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David Fuchs

Active Member
Good Morning
I am hoping to start my RV-12 Empennage kit very soon. I am looking for a list of the required/recommended tools for that section of the build. I am planning on buying my tools incrementally if that is possible. I am a retired NAVY CPO and P-3 Orion Flight Engineer, 8,000 flight hours in P-3 series aircraft.

Respectfully
Navy Davy :)
 
Good Morning
I am hoping to start my RV-12 Empennage kit very soon. I am looking for a list of the required/recommended tools for that section of the build. I am planning on buying my tools incrementally if that is possible. I am a retired NAVY CPO and P-3 Orion Flight Engineer, 8,000 flight hours in P-3 series aircraft.

Respectfully
Navy Davy :)

Go to Cleveland Tools site (there are others too) and see recommended tools; and start the ride as your budget allows. You will enjoy every minute....and wind up with an affordable, fun to fly airplane. Welcome aboard!!!
 
David-

One tool that you will be glad you owned for the entire project is a band saw. Many of the parts from Van's come with more than one part made from the same strip of metal and they need to be separated ... a band saw with a 24 tpi band is great for that and will last the entire project (if you make it a point to never cut a piece of steel).

You will appreciate owning a close quarters rivet puller such as the PRP-26A it comes in handy when working in tight spots.

You will also want to have a 6" ScotchBrite wheel that fits on a grinder or the Harbor Freight buffer ... great for deburing parts and saves a ton of finish filing. I also purchased small 1" ScotchBrite wheels for use on a hand pneumatic grinder.

Having a countersink cage for the countersink bits you will need to buy is also handy ... once the depth is set you can quickly make precise multiple countersinks.

Although not necessary, consider having an air compressor. When you get to the wings and fuselage there are tons of rivets to set and having air for a pneumatic rivet puller will come in handy and move the project along quicker.

Happy building,
 
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Which type of 6" ScotchBrite wheel did you use?

Do you have a part number.?

PEB-

I ordered the ScotchBrite wheel from Aircraft Spruce many years ago and the ACS part number is 12-00875. The wheel is 6" and is the 7A medium grade with a 1/2" thru hole ... works great with the Harbor Freight buffer I purchased.
 
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David,

I just started my 12 build in January and I'm a ways into the build. I bought the Cleveland kit and have no regrets. You end up using the majority of the tools right away so the tool kit is a good way to go. I already had a nice 14" Delta band saw but I think one of the inexpensive models should be fine. I also had a compressor but again, if you aren't running an air drill, an inexpensive one will be fine for the pneumatic rivet puller. I consider the pneumatic rivet puller and the band saw must have items. Also, my cheap Craftsman drill press has come in handy.

One more thing on tools, I opted not to go the air drill route and started with a cordless drill. My Dewalt 20 v cordless turned out to have wobble in the chuck. I tried a few other cordless drills and found they all had some runout. This messed up some parts I was match drilling. I ended up with a Makita corded drill for about $80. The corded drills with keyed chucks seem to run more true.

Also, this forum is very helpful each step of the way in minimizing mistakes (that require ordering new parts). Ask me how I know. Practice countersinking on thin sheet aluminum before using actual parts.

Good luck and enjoy. I love it.
 
I purchased a Cleaveland "Main Squeeze" for my RV-12 project. It's pricey but was indispensable for my build. I have two other manually-operated squeezers that now just sit in my tool drawer while the Main Squeeze gets used for everything.

Also, get a grinder or buffer that has a motor diameter that is less than the diameter of your Scotchbrite wheels -- this makes it a lot easier to edge grind long pieces of aluminum.
 
Dave,

Glad to see another P-3 guy building an RV-12. Although you can never have enought tools, here is the list that I have found most useful in building my 12 and would have liked to known before I started.

Pneumatic drill ? 3600 rpm Sioux or equal. You can learn to tease the trigger and use it as a variable speed drill.

90 deg and straight pneumatic die grinders; set up the straight grinder with a 1? Scotchbright 3MW7A1 wheel on a screw-on mandrel and the 90 deg with a 3M 3? Roloc backer and very fine non-woven abrasive disk (blue). I started with a 6? Scotchbright wheel on a bench grinder and quit using it after finding the 1? wheel on a die grinder is faster and easier to use. I went through a dozen 1? wheels for the entire build. Buy a box of 3? disks. This setup makes metal edge finishing a breeze.

?The Main Squeeze Kit? from Cleveland Tool; worth every cent you will pay for it.

#30 and #40 chucking reamers, sometimes the pre-punched holes need a little help to fit a rivet in them.

Pneumatic rivet gun ? my HF unit has pull over 14,000 rivets with no problem. Takes a few rivets to get it adjusted right (not retaining the rivet stem after pulling). I also have three manual pullers, two HF units with the nose piece and body ground for close-in angled pulls and one unmodified unit.

Big compressor ? I stated with a small 20 gal unit and ended up with an 80 gal/5 hp two-stage. Die grinders use a LOT of air and I can still get the 80 gal unit hot on occasion.

Band Saw, Jig Saw, Drill Press ? have them all and only really need them when I am making my own parts from scratch (I build EAB with a lot of mods). A good set of snips will handle most part separations for the Van?s parts.

Cleveland Aircraft Tool, Edge forming tool ? not required but adds a nice finished edge to overlapping skins, decide early if you want to do this.

Check the Van?s tools list for the RV-12 in section 3 of the plans, you will need them all at some point.

Enjoy the journey.

John Salak
RV-12 N896HS
 
Dave,#30 and #40 chucking reamers, sometimes the pre-punched holes need a little help to fit a rivet in them.

I disagree. ALL prepunched holes should be reamed (or drilled) to full size. This does three things.

It “cleans” up the hole from the score marks of the punching process. Those score marks can initiate a radial crack.

It helps remove the burr around the hole where the punch exits allowing the layers to sit flat and tight together.

With all the sheets cleco’d together, reaming line-bores the holes of all the layers being riveted together. The rivet will then fit the hole properly and not tend to tip over as much during riveting (in the case of driven rivets). May not apply so much to the RV12 with pulled rivets.

Bevan.
 
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Tools

I have 3 pnu pullers from harbor freight that work great one set to pull #40s and one to pull #30. Also use their sprayer for priming. used their taper reamer.
 
#30 and #40 chucking reamers, sometimes the pre-punched holes need a little help to fit a rivet in them.

I've also used a reamer for about 95% of the holes that will receive an LP4-3 rivet. The reamer barely takes away any metal, but it's just enough to make a difference. I've found that AN-470 rivets will fit in the same pre-punched holes just fine without the use of a reamer.
 
Get a couple of microstop countersink cages so you only need to set up #30 and #40 cutters at the right depth once.
 
+1 on the reamers they are a great tool

I also got the lightweight air hose, a real wrist saver with the pneumatic puller

http://www.cleavelandtool.com/Lightweight-Airhose-Kit/productinfo/ACKIT/#.Wv3Syvkvypo

a bunch of the little buffing wheels (you can cut them into pieces and use on a Dremel 401 Mandrel)

http://www.cleavelandtool.com/3M-EXL-Unitized-Wheel-1/productinfo/3MW2S1/#.Wv3TI_kvypo

Avery hole deburrer - you're going to deburr a million holes get a good one

http://www.cleavelandtool.com/SPEED-DEBURR-CSINK-TOOL/productinfo/1046/#.Wv3TfPkvypo

and a little bicycle torque wrench and a good inch/pds torque wrench (you'll use them for almost every screw and bolt)
Neiko 03727A 1/4-Inch Drive Beam Style Torque Wrench | 0-80 in/lb 9 Nm
Capri Tools 31200 20-150 Inch Pound Industrial Torque Wrench, 1/4" Drive, Matte

a few awls to align holes

and a lot of other stuffff.....

You're going to need electrical tools like crimpers but you can wait on that a little

And of course primer (lol just search for that on the forum) and a spray gun. I found a little detail gun that works pretty good.

PowRyte Elite 4.2 Oz Composite Mini HVLP Gravity Feed Air Spray Gun - 0.8mm Nozzle
 
Annette at Cleveland is great! The Numatx is sweet too! I picked up a bandsaw and drill press used, cheap, locally on craigslist
 
While I like Cleaveland Tools, I want to put a plug in for Planetools.com. Isham has excellent customer support and will work with you to put together any package of tools you may want. He has specific tool packages for the 12. Don’t forget clecos. You really only need #40 and #30 clecos, but I’d get about 150 #30’s (think wings) and 50 #40’s.
 
Clecoes

As I recall, the Kit Assembly Instructions (KAI) has a Table of recommended tools and supplies in Chapter 5 I think.

Along with the regular-style clecoes, the Cleveland Kit included some clecoes with sideways clamping jaws. 4 each with long jaws and short jaws. I found them useful when an extra set of hands weren?t handy sometimes.
 
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