Do these work?

Do the straight pneumatic cleco tools work and work well for our use?

I ask because while building my emp, I ended up having to have surgery on my thumb because using the cleco pliers irritated a ligament in the base of my thumb. This caused what is called trigger thumb or trigger finger.

The bottom line is that I do not want to have another surgery so I hope these work.

Anyone use them?

Thanks

I have a set of the pistol grip type from yardstore.com
They are great for things like the wing skins, etc and really reduce repetitive motion.
I use them more for removing clecoes quickly, but you can just as well put clecoes in with them.
Never tried the straight ones.

T.

Cleco guns for the arthritic

I also have problems with my thumbs. Too much working with the hands in the elderly. I bought a pistol type and use it a lot, especially where you have a bunch to remove and reset--like match drilling your wing skins. They can be a little awkward for putting in clecos where there is a difficulty in alignment--like when you are first getting the leading edge or tank ribs in. Other than that, and especially compared to the cost of surgery and the associated disability, they are a bargin.

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Wing (Ailerons)
San Ramon, CA

pneumatic cleco remover

I picked up a straight cleco remover. I love it! I find that for the repetative applications, like larger skins areas etc, it's far easier than pliers...even if one has no physical impairment. Hooked it up to my multi line air manifold so that I'm not changing out air lines.

The Yard Store no longer carries the $24 pneumatic cleco insertion tool. This is a pistol grip tool. I have one, and it works great. It totally solved my problem with extreme pain in the back of my right hand after a session of inserting or removing a bunch of clecos.

It looks like Brown tool has the horizontal tool (I think it was either $40 or $65). I have not used the horizontal tool, but I suspect it would work ok.

Avery's carries the pistol grip pneumatic cleco tool for $85. There's no picture, but when I bought my tool from the Yard Store, the Avery tool looked the same.

I could not find any other pneumatic cleco tools, but I'm sure there are others. Even if you have to pay $40 - $85, this will be best investment that you make for building

One note, this tool is not just for us wimpy guys who have hand problems, it actually works a lot better than the normal pliers (most of the time). Inserting a few hunderd clecos in the wing panels goes 2 to 3 times as fast as with normal cleco pliers.

Edit: I just noticed that Avery's also has the straight pneumatic cleco insertion tools for $40-$45 dollars (close out).

Tracy.

I have one of the straight pneumatic cleco tools and like it a lot. I use it "cleco end" down when working on parts on the worktable, and "cleco end" up when putting the skins on and off the wing mounted in the jig. Very comfortable either way.

As the clutz that I am, while setting up the shop to start construction on the empannage, I had an 8' flourecent light fixture (bulbs removed) on my left wrist. The bottom covers had been removed and it cut three tendens in my wrist. The thumb quit working. With the marvels of modern medicine, I have my thumb bac at nearly 100%. Pushed the start of the project back one yeear. Out of work - then recouping funds. Then there's my right elbow. Haven't got a clue as to what's wrong with it - just hurts a lot when squeezing 1/8" rivets. I got a pneumatic cleco tool because of the repetitive cleco inserting and removal with the wing. Mine is a straight unit, but I haven't used it yet. Gotta get a Contract OK'd by the International Union so we can vote on it. Full time employment is in question right now.

Buy a pneumatic tool for whatever price you can get one for. This one is a no-brainer! How many thousands of rivet holes vs. how many times will you install and remove clecos from each hole? You could also save a couple bucks by attatching a small piece of steel to your forehead and use it as a bucking bar, but this too doesn't seem to add to a long and healthy lifespan.

Just ordered it!

Well the response is good so I just ordered one of the straight ones from Avery's. $45 did not seem like much to pay for what you all have reported. My thumb will like it!

I hope this ends up in the special place in my heart just as my pneumatic squeezer has.

Thanks,

You'll like the straight one much better than the pistol grip. I tried both at Alexander Tech and bought the straight.

Got it and it does work great!

I received my straight pneumatic cleco tool and it works great. This thing is way smaller and lighter than I thought it would be. The dumb hose must go and be replaced by a true swivel but otherwise this thing is going to make my thumb a happy camper! I can see where this will be much faster than using the pliers.

One thing I did notice though is that you need to make sure the cleco is in the tooling properly or the cleco will get chewed up around the flange by the sharp edges of the tool.

One other note: Avery's is the best!