What`s a Cleco

Aircraft Building
IN THE WORLD OF CUSTOM-
What's a Cleco?
b u i l t airplanes, sheetmetal airplanes are very
popular. Among the EAA
SportAir workshops held
An introduction to sheet-metal tools
around the nation, the
one teaching sheet-metal
RON ALEXANDER
construction techniques
is always the first to fill
up because people want
to learn how to build an airplane using a tried-and-true method.
Besides being popular, sheetmetal c o n s t r u c t i o n is comparatively easy—assuming you acquire
the basic knowledge and skills and
have the proper tools. Tools, you
might ask. Aren't they expensive?
Tools can be expensive, but generally you can buy what you need
to build a sheet-metal airplane for
less than $1,000. You can spend a
lot more, if you w a n t , because In a d d i t i o n , tool suppliers like
there are tools you must have— Aircraft Spruce & Specialty and
and tools t h a t would be nice to Avery Tools have created tool
have. We'll discuss both kinds and lists and even s p e c i a l l y priced
let you decide between the two.
tool packages.
Having the correct tools before
Often these lists and packages
starting any project is important, are divided into "beginning" and
and most kit manufacturers and "add-on" categories, and the tools
designers provide a list of tools they contain are aircraft specific.
needed to build their airplanes. For e x a m p l e , some a i r c r a f t use
A good way to understand the tools you'll
need is to look at the
steps used in sheetmetal construction.
86
MAY 2001
solid rivets b u i l d e r s
must drive with a pneum a t i c rivet gun and a
bucking bar or squeeze
w i t h a n o t h e r tool.
Other aircraft are built
u s i n g b l i n d rivets,
which are installed—
"pulled" in sheet-metal
lingo—using a small,
inexpensive rivet tool.
(Note: Don't call the blind rivets used to build an airplane "Pop
rivets." A trademarked brand
name available at local hardware
stores, Pop rivets are not designed
for—and should not be used in—
a v i a t i o n a p p l i c a t i o n s . Avdel
C h e r r y Textron is the l e a d i n g
m a n u f a c t u r e r of aviation-grade
blind rivets.)
Because sheet-metal construction uses a lot of pneumatic tools,
you'll need an air compressor capable of delivering 80 to 100 psi.
You don't need a n y t h i n g elaborate, but pay attention to the size
of its storage t a n k as well as the
horsepower of the compressor's
motor. The larger the t a n k , the
l o n g e r you can run your p n e u matic drill or die grinder before the
Airmaster
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Ph: (414) 961-7077,
motor starts up and chugs life back
i n t o your tools. In a d d i t i o n to
powering tools, compressed air is
an excellent way to clean parts and
make sure critical items, such as
the fuel line you just built, are free
of debris.
A good way to understand the
tools you'll need is to look at the
steps used in sheet-metal construction. After measuring and marking
the required outlines, you cut the
sheet-metal parts and, if necessary,
bend them as required by the
plans. Then you drill holes for the
rivets and assemble the pieces using a Cleco, what you might call a
temporary rivet.
Once you're sure everything fits
as it's supposed to, you disassemble the parts, remove the b u r r s
from the holes, and countersink or
dimple the holes if you're using
flush rivets. If required, you prime
the parts before you reassemble
them with Clecos. Finally, you replace the Clecos with rivets.
It's tool time. Please remember
that this is a generic list, and the
must-have and nice-to-have tools
on it may not a p p l y to all k i t s .
When building a tool chest, the
m a n u f a c t u r e r ' s list of required
tools is the place to start.
Measuring, Cutting & Bending
Kit manufacturers usually provide sheet metal a l r e a d y cut to
size, but you occasionally may
have to do some cutting and trimming. Bending is another matter,
and u s u a l l y you can do w h a t ' s
needed with a small metal brake,
rounded wood, etc. Often, the kit's
plans will show you how to build
the required bending tool.
Before we cut we must measure,
and there are two must-have tools
in this category: steel rulers and
Sharpie ultra fine point markers. A
third might be a scribe, which usually has straight and bent steel
points set in an aluminum handle.
Nice-to-have tools include an
edge marker block, an adjustable
holder for a marking pen that enables you to mark a line parallel to
the sheet's edge, a protractor to
measure angles, and a grip scale to
measure hole depths and determine what length fastener to use.
Because most sheet-metal kits
come pre-cut, your must-have cutting tools are snips, often referred
to as "offset metal snips." There
are three types—left hand, right
hand, and straight—and the direction indicates the direction the
snips cut while keeping the mateSport Aviation
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Aircraft Building
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rial away from your hands. The
handles are color-coded: red-handled snips cut straight and to the
left, and green snips cut to the
right. Combination snips cut in
any direction, and they are made
of aluminum.
Hole and circle cutters are selfexplanatory, and you'll need them
to create your instrument panel,
among other things. The same goes
for h a n d - n i b b l i n g tools, which
notch and trim metal and cut
holes. If you want to spend more,
there are pneumatic nibblers.
A pneumatic die grinder is on
the line between must-have and
nice-to-have because it's a multipurpose tool. It cuts, grinds, and
polishes metal. And if you're not
careful, you can hurt yourself with
its spinning attachments.
On the nice-to-have side is a
pneumatic shear, which will cut
up to 18-gauge metal with very little distortion. Costing less than
$100, most of these tools remove
about 1/4 inch of material, and
they make long, straight cuts in
aluminum simple.
If you're scratch-building an airplane, where you have to cut all
its parts from sheets of metal, you
may consider a portable or large
foot-operated metal shear more
than "nice to have." Large foot
shears cost between $1,000 and
$2,000 and come in different cutting widths, with 37 and 52 inches
being the most common. For
a r o u n d $300 you can get a tool
that is a combination shear, bending brake, and slip roll machine.
(A slip roller, also available as a
separate tool, bends metal into a
curve—a useful tool, but not necessary for the average homebuilder.) The only tradeoff is that
the maximum cutting width will
be between 12 and 30 inches.
M u s t - h a v e b e n d i n g tools include the h a n d seamer, w h i c h
bends small flanges and tabs, and
fluting pliers, which cost less than
88
MAY 2001
A pneumatic drill is used after you've measured and cut
your metal.
$30 and straighten rib flanges and
form curved stringers by pushing
down a small area of metal and
p u l l i n g an adjacent bit of metal
into the bend.
You should buy these tools from
aviation suppliers, especially the
hand seamer, because the aviation
version has a radius edge that pre-
Clecos and cleco pliers hold your just-drilled parts together temporarily.
vents you from bending too sharp a
radius in the metal. Hand seamers
used for welding or duct work don't
have t h i s radius. Another handy
tool is the metal shrinker/stretcher,
which has interchangeable jaws for
either stretching or shrinking.
Nice-to-have tools include sheetmetal brakes, which bend metal of
v a r y i n g w i d t h s up to 48 inches
wide. They cost around $500 and
come in two versions. The straight
brake bends the metal as a single
piece, as you'd fold a piece of paper. A pan or box brake gives you
more bending flexibility by moving or removing metal fingers so
you only bend one part of a piece
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Aircraft Building
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Drilling & Assembling
Once you've measured and cut your metal, it's time
to put holes in it, lots of them, because lots of rivets is
what holds a sheet-metal airplane together. To make
these holes you can use an electric or cordless drill, but
most sheet-metal builders use a pneumatic drill because
they are lighter and smaller than their electrical siblings.
When shopping for a pneumatic drill, make sure
you get a variable speed model because using the
speed best suited for the material you're drilling results in the best holes. (For easy-to-drill material like
a l u m i n u m , use a high speed, and for a tough material, like stainless steel, use a slower speed.) A drill capable of holding a 1/4- or 3/8-inch bit will meet your
needs. You might also think about getting a right-angle pneumatic drill and a flexible drill attachment to
drill holes in those hard-to-reach places.
To make the holes, you'll need drill bits, and for the
best results in sheet metal you want split points because they are less prone to "walking" across the sheet
and scarring it. Bit sizes are numbers that correspond
to the decimal equivalent of their diameter in inches.
Because a properly driven rivet expands a bit, drill
the rivet's hole just a bit bigger than the rivet's diameter. The most commonly used rivet sizes and their accompanying drill bits are 3/32-inch and #40, and 1/8
inch and #30.
Drill stops are another must-have tool because they
keep you from breaking bits and letting the d r i l l
chuck hit—and scar—the metal's surface. A Unibit is
another must-have tool. It's a bit specially designed to
drill larger holes, usually between 1/8- and 3/4-inch.
And to hold your just-drilled parts together temporarily, while you make sure everything fits, you'll
need Clecos. Lots of them, perhaps 500 or more. And
you'll need a couple of Cleco pliers, a tool that costs
around $10 and inserts and removes the temporary
fasteners. Like rivets and drill bits, Clecos come in different sizes, and they are color-coded so you can tell
them apart: zinc (3/32—#40); copper (1/8—#30);
black (5/32—#20); and brass (3/16—#11).
In addition to the spring-loaded, pliers-applied
rivet-hole Clecos, side-grip Clecos hold pieces of material together at their edges without holes, and wingnut Clecos pull pieces of metal together with their
gripping action.
Next month we'll look at deburring tools, rivet guns,
and other sheet-metal tools. And remember, the one
nice thing about tools is that you don't have to buy
them all at once. After you have the basics you can add
a tool to your workshop as the need for it arises.
90
MAY 2001