I'm going to keep this simple to start with. Basically, we're building the RV-9 with the Avery RV tool kit and we're pleased with the tools. I owned a 3x ACS rivet gun with a variety of sets and bucking bars and so I didn't get the Avery offerings for these items. I did add a back rivet set since I didn't have one. I also upgraded to the Souix air drill and I love it. You don't need it but once you feel it, odds are you'll want it. It exudes quality.

Avery was great to deal with. I bought the Avery kit at Airventure in 2002 and they were offering a discount on the kit. I expected when I started substituting and deleting tools the discount would go away. It didn't. The gentlemen that sold me the tools took his time to answer all my questions over 3 days (20-30 minutes each day). I had the tools shipped home and when they arrived there were a couple of tools missing, which they sent no questions asked. I wish everyone was this easy to deal with.

Besides having a fairly well equipped wood and metal shop before starting to build, I did add an air compressor that I picked up inexpensively. It's well used but for $50 I have no complaints. It is an older Sears unit made by Vandeblis (spelling?) and appears to be a 5 or 6 hp unit with about a 25 gallon tank. It is not an oiless compressor but it is still plenty noisy. I did have to wire a circuit for 230v service but that took less than an hour and cost a bit less than the compressor.

Only one other tool is worth mentioning and that's a piece of software. Paul Besing is selling Kitlog Pro to track time, money, and progress on your building project. This is a well designed piece of software that is well worth the 39.95 asking price. I'd heard good things but my plan was to keep a paper journal of construction progress. After trying the demo version I changed my mind. It is very easy to use and intuitive. I've used it to keep the builders log on this site up to date. It's easy to cut and paste entries for Kitlog Pro to the web page.

As a final note, I'm not related to any of these companies and get no financial compensation from them (i.e., I paid full value for their tools). Hence, these are my unvarnished opinions. I offer them as one item of consideration as you decide what you need to build your airplane. Your mileage may vary.

Don

6/22/03 Update.

My $50 compressor 'died' at the very end of the empannage stage of building. I replaced it with a 5HP, 26 gallon upright Husky oil-type. It's a vast improvement over the old one. It is much quieter and it runs a lot less frequently. I've seen recommendations to go with larger units (for $30 more I could have had the 7 HP 60 gallon commercial unit). If you have room for the big compressor and a Tool-time Tim mentality, go for it. I was a complete beginner when I bought the smaller used unit and knowing what I do now, I'd say the 5HP 26 gallon unit is perfect. Goldilocks was by the other day and she agreed commenting, "It's not too big and it's not too small. It's just right for building an RV."

The countersink tool that Avery sells (and everyone else it seems) with their kit is pretty marginal. It works but I'd classify it light duty. If you use it much it will over-heat. After 7 or 8 uses mine would get so hot I couldn't touch it. RV builders need a more substantial tool than this one. I found a couple of nice used ones on e-Bay and set one up with the #30 100 degree countersink and the other with the #40. These units seem to go for about $10 ea. on e-Bay and come up for auction regularly. They're worth it. I did 62 countersinks with the #30 on the wing spar and the unit was still cool (not even warm) to the touch. They're solid feeling, too. About the only down side is you'll need a 3/8" air drill, the Souix that I bought only takes up to 1/4" bits. Harbor Freight had a reasonable drill for $20 (on sale - reg $34). It isn't near the quality of the Souix.

I found a few parts missing from my Avery kit and needed to replace them. I suspect they are parts that I'd called about being missing a year ago when I bought my kit. Apparently I never followed up with them after the initial call. At $34 per piece for several missing dimple dies and a Unibit, I'm kicking myself (not Avery). It was my responsibility to keep after them a little better. Anyway, I bought the replacement parts and a few other items from Cleaveland. I'm happy to say they are good people to deal with, too. The quality of the parts are comparable, I think. Avery dies are finished with a nice burnish and Cleaveland's appear to be chrome plated. Both are well done. My preference leans toward Avery...but either are fine.

10/11/03 Update

Clecos, clecos, and clecos. I've bought more than 450 more #40 (silver) clecos and I wish I had another 400. My best guess is 1,200 clecos could easily be used if you build both wings together. We're building both wings together but I'm a tight SOB and figure I can get by with about 800 clecos fairly easily by using all I want to on one wing and a just enough on the second wing to hold everything in place. As we finish drilling we moved clecos from one wing to the other so the second wing had plenty of clecos when I started drilling it. When we're done riveting the #2 wing we willl move them back to the #1 wing and rivet it. So far the plan is working. I still can't figure out why most of the time clecos are 0.40 each and some places want almost twice that. Moreover it astounds me that I''ve never seen them go for a good price on e-Bay. There isn't much to a cleco and they're mass produced for heaven's sake. For the price of 1,200 "cheap" clecos you can buy a complete computer from Dell. Have you ever looked at all of the complex delicate parts in computer? There's nothing complex or delicate or even hard to make in a cleco. So what makes them so expensive? All I can figure is they know all of the rich SOB's building airplanes will pay at least 3 times what a cleco is worth. After buying all of these clecos I'm not rich any more - I'm just a poor SOB these days.