Welcome, Ted.
Occasionally a complete set of used tools will be offered for sale and should be much less expensive than buying piecemeal. Van's preview plans gives good advice on choosing tools. I think a kit from one of the tool houses is probably most cost effective if you want to buy new tools. I have no favorites. I have ordered from them all and had good experiences from them all: Avery, Cleaveland, Brown, The Yard, Isham's, Aircraft Tool Supply...maybe others I can't think of. I have had good luck buying used air tools from The Yard and Isham's. You can save a few hundred dollars that way. Common questions: 3x or 2x gun? I prefer a 3x. Do you need a pneumatic squeezer or can you get by with a hand squeezer? I have used both kinds, all brands. I own a pneumatic and consider it money well spent. I don't have a hand squeezer and I have never missed it. Don't get an alligator style air squeezer. You can get by on a portable air compressor but the oilless type are too noisey. Get one that runs on 220 volts so you aren't short of air. I did OK for years with a Craftsman. Put it somewhere else and run a 1/2 iron pipe to where you are working if you can, just to avoid the noise. Don't use PVC pipe, it will eventually blow up. I didn't buy a right angle drill (small head, threaded drill bits) until I got to the fuselage. It is very handy but maybe only absolutely necessary for the crotch strap anchors. I never liked the right angle attachments for the standard drill motors..too clumsy. I'd spend $150 on a used RA drill. Most used non-aircraft tool: 12 inch disc sander, if you don't count the Scotch Brite wheel. Band saw and drill press are also must haves. Chinese imports are good enough, I think, but I have Craftsman. These are my favorites, others may differ. Good luck and Welcome Aboard. Plenty of help and diverse opinions are available here 24/7. Oh yeah, my latest new favorite is the jelly Boelube, instead of the stick. Biggest tool regret: Not buying a #8 nutplate drilling jig until recently.
