Tool Time

Over the course of equipping ourselves to work on this project, we made a tremendous number of tool purchases. This is a bit about what we got, and a few surprises we had.

In general, our tool philosophy boils down to these points:

1. Get the right tool for the job
2. Get used tools when they’re durable (e.g. drill press, rivet squeezer)
3. And get new ones for tools that wear out (drill bits)
4. Get quality tools
5. But don’t get unnecessary ones (while still respecting rule number 1)

At Oshkosh, Miguel and I stopped by the Cleaveland Aircraft Tool booth and talked with them about RV-10 tool kits. The price on the kit was a bit steep because they are new quality tools. However, we found the list of tools included in the kit very helpful in guiding us in our tool decisions. We also looked at other manufacture’s kits, including Avery and Aircraft Tool Supply, and looked at what Van’s recommends.

With the research done, we began scouring eBay, Van’s Airforce, craigslist, garage sales, and Goodwill for as many used tools as we could find. This is when I found out that Judy is a thrift savant, finding every possible useful item in a 40 mile radius from chairs to drills to band saws to scrap material. Trello really came in handy here, keeping us organized and making sure we were all agreeing on what was needed.

In all, most of the tools we bought were second hand. Miguel found a great DRDT-2 on VAF that was in the area, and we bought an RV-12 kit from a builder who finished his project that supplied a large number of the tools we would need. In addition, we furnished ourselves with new drill bits and cutting tools. In total, we probably saved about $500-1000 in tools by buying used and making careful decisions as we were buying everything.

After using the tools for a little bit, there are some tools we’re finding absolutely indispensable or surprisingly useful.

1. The Classic 6000 RPM Sioux Drill

It’s hard to go any distance in Van’s kit building without hearing the legend of the Sioux drill. And for good reason — it’s a fantastic drill — lightweight and high speed, with great trigger control.

2. Springback Dimple Dies

These springback dimple dies deform the aluminum around a dimple very slightly so that when the dimple pressure is removed, the aluminum ‘spring backs’ into a perfectly flat and smooth surface. These are pretty remarkable how well they work.

3. Pneumatic Squeeze Riveter

I wasn’t sold at first, but Miguel successfully argued for it and found this one second hand from a local machinist. Now that we have it, it’s indispensable and saves our arms quite a bit of work. But since the tool is quite powerful and heavy, it’s easy for it to get away from us. We’ve had to nail down a good process for using this tool that keeps us from adding extra dimples.

4. Metallic Sharpies

The folks at Sharpie must have been thinking of airplane builders when making their metallic felt-tipped pens. They come in a pack with gold, silver and bronze. Adding in the standard black color, they perfectly match the standard colors of clecos and drill stops (colored silver, copper, black and gold in ascending order). We use these to help color coordinate sizes of our dimple dies, drills and countersinks.

5. Alignment Punch

This unassuming tool is one of the most surprisingly useful we’ve come across. When fitting up parts, it’s pretty common for the hole patterns to walk slightly and one hole won’t line up perfectly with the other. It prevents us from installing clecos easily, and can be a pain to align. This pin makes it easy to get parts into alignment for clecoing.

6. Small Syringe

I was originally introduced to these at work, where we use them to apply silicone sealant to parts, or to form gaskets. They work perfectly for applying the BMS 5-26 sealant (similar to pro-seal) we’re using to fay surface seal and wet install our rivets. We remove the plunger and add sealant through the open end of the syringe, then cut the tip just before the curve. They also handle MEK well, so are reusable with a little work.

7. Refillable Paint Pen

Jenn found these online, and got them from a local art supply shop. These refillable paint pens are perfect for applying our BMS 10-11 Type 1 primer (similar to Akzo) in small amounts. They’re also MEK safe, making them reusable. This is very useful for the way we’re doing corrosion protection (which will be a subject of another post).