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Just placed oder for RV-12is

Y

YME

Well Known Member
Well, after a lot of thought, I finally did it. Ordered the empennage kit on 4-8-2023.

Now get the garage together and buy necessary bench power tools. Will be ordering the RV-12 tool kit from Aircraft Spruce.

Any suggestions on the Milwaukee rivet gun vs air powered gun? Only have a 1 gal California air compressor which I don't think is powerful enough for rivet air tool.
1.60 CFM @ 40 PSI
1.20 CFM @ 90 PSI

Thanks,

Tom
 
Save your money you will spend on the Milwaukee and buy a better compressor. You will use it allot during the build.

The Milwaukee is much slower in operation than the typical air/oil powered pullers. The Harbor Freight puller is cheap and works fine.

While a shop full of power tools makes it easier, they are not required. You can do most task with basic hand tools, it will just take longer with more physical effort. That being said, a table top band saw and grinder with a 3M deburring wheel would be high on the list.
 
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All of what Brantel says plus I really like my Cleaveland Big Squeeze rivet squeezer (pricey but makes life easier). Don't forget the basics -- good lighting, maybe some background music, and suitable work benches/tables/saw horses, etc. Welcome!
 
Brantel said:
Save your money you will spend on the Milwaukee and buy a better compressor. You will use it allot during the build.

The Milwaukee is much slower in operation than the typical air/oil powered pullers. The Harbor Freight puller is cheap and works fine.

While a shop full of power tools makes it easier, they are not required. You can do most task with basic hand tools, it will just take longer with more physical effort. That being said, a table top band saw and grinder with a 3M deburring wheel would be high on the list.
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Just a minor tweak on this advice...the 6" HF buffer is worth a look over a bench grinder. Give a little more clearance around the wheels. I liked having a coarse wheel one side and fine on the other. Place it where the dust created would have the least impact (for me, that was near the garage door.

I like the Milwaukee puller so much that I bought two, but I had almost full time help and two people with a slow cordless puller beats one with a fast one. Point being, there is no bad advice here and the important thing is not doing them with a manual puller.
 
What size compressor? I guess it depends on the constant CFM's needed for the gun would that be correct.

DHEAL,

The "Cleaveland Big Squeeze" is high on my list as I have read great reviews on it.
 
I forgot to ask. As I would like to document my build with other than pic's what would you suggest for videoing?
 
We're using the Milwaukee pullers at the high school RV-12iS project. Our experience is that it's okay but sometimes jams with the LP-4 rivets. We've learned to clear the jams but it definitely slows things down.

Get a better compressor, the Harbor Freight puller and a pneumatic squeezer. They will all get used.

Good scales (Starrett C-305 series is excellent) are nice.

Plenty of clecos and at least two cleco pliers.

A few Cleco side-clamps, 3/4" size, are pretty handy too.

A decent work bench. Not merely one that's somewhat okay but a real one. There are plans available including the ones I use, here.

Very good to excellent lighting. LED shop lights work great.

Dave
 
N8DAV8R said:
.....Place it where the dust created would have the least impact (for me, that was near the garage door.....
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I'll bet there are lots of little nuggets like that floating around out there among experienced builders. In fact I asked a question here once (as I'm sure many others have too) about setting up a "dream shop" based on experience and mistakes made...

I still think it might be cool if a whole bunch of builders could sit down and sketch out a perfect workshop layout and brainstorm it. A ground up construction project. Sure, there would be differences from person to person, but I'll bet a lot of similarities too. It might be interesting to see the disagreements too....buffer near the door, no buffer near the sander, etc....

Interesting to me is that I've seen lots of mention of things such as workbenches, electric outlet heights on the walls, etc... but not much mention ever of things I would have thought important such as a wide open level floor, overhead hoist capability, etc. It seems most folks think within whatever limits are imposed by existing garages or basements....

Anyway, congrats on the RV-12 order. I'll bet it's good to be moving forward.
 
David Paule said:
We're using the Milwaukee pullers at the high school RV-12iS project. Our experience is that it's okay but sometimes jams with the LP-4 rivets. We've learned to clear the jams but it definitely slows things down.
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This happens because the tube is too large and occasionally two stems will jam together. Solution is to insert a coffee straw (small diameter) into the metal tube to reduce the inside diameter. A little tape around the straw where it's inserted will hold it in place.
 
Blw2 said:
I still think it might be cool if a whole bunch of builders could sit down and sketch out a perfect workshop layout and brainstorm it. A ground up construction project. Sure, there would be differences from person to person, but I'll bet a lot of similarities too. It might be interesting to see the disagreements too....buffer near the door, no buffer near the sander, etc....
Click to expand...

Since you're looking to pick a fight about it :), it was actually buffer, sander, band saw, and vice all on one rolling table near the door. Anything with fillings and dust closer to the big driveway door than the house entry door.
 
I have a pneumatic rivet puller and a Milwaukee puller. By far my favorite is the Milwaukee. Even though I have a reasonably quiet compressor, the shop stays a whole lot quieter with the Milwaukee because the compressor isn’t used at all. I also like being able to move the tool without it being attached to a hose. Yes, the pneumatic rivet puller is faster, but since buying the Milwaukee, I haven’t used the pneumatic.
 
Self paint or not

I have no experience with the Red battery puller so I can only comment on the HF air puller. It worked fine and is pretty cheap. It does not take a large compressor but your small one will most likely run quite a bit of the time to keep up.

You can reduce that with a bigger tank and medium sized compressor. If you plan to paint your plane, you will need a much larger compressor and a bunch of other air line considerations to filter and cool the air.

So if you are going to paint you might as well get a large paint size compressor rather than a medium sized one.

When buying tools I watch for good prices but quality is critical. The cost of the tool is the difference between the initial cost and the amount you can sell it for used.

Have fun on your build.
 
I would like to respond to all these good suggestions. How do you put in the "quote" by the poster with their name? for now I will do it longhand.

N8DAV8R, Any pic of the the setup, sounds like something I might do.

rockwoodrv9, no painting other then priming (rattle cans)

Blw2, Jcurry, Thanks for the support

David Paule, my girl and I built (2) 2 x 5 tables with retractable wheels.
 
YME said:
I would like to respond to all these good suggestions. How do you put in the "quote" by the poster with their name? for now I will do it longhand.

N8DAV8R, Any pic of the the setup, sounds like something I might do.

rockwoodrv9, no painting other then priming (rattle cans)

Blw2, Jcurry, Thanks for the support

David Paule, my girl and I built (2) 2 x 5 tables with retractable wheels.
Click to expand...

Just hit the "Quote" button on the lower right part of the screen and type your response.
 
Get the biggest compressor you can afford. I wish I could get a two stage one, I'm constantly waiting for my compressor to catch up to my die grinder and rivet squeezer. You could always sell it when you no longer need it. I'm ex-airline and have all air driven tools.
 
N8DAV8R said:
Since you're looking to pick a fight about it :), it was actually buffer, sander, band saw, and vice all on one rolling table near the door. Anything with fillings and dust closer to the big driveway door than the house entry door.
Click to expand...

N8DAV8R

Any pictures of the rolling table
 
YME said:
N8DAV8R

Any pictures of the rolling table
Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed this. I can look for a picture but not sure what I'll have. The table I mentioned was just a basic little rectangle, previously home to a wood lathe that I re-purposed for the build. I made fancy carts and jigs and stuff for my build but the table with the messy tools was an exception. It was just something I had that rolls, had a couple drawers, and I could jam the saw, sander, vice, and polisher on. It's actually living out it's 3rd life now as place to store dog and chicken feed.
 
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