Since the question comes up quite often of what tools I’m using to build the plane, I’ve decided to compile a list of all the tools.
The Airplane Factory has a rough list of tools in their introduction manual, but it doesn’t quite quantify whether you really need a specific tool. So I will keep this list to the tools that I am actually using in my build and also try to specify how or when I use it, or for some things like clecos, how many I’ve realistically needed.
Tools
| Tool | Comment | Blog reference |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee M12 Drill | A good quality drill, plus using the M12 system, the batteries are interchangable with the Rivet gun | |
| Milwaukee M12 Rivet Gun | This is my main rivet gun, all electric and quiet. | First use Pull out mandrels when riveting 3.2mm and smaller |
| Hand rivet puller | Sometimes space is tight and you need to use a hand rivet puller | |
| Rivnut puller | Drill attachement to pull rivnuts | Drilling Guide |
| Step drill bits | Used to enlarge holes for things like electrical wiring | Step drill bit use |
| Center Punch | Helpful to mark metal to drill holes, as well as to push out broken rivets if you need to drill one out. | Use center punch to drill out rivets |
| Ratcheting hand screw driver | Having both a large and small hand screwdriver for tight spaces | |
| Microstop Countersink tool | Tool to countersink holes | Drilling Guide |
| 120 degree countersink pilot cutter | Pilot cutter for pulled rivets | Drilling Guide |
| Digital Caliper | Measuring hole sizes | |
| Utility Knive | Lots of cutting | |
| Dremel | Various cutting. You *may get away without this and use manual tools instead, but it will be handy to have | |
| Heat gun | Used for electrical wiring like shrink wrap tubing | |
| Deburring tool | Deburring holes after drilling | |
| Set of files | Deburring and filing down things | |
| Hand Reamer | To enlarge holes manually | Hand Reamer usage |
| #12 Reamer drill bit | To ream out 2.4 mm rivet holes | Drilling Guide |
| #21 Reamer drill bit | To ream out 3.2 mm rivet holes | Drilling Guide |
| #30 Reamer drill bit | To ream out 4 mm rivet holes | Drilling Guide |
| #40 Reamer drill bit | To ream out 4.8 mm rivet holes | Drilling Guide |
| Quality Drill bit set | Drilling holes | |
| Wifi Endoscope | Very useful to check out the inside of parts before riveting | |
| Ratcheting Wrench Set, SAE & Metric | Tightening bolts | |
| 1/4 inch Torque wrench | To proper torque bolts | |
| 1/4 in Socket set | Torquing bolts | |
| Digital Level | To align parts | |
| Soldering Iron | Electrical connections | |
| Safety Glasses | You only have one set of eyes, protect them | |
| Aviation Snips | To cut sheet metal | |
| Needle nose pliers | Fine pliers | |
| Safety Wire Pliers | To pull safety wires | |
| KNIPEX Pliers | Adjusts in size to hold bolts | |
| Torque Lock Jaw Pliers | For when you really need to hold something tight | |
| Duckbill Pliers | This was a tip from my Technical Counselor and has come in handy a few times already to reach and holding down things in otherwise impossible to reach areas | |
| Olfa Knife | Scoring/Cutting sheet metal | Olfa Knife |
| Caulking Gun | To apply silicone and glue | Silicone use |
| Side cutter | Cutting electrical wire | |
| Automatic Wire stripper | Use this and not a cheap wire stripper | |
| Coax Wire stripper | For stripping Coax (Antenna) wire | Coax wire stripper |
| Pro's Kit Ratcheting Crimping tool | For proper crimping | |
| BNC Crimping Die | For crimping BNC connectors to Coax wire | |
| Hammer | General purpose Hammer | |
| Ruler (metric & inches) | Measuring | |
| Tape Measure | Measuring | |
| Trigger Clamps | To temporary hold parts in place | |
| Spring Clamps | Temporary holding parts | |
| Pipe flaring tool | To flare pitot tube pipe | |
| Self leveling Laser Level | Alignment of various completed parts | |
| Bench vise | Holding parts for drilling or sanding down | |
| Nylon Vise Jaws | To protect pieces held in the bench vise | |
| Hand Rivet Squeezer | For dimpling & squeezing solid rivets | |
| 120 degree dimple puller | For dimpling tight spaces using a hand rivet puller | Hand Dimpler usage |
| Magnetic pickup tool | For that inevitable time you drop a bolt inside | |
| * Brady Label Maker | Labeling Wiring. If not using a label maker, still make sure to use some other good means of labeling wires | |
| Nibbler cutting tool | To make larger, circular cuts. | Cutting Pitot inspection panel hole |
| Rattle-can spray tool | This makes priming with rattle cans much easierr |
Items marked with * may be optional, everything else, I’d consider essential.
Supplies
| Supply | Comment | Blog reference |
|---|---|---|
| 3/32" - 2.4mm cleco (silver) | Very little use in the Sling build. 25 are enough. | |
| 1/8" - 3.2mm cleco (copper) | This is the most used rivet size. For the quickbuild, 300 was the right number (The Elevator being the largest part to build). If you build from scratch you may need more. | |
| 5/32" - 4mm cleco (black) | Second most used rivet size, ~75 | |
| 3/16" - 4.8mm cleco (gold) | Used mainly for the main spars, ~25 | |
| Simple Green Aircraft Extreme cleaner | Airplane metal friendly cleaner | Priming Prep |
| Scotch Brite pads | Used to prepare parts for priming | Priming Prep |
| MEK | Solvent to clean parts | Priming Prep |
| Respirator Mask | For breathing while using chemicals like MEK | |
| Microfiber cloths | Cleaning/wiping | |
| Loctite Red 277 | Used to help fasten Rivnuts and permanent bolts | |
| Loctite Blue 243 | Used to help fasten bolts | |
| Sanding disks | Sanding edges and corners | |
| GE5050 Metal Silicone | Used in the Horizontal Stabilizer | Silicone use |
| Safety Wire | To safety things | |
| Masking tape | Marking out things | |
| Pipe insulation | To protect various sharp edges while working | |
| Waxed Lacing wire | Much cleaner than using zip ties | |
| Snap Bushings | Instead of Rubber grommets, last much longer | |
| Sandpaper | Sanding down sharp edges |
List of shops
| Supplier | Comment |
|---|---|
| Aircraft Spruce | Spare parts like bolts, extra sheet metal and some airplane specific chemicals |
| Aircraft Tool Supply | A lot of Aircraft building specific tools are made by ATS |
| Amazon.com | A surprisingly large amount of tools can be bought conveniently directly from Amazon |
| Bolt Depot | Large selection of Metric screws and bolts, which are widely used in the Sling Kit |
| Home Depot | Home Depot is handy for picking up some tools if you can't wait for online shipping |
| Stein Air | Stein Air has most things for Electrical Wiring |
| Wicks Aircraft Supply | Some specialty Tools can be bought from Wicks |
Pingback: Walkthrough of my workshop - Philip's Sling TSi Build Log
Hi Phillip,
Do you need any additional mandrels when you order the Astro Pneumatic Tool ADN14 Rivet Nut Drill Adapter Kit you list in your tool suggestions?
No, the kit has all the mandrels needed to build the Sling. Most of them are M3-M5.