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Tool kit shopping?

enterprise

Active Member
Sponsor
Hello

I ordered the empennage and fastener kit earlier this week and I am looking at the various tool kits. Has anyone shopped these and compared them to see which is one is "better". I have very little in the way of metal tools other than snips and various drill bits and such. I do have a air compressor setup in the hangar along with a air drill. I got a craftsman electronic torque wrench already, but I am ok with having a extra one.

If there is a thread on this please point me to it. I did a search earlier and did find anything.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/atsquickbuild12-04849.php?clickkey=9919

versus

http://www.cleavelandtool.com/Kit-of-Required-Tools-for-the-RV-12/productinfo/RV12KITW/#.W7dq_mhKhEZ
 
I started with absolutely NO tools at ALL.

What I ended up doing was opening 2 browser windows.. www.browntool.com, www.aircraft-tool.com and searching on each tool listed in Section 3. ..Putting the cheapest one in my shopping cart on whichever site had it. I also used www.mcmaster.com for the plexiglass drill bits that I couldn't seem to find anywhere else.

Some of the more expensive tools like the PRP-26A blind-riveter tool and pneumatic squeezer, I found on e-bay for good prices. Wish I bought that squeezer earlier!!

Other items not listed but you'll probably need:

#17 drill bit (now required in the Fuse kit), #6 screw dimple die (for landing light plexi's screws), an extra countersink cage (else you'll be swapping the #30 & #40 countersink cutters in it all the time), pneumatic blind riveter (im using the $70 from harbor freight; the Astro one from amazon broke), pneumatic solid squeezer, a shop-head rivet gauge set, and a cheap ryobi grinding wheel from Home Depot (and a abrasotex 6" light deburring wheel).

If you'd like, I can send you a spreadsheet with all my purchases. I got away with $1627 in July 2017 including a used pneumatic sqeezer from ebay.
 
Got my kit from Isham as well, but also bought extra items from Cleaveland and Brown from time to time.
 
Thanks. I will check out those options. I certainly appreciate quality tools for a project like this. I did the LSRM training at Rainbow and the one thing I kept cursing at was the harbor freight tools. I understand they are needed for a training environment where they get "studentized".
 
Be Careful

Five years ago I got my tools from Ishams. They advertised an RV14 set of tools. I ordered that set of tools. There was an inventory of what you were to get. When I got the tools they were missing several tools out of the inventory, for example a pop riveter amongst others. When I rang to spoke to Ishams, they said, many builders had told them they already had a pop riveter and other tools and they didn't need, so they took those tools out of the kit delivered to myself in Australia. At that was that, no refund and no extra tools. I had to go out and buy those removed tools again.

I was not happy with Isham. Make sure you have a copy of the tool inventory advertised and check that is what they are contracting to deliver.
 
got the rv12 set from Cleveland, they have it as a spreadsheet that you can customize if you already have tools or need others. Plus they are the nicest people to deal with, family owned business.

One thing that I would do differently is get a different pneumatic pop rivet puller, I had a harbor freight one which was really on its last legs when I completed my wings, I think its worth spending a little more on that considering how often you use it.
 
+1 on Cleveland tools. They supplied the tools for my Rv12 build (I customized their excel file inventory sheet and they got everything exactly right) and I am very happy with the quality and customer service from them:).
 
Which pop riveter is "better"? I was looking at going the ordering from different vendors route as one has a better squeezer, and another has better air tools. I have a torque wrench and air drill already.
 
Not sure about everyone else, but I had to use a hand pop riveter with a swivel head to get into the fuselage center section for those rivets. The Harbor Freight model worked well for me.
 
the PRP26A ! but dont spend more than $100 on it. theres a listing on ebay now for about $50. if you cant find it reasonably, then go for what other people recommend.
 
I mean which air tool? I ended up ordering some stuff from Brown, and some more from ATS. I am going to get the main squeeze from Cleveland, but I am still shopping for the air rivet tool. I see the Blue Pneumatic one Aircraft Spruce sells. Brown has a Chicago Pneumatic that looks very similar. This is something I know I will use a ton and I am willing to spend the bigger money on it.

I did get a PRP-26A.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/bluepneumatic12-03386.php?clickkey=4237

https://www.browntool.com/Listview/tabid/344/ProductID/2428/Default.aspx?txtSearch=blind+rivet
 
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