Tools description

Several providers in the USA offer toolkits (Cleaveland , Avery, Aircraft spurce …). For my part, I bought all the tools at a US gay that had sold his RV-7. He did not what to do with all his tools. I have bought all his used tools. I made a good deal because I bought all the tools needed to build the airplane at about half of the price of the kits above.

	Compressor 100 L Essential since all the tools to riveting ,drilling, deburring, painting are pneumatic. 100 liters is a minimum, mine was bought used.
	Pneumatic rivet squeezer Used to reveting but also dimpling without tiring. The other solution is to use a manual tool, which is fine, but be careful, many manufacturers have had tendonitis after a few months of construction. Manual tools recommended : Cleaveland tools
	Dimpling set This dimpling set is necessary to rivet all kinds of rivets and also to dimple skins and structure.
	Flutting tool Used to flut the edges of the ribs.
	Files Essential for trimming, several sizes are needed. I use sandpaper for finishing the edges of all pieces. This is to avoid creek with vibration.
	Manual tools Some clips are necessary to cut sheets, straighten , keep several sheet metal together.
	Vice If you do not have one, get heavy, swivel, always useful ! Buy used also.
	Protections Hearing (compressor, rivet gun, … essential !) , Eyes , hands, he misses the mask to the lungs. I will make a special section in primer when I put the first pieces.
	Cleco & Co Several hundreds of Clecos, small sizes are required for the construction. These needles together several aluminum sheet metal through a hole . Clamps clamp the pieces together . And ! Better not put your finger !
	Rapporteur Measuring angles, used in the early hours of the construction.
	Bucking bars These are metal frames of different sizes and shapes. Applied to the tail of the rivet with rivet gun, it crushes to fit.
	Air drill We immediately see the difference between an electric and pneumatic drill : the last runs much faster than the first (basic).
	Digital level Very nice to have and not only for the building !
	Telescopic mirror Leds tool needed to go check rivets and other elements during building. Remember to put tape around to avoid scratching the aluminum.
	Pneumatic grinder With special aluminum ferrules handy for trimming thick pieces.
	Electric grinder Lot of builders use it for deburring, I have not used much for the tail : I prefer the pneumatic grinder and sandpaper : more manageable but work is longer.
	Air filter/gauge compressor This tool is essential for controlling the flow of the paint gun, to adjust the pressure during riveting according to different rivets, to oil pneumatic tools, …
	Gaveur After filing the tip, I use it to mark the surfaces before painting.
	Soldering iron When the aluminum pieces out VANS factorie they are covered with plastic wrap. This soldering iron removes this film along the rivet holes while protecting the rest of the skin . Well, some builders do not use it.

	Hand rivet and dimlping tool This tool is used to dimpling the aircraft skin. It can also be used to rivet.
	Back riveting plate With this heavy steel plate you can put the rivet head above then using the rivet gun on the tail of the rivet : this is the back riveting method.