Van's Air Force
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How many cleco's
- Thread starter jmbrwn
- Start date
Double the 1/8" and TRIPLE the 3/32" clecos. You build most of the fuselage in clecos before drilling. I've got a couple of 2-gallon buckets full of #40s and used them all.
I take that back. just Double the 3/32's also. I mis-read your counts and reversed them. I have around 700 3/32's.
I take that back. just Double the 3/32's also. I mis-read your counts and reversed them. I have around 700 3/32's.
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jferraro17
Opulence, I has it...
I just finished riveting my fuse...
400 3/32 and 200 1/8
Joe
400 3/32 and 200 1/8
Joe
Too many?
To paraphrase a friend's advice about finding a mate....."a girl can never be too skinny, too rich, or have to many cleco's"...
A friend of mine at work said that her future husband seemed to get more interested when, in the course of conversation, it came out that she owned more power tools than he did. Now that's HOT!!
Go ahead, call me a nerd.
To paraphrase a friend's advice about finding a mate....."a girl can never be too skinny, too rich, or have to many cleco's"...
A friend of mine at work said that her future husband seemed to get more interested when, in the course of conversation, it came out that she owned more power tools than he did. Now that's HOT!!
Go ahead, call me a nerd.
The Definitive Number
For my RV-7 slow build, it appears that 661 3/32 clecos are an absolute minimum per wing. I have two wing stands, but will just finish the skinning on one before moving to the other. The 661 allow the placement in every second hole, unlike Van's recommendation of up to every 4th hole, which I don't think is adequate. 661 gives you enough to have the tank, leading edge and both top main skins in place symultaneously. After drilling these to full size, you will need to disassemble the tank and leading edge to have enough rivets to do the bottom main skins. Alternatively, you could purchase an additional 250 3/32nd clecos for the bottom skins, which would allow you to match drill everything symultaneously. This takes the ideal total to 911 clecos per wing.
Tom.
For my RV-7 slow build, it appears that 661 3/32 clecos are an absolute minimum per wing. I have two wing stands, but will just finish the skinning on one before moving to the other. The 661 allow the placement in every second hole, unlike Van's recommendation of up to every 4th hole, which I don't think is adequate. 661 gives you enough to have the tank, leading edge and both top main skins in place symultaneously. After drilling these to full size, you will need to disassemble the tank and leading edge to have enough rivets to do the bottom main skins. Alternatively, you could purchase an additional 250 3/32nd clecos for the bottom skins, which would allow you to match drill everything symultaneously. This takes the ideal total to 911 clecos per wing.
Tom.
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Bulk Buy
For those buying clecos for the first time, the best bet would be to purchase from Brown Tool. They have a price break at 1,000 clecos, which makes them only $0.38 per cleco, which is the best pricing I have found to date. If I was doing it again, I'd definitely go down this path, as I've not been as lucky as Paul and managed to find a lady that comes with her own stockpile of 3/32nd clecos!
For those buying clecos for the first time, the best bet would be to purchase from Brown Tool. They have a price break at 1,000 clecos, which makes them only $0.38 per cleco, which is the best pricing I have found to date. If I was doing it again, I'd definitely go down this path, as I've not been as lucky as Paul and managed to find a lady that comes with her own stockpile of 3/32nd clecos!
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