What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

New RV7 builder

jmw116

Member
Did not see a good area on the forums to post this so feel free to move if needed.

Long time RV lover, first time builder. 90's kid currently working as a Cessna Citation pilot in Houston. Own a Grumman yankee (looks alot like an RV6a) as my personal airplane. Flew it to Oshkosh 2018, life long dream in the bag there.

I finally convinced myself that even though I can not afford the RV7, I will find a way! Currently prepping the shop and looking into the tool options. Here is where I am on tools.

Clevland or Brown?

I like that Brown has free shipping, but does not even stock a DRDT2 dimpler !?!? Wants : DRDT2 and Pneumatic Squeezer in the kit.

Is one kit more complete than the other? ANY input is greatly appreciated. I would like to scout some used tools. Atleast on the expensive items. Alot of these tools are foreign to me.

Planing on connecting with my local EAA chapter to find a new RV friend. There are plenty of RV's in Houston.
 
Tools

Sound like you have a pretty good grasp on tools. :D
Most of the big houses are good. I like Cleveland but nothing wrong with the others.
Can't go wrong with Sioux but others are fine. I love my Sioux tools.
Check out my blog. There's an Excel builder log link with a full 7 inventory tab.
 
Good Job!

Also a kid from the 90s and also not enough cash to build the whole 7 but started anyhow. You will love it. It is so much fun and you learn so much. Cant Go wrong with the tool kits. I got the brown one. I wrote a bit about my experience with the tools and the 7 kit some where on this forum. Anyway. Congratulations you are in great company here.
 
I buy lots of Cleaveland tools they seem to be high quality. I didn't purchase a tool kit but started just buying what I needed. Some people buy the full tool kit and then decide they don't like building then they have to sell the whole tool kit. Just a thought.

I would get the Souix drill. I have one and love it. I originally had a lower price drill and it works but not good enough for drilling hundreds of holes. I also have the smaller hoses from Cleaveland these are great too. I have one hose for my drill at high pressure and one for my rivet gun with a pressure regulator at low pressure. Both are always available so I can switch back and forth.

I also have the quick change chuck setup on my drill. This is very helpful if you need to switch back and forth between #30 and #40 drill bits. I took the original chuck and used the quick change adapter so for other sizes I can still use it with my drill. This works great too.
 
I bought a tool kit from Cleaveland, but minus all of the expensive items like the pneumatic tools, dimple dies, and boxes of clecos. Instead found most of these second hand on eBay or Craigslist. Ended up saving a bunch, which I ended up spending on even more tools as the build progressed. I wish I didn?t cheap out on a drill press though: my crappy harbor freight one drills oblong holes and is therefore useless.
 
Thank you for the responses!

At this point it is rather confusing because it seems no tool kit is what the builder wants. With the exception of Islam which is way out of the price range!

Cleveland offers the upgrades and makes it simple for someone brand new to this, and comes in at around $2000 shipped with the upgrades. The kit looks a lot smaller than the Brown kit. Lots of small items are not in the Cleveland, such as a blow hammer (no biggie).

Overall I like the Brown kit the best but find it disturbing that they do not offer easy upgrade options to the kit like Cleveland. I should add that I did not have a pleasant experience with the sales person on the phone with Brown.
 
Last edited:
You won't need every tool in the kit, immediately. Take your time and buy what you need, as it's needed. That will give you time to shop around. You may want to check the local garage sales, estate sales, and auctions. Ask the guys at your local chapter what, if anything, they have available to loan. Watch VAF for guys selling tools. Sometimes a guy will be selling a partially built plane. Contact them to see if they're also selling any of the tools. You get the idea.

Oh, and try not to buy j"unk" tools. As the saying goes: "the bitterness of poor quality will linger long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten". Buy good quality used tools. Not necessarily the best (you won't be using them 8 hours per day).

Save your money for the plane itself. You'll need it. It will cost more and take longer than you plan!
 
How useful is the Pneumatic Squeezer and the DRDT dimpler over the hand squeezer and C frame?

I know an airplane which was built without pneumatic squeezer. Still flying. I also know a kit sold unfinished with every single tool imaginable. :)
Welcome Justin!
 
A pneumatic squeezer is not needed unless the builder has a physical limitation or you're in a hurry. They are faster and easier. The manual squeezer easily delivers enough pressure.

If your local chapter has a tubing bender and a flaring tool, you won't need those either. Tubing is a relatively small part of the project. Not necessary to spend $100 on a tool you'll need for just a few days.

As Vlad says, you may be able to find someone who started a kit and is selling it, tools and all, for a nice discount. If you go that route, take a knowledgable person with you to check out the build quality. Many tech counselors will help with that. Here again, your local chapter is a great resource.
 
Justin,

Where in Houston do you live? I attended one meeting each at all 3 of the EAA chapters in the greater Houston area and decided to join EAA 302 which is located in Conroe. This isn't the closest chapter to my home in Sugar Land, but it seemed to me to be the largest and most active chapter. Lots of RV owners in this chapter, with several RV's under construction and a large number finished and flying. The chapter meets on the second Saturday of each month at the Conroe airport. Additional info can be found at the chapter website at https://eaa302.org/

As for tools, I ended up buying a kit from Cleaveland Tools, and then adding additional tools as my project progressed. I was told by several experienced builders that Cleaveland's dimple dies are preferred over the other brands, and I found them to be extremely helpful and pleasant to deal with both on the phone and in person at their tent at OSH. I've used almost all the tools provided in the kit, and have purchased a lot of additional tools as my build has progressed and I've found I needed them.

I highly recommend the DRDT over the C-Frame and hammer. It is a much easier tool to use for dimpling large skins, is more consistent, and doesn't require hearing protection like the C-Frame. I also like the pneumatic squeezer, which I purchased used (don't remember if I found it on VAF or eBay). But while I try to use the pneumatic squeezer when ever it is possible, I still find the need for the hand squeezer on occasion.

If you are new to sheet metal and riveting, you might consider taking the EAA 2 day class to get you started. There is one being offered in early December at a school across from Hobby airport.

If you would like to discuss this by telephone, or are in the area of Sugar Land and want to see my tool collection and in-progress RV-10, just let me know. I'll send you a private message through this site with my email and phone number.

Cheers
 
Overall I like the Brown kit the best but find it disturbing that they do not offer easy upgrade options to the kit like Cleveland. I should add that I did not have a pleasant experience with the sales person on the phone with Brown.

Just FYI if you call brown tools they will add and substract anything you want and still apply the kit discount. At least they did for me. The guy on the other end also knew his tools. So that helped.
 
Hi all, just my view on tools considering I'm from Australia. Personally I've only just started on an RV-9, but I bought a lot of tools through Brown. I found them to be relatively cheap, with a really big range, and fast shipping to me here (latest package arrived 1 week after I placed the order). Having said that I bought a Main Squeeze kit from Cleaveland, and it's a beautiful tool, with really nice rivet sets included. Similar to you Justin I'm learning as I'm going, but I've also done enough with some of the trial kits from Vans & playing around with other aluminium to learn that some of the tools are just what you need for a certain task. Don't be afraid to try things or make tools as you need - I'm thinking of crafting up some custom bucking bars for some tricky locations. A lot of "standard" type tools (files, deburrers, drill bits, pliers)you can buy from normal tool or hardware shops.

Finally, the last thing I did was compare the tools I had bought to the standard Van's kit from Brown, and just ordered the other tools on the list that I'd missed. My logic here was that I figured it was on the list for a reason, and would be needed sometime.
 
Tools

No expert here only built one RV6
I would start out with battery drills had air drill never used it ended up with 3 battery drills to save time.Started out with cheap rivet squeezer and it did not do the job buy the best hand squeezer money can buy ended up using the cheap one to dimple a lot of stuff.One tool that was cheap and handy was the dimple tool that's made for a pop rivet tool.The next tool that's in need of good quality is a good rivet gun and a couple of bucking bars.A good tape measure and caliper 12" I used the caliper a lot and a repeating punch.You will need a few more things but that will get you started cheap.
Bob
 
Tools

Bought my first from Avery. No longer in business. Those Sioux drills are amazing, still don't have one though. Bought most all my tools from EBay or Napa.

Good tools have no equal. But at first you only need a few and like Vlad said many unused new tools have been sold with unfinished kits!!

Tungsten bar
C dimpler
Soft blow hammer
Drills #40. #30
Clecoes. Buy used!
Clecoe pliers
Air compressor


Start there. One of these planes were built or started in an apartment!
Enjoy, say goodbye to life as you know it for a few years and ANY spare cash. Lol

Dave
 
Don't forget Harbor Freight for some not-often used tools. However, as another once mentioned here, their wrench sizes (and some other tools) are more of a suggestion. :D
 
Back
Top