Air shears vs Wiss R-S/L-S

Hi everyone.

Since I'm just starting (got a bunch of tools off eBay, working on the practice kit), I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on air-powered or electric-powered metal shears vs the Right-Straight/Left-Straight hand shears called for by Van's Required Tools list. Would air shears be appropriate for fiddly bits like stiffeners or is that best suited for hand shears or a bandsaw? Would air shears be OK for general sheet metal and fab work on the RV? Pick up the hand shears anyway?

Sorry if this is a double post, it looks like these forums (fori? fora?) just changed formats recently and i'm not sure how to search the old ones.

thanks
-stjohn
RV7 N808FX (someday)

Air shears are difficult to control and also have a tendency to pucker edges. Plus, they are almost impossible to steer around tighter curves and they can leave "bite" marks. You'll more than lose the time you save after you've fixed the damage they cause. They're great, however, on 18 to 22 gauge steel.

Rt and Lt shears, on the other hand, are actually made for whichever direction you want to turn, are very easy to keep on line, don't pucker the edges as much, and really don't require that much effort when cutting the typical panels the RV are made of.

I'd put the money instead as a partial payment toward a phnuematic squeezer.

Matt
RV7-A

I have had good success using a pneumatic body saw from Northern Tool.

You don?t really use them very often and I had mine before I started on the -9. I?m not sure it is worth the money but they do work great and is what I used to cut the landing light holes in the leading edge and the cutout on the tail for the tail wheel.

The aluminum will still need to be dressed after cutting but this is nothing you can?t accomplish with a small set of files.

I have been watching this tread as I anxiously await delivery of my -8 empennage kit. I am wondering just how much cutting is involved during the build. Not that I am affraid to fabricate some parts, it's just all new to me. Any insight would be greatly appriciated.

Parts Fabrication

Bill,

The parts you need to make for the -9 (I have no idea about the -8 but assume they are about the same.) are all simple. Most of them consist of cutting down angle or sheet aluminum. Nothing difficult to do, just time consuming. See the fuselage section of my web site for a picture of some of the firewall parts required for the -9.

I highly recommend getting a band saw to help with the fabrication. Mine is a 14? three-wheel saw that I picked up at a garage sale for $10. Although I would never want to cut a block of wood with this saw, it works great on the thin aluminum we are using. The key to buying a band saw is making sure you can slow it down enough to cut aluminum and then install an 18 TPI blade.

Aviation shears and the body saw I spoke of earlier have their place but they can?t do the work of a band saw.

Just my $.02 worth.

Shears

I purchased the tool kit from Cleveland which had 3 sets of shears in it. I think I may have used them once or twice. I have a 30 year old Sears band saw that I have used almost exclusively (The only problem is that you have to go to Sears to get blades.). A Dremel Tool with cut off wheels & sanding drums is another very handy tool.

Derrell
7A finish