Drill Press & Band Saw

Is a drill press and band saw necessary to complete the empennage? If so, can the drill press be a 12 inch table top drill press and can the band saw be a 9 inch band saw? I have found a number of gently used presses and saws but I don't know how big they need to be. Thanks.

Actually you need neither to complete the emp. or any of the kit for that matter.

Tools just make the job easier.

Tools

I have used my drill press and my cheapo band saw many times during the build. If it's in your budget, buy them both. I have a $50 garage sale drill press, like the one you describe. It sits on top of one of my workbenches. I bought the cheapo metal bandsaw from "Harbor Freight Aircraft Tools" for about $150. There are a couple angle brackets in the empennage that will be much easier with the bandsaw, and you'll use it a lot on the rest of your plane.

You can certainly get by without either tool. Remember: Only YOU can Prevent working too hard.

Buster,

Welcome to VAF!

A good friend built his -7A up through clecoing the fuseleage together in a one car garage. This didn't leave him space for any power tools other than a cordless drill. All the parts were cut with a hacksaw and filed to final shape.

The answer is no, you don't need either but it will take you longer.

I had a 12" bench top drill press, a 14" three-wheel bandsaw I picked up at a garage sale for $10, and a bench top belt/disk sander and couldn't imagine doing w/o them. You can mount a deburring wheel in the drill press, saving space and money.

Both will be useful

and you'll also find a belt sander and grinder useful (replace the grinding wheels with one or two ScotchBrite wheels). If money's really tight buy 'em from HF, otherwise from Home Depot or Sears. I don't have room for a permanent bench for them so put them on two roll-about 20x30 inch bench/table tops made from 2x4s and particle board.

As pointed out, you can do without either, and yes, the smaller models will work quite well. I used a 9" Delta bandsaw on my project and it worked fine. The bandsaw will save you more time and the drill press will do more to improve the quality of your work. I can't tell the difference between a part hacksawed and filed and one bandsawed and filed. Often you can tell the difference between hand drilling and press drilling; the holes may not be square with the part. This is most obvious on thicker parts. I would say you must have a grinder and a belt sander will saves TONS of time.

Bob Kelly

Thanks everyone for the advice. It is not just a money thing. I want to get the tail kit and put it together before making a full leap into buying a full set of tools. Do I need to get the full RV Tool Kits that Avery or Cleveland advertise to complete the tail kit? I contacted EAA today and they are planning an RV Assembly course in Texas later this winter. I will certainly attend the class before ordering the kit.

Glenn

What tools to buy...

busterfore said:

Thanks everyone for the advice. It is not just a money thing. I want to get the tail kit and put it together before making a full leap into buying a full set of tools. Do I need to get the full RV Tool Kits that Avery or Cleveland advertise to complete the tail kit? I contacted EAA today and they are planning an RV Assembly course in Texas later this winter. I will certainly attend the class before ordering the kit.

Glenn

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Glenn, You might want to take the builders course before you order your tools, also. I did that and switched my pick to Isham's planetools.com kit.
There are several RV tool kit suppliers, shop around and pick what's right for you. After you take the course, you will probably know for sure if you want to do this and then buy the full set.
Good luck,

Tool choices

I agree with Don ...take a builders' course or a Sportair workshop. The latter was one of the best $250 investments I made in the whole process.
I have made it to finish kit w/o a bandsaw, but I would not do that the next time. If you have no bandsaw, your sentenced to a hacksaw ... a terribly slow and crude way to fab several important parts. (the fuse/fuel tank bracket comes to mind immediately.) I would also not undertake the full build process w/o a drill press, even if it's a small benchtop model.

tools

I did not buy a tool kit but rather pieced it from here and there,as I already had a few of the tools in the kit. If you have time, shop ebay. You will also want more clecos than the tool kits supply. You may find you'l spend less for quality used tools than new cheap tools sell for. jus my opinion ! good luck !

I bought a Ryobi 9" band saw and 12" drill press from Home Depot. I replaced the band saw blade with a metal cutting blade. A little candle wax on the blade before cutting really helps, specially with the lead weights.

I also bought a "mini drill press" from HF. It's only good for deburring wheels. Don't try to drill holes with it unless you need an oblong hole.

Thanks again. I am definetly taking a EAA workshop course before buying much. Also, I plan to go quick build. It sounds like the drill press and grinding wheel is a must. I will start watching for some good used ones locally. I hate to add another item here but how big an air compressor do you recommend for a doing a quick build. Some forums seem to say at least a 20 gallon. Does that sound right?

Glenn

busterfore said:

Is a drill press and band saw necessary to complete the empennage? If so, can the drill press be a 12 inch table top drill press and can the band saw be a 9 inch band saw? I have found a number of gently used presses and saws but I don't know how big they need to be. Thanks.

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Neither a drill press or band saw is necessary but such tools make construction easier and far less tedius. Unlike many specialized tools we purchase to support airplane construction, the above mentioned tools will serve you well in many other household, garage, and woodworking tasks. Years ago, I opted for both as free standing units. With several speeds available, a good quality drill press is very handy for drilling and reaming high quality holes especially in thick material, using a fly cutter at a slow 250 RPM is very easy and I even polished an aluminum spinner using the drill press fitted with a buffing wheel.

An essential component of a bandsaw's utility lies in its throat depth. To little throat depth and the tool remains idle. My bandsaw has a reasonable 12" of depth and while at times I wish it were more, it does serve well. You will really appreciate a bandsaw's usefulness almost anytime tin snips are otherwise called for and especially comes into its own when fabricating fuel tank attach brackets that start out as a kit supplied length of thick angle stock. So at the very minimum, I would buy a bandsaw that can at least handle .125 thick angle stock. Many lightweight bench bandsaws cannot.

A third tool that will serve you well is a good bench sander. In the end, you will use a sander more than the first two tools combined.

All three tools will be called upon for many more tasks than airplane construction so I would suggest you buy the biggest and best you can afford knowing the tools will serve you in countless projects and tasks long after the airplane is built and flying.

there are a lot of options out there for bench sanders...do you guys have any recommendations?

jetrep said:

there are a lot of options out there for bench sanders...do you guys have any recommendations?

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Personal preference is a large wheel and 1" belt (mine is a Delta) but YMMV.

As to what air compressor to buy, I differ from some here. I don't believe you need a big one unless you plan on painting the plane yourself. The only thing that takes lots of air is a die grinder and you won't use one that much, if at all. Rivet guns, squeezers and drills can live with very small volume tanks and low hp ratings. Bigger may be better, but not all that necessary. I feel there are other places to spend your tool money that will do you more good, like a really good air drill and rivet gun.

Bob Kelly

I'd use the airplane as an excuse to buy both the drill press and the band saw. They are handy for lots of projects.

If money is an object, watch Craigslist.

And I disagree with the notion of a small compressor. I'd go for 2-3 hp minimum, but unless you have a place outside your workshop to put the compressor, be sure to check out how noisy it is. My small 2 1/2 hp compressor is a lot louder than a friend's newer unit of the same power & they are both oiled units from Sears.

how big an air compressor do you recommend for a doing a quick build. Some forums seem to say at least a 20 gallon. Does that sound right?

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I also am doing a QB and having bought a 30 gallon compressor I would say 20 gallons is a dead minimum, better would be 25-30 or more if you want. Don't get an oil-free compressor, get one that uses oil, you will not be changing the oil much or at all. Search these forums for "air compressor", there are a number of threads about the choices.

What Blade?

I have a small band saw. Has been great for working on my RC models. I had not considered using it for this project because I assumed it wouldn't be appropriate for cutting metal. Can I get a blade that will do aluminum? What width, TPI etc. do you suggest?

Thanks,

ff

MNForrest said:

I have a small band saw. Has been great for working on my RC models. I had not considered using it for this project because I assumed it wouldn't be appropriate for cutting metal. Can I get a blade that will do aluminum? What width, TPI etc. do you suggest?

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I used a 1/4", 6 TPI, wood blade on my small Delta band saw for many years........ cutting all kinds of aluminum from angles to plate. It worked excellent!

L.Adamson --- RV6A N328SL

One mistake many people make in the purchase of a band saw and/or drill press is that they plan to cut aluminum with it. These are no good for steel unless they have a VERY low speed setting. If you ever want to cut steel, make sure you have a low speed. Trying to cut steel at high speed will only burn up your blade and/or bit.
Also you will need a low speed (=/<170 rpm) if you need to use a circle cutter.

busterfore said:

...It sounds like the drill press and grinding wheel is a must.

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Glenn,

You don't need a bench grinder, if money and space are an issue. What you can do, and what I did, was to put a deburring wheel in the drill press. This gives you much more room to work the part on the wheel than what you can do in a bench grinder.

Also, NEVER use a grinding wheel on aluminum!!!! Search the forum, you will find out why.

Put your money towards a bandsaw, drill press, and optionally a belt sander. I used a Delta bench sander (~$100 at Lowes or HD) with a 4" belt and 5" disk. Some like the once inch belt sanders but the size is personal preference.

busterfore said:

... I hate to add another item here but how big an air compressor do you recommend for a doing a quick build.

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A friend of mine built his -10 slow build with a small contractor's compressor. He did plum in small portable tank, like what you might find at Northern Tool, just to extend the times between it clicking on. This worked great for riveting (I helped with a lot of that so I experienced first hand how often it clicked on.) but for drilling he used his cordless drill.

BTW, I used a 5HP, belt driven, 35 gallon compressor. If you go with a bigger compressor and want to paint your plane with it, you need to buy a BIG one! Don't get a direct drive compressor as they are VERY VERY loud.

MNForrest said:

I have a small band saw. Has been great for working on my RC models. I had not considered using it for this project because I assumed it wouldn't be appropriate for cutting metal. Can I get a blade that will do aluminum? What width, TPI etc. do you suggest?

Thanks,

ff

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I found turning down the bandsaw all the way, using an 18 TPI x 1/4" blade worked great for all the aluminum you will cut in building your RV. I ordered mine from ebandsawblades.com but the site it gone.