• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

Building with minimal tools

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
6,143
Location
Wisconsin
This morning I was working on the Cassutt at the shop and forgot to lock the front door. A customer walked in and started chatting. I live in a small enough town where there's quite a few locals who know what I'm doing, they like to stop and "check up" so to speak. It occurred to me there's an overwhelming amount of people who say they'd love to build things like this but don't have a shop or tools.

When he left I thought, gosh darn it, almost everything I do I do is with hand tools or crap I get and rebuild. Many projects can get done in a incredibly small spot. You don't need a shop.

I'm working on my stick and taking photos of my progress for my Facebook group and decided to gather all the tools I used for my stick.
20170825_120248.jpg

It's amazing how much fun you can have with basic hand tools, there's just no excuse for anyone not building. Money, space and tools are just not an excuse.

Anyone reading this who hasn't started building but really wants to can start today for less than a hundred dollars in material. You could spend a year or two just building small parts using nothing but hand tools and some sheet & tubing.

I took about 30 photos but here's just a couple showing what hand tools can do. There's just no excuse, start today!!!!!

Putting ends caps on torque tube. Every tube and fabric airplane has something similar to the attached photos. It's all done with hand tools. And it's fun.
20170825_115632.jpg

You can also cut with a $5 hack saw.
20170825_115728.jpg

Bending parts can be done on a side of a small bench using a homemade radius block, clamp and a hammer.
20170825_115813.jpg
20170825_115935.jpg

Hold with basic clamps.
20170825_120059.jpg

Everything is done with hand tools.
20170825_120320.jpg
20170825_120350.jpg
20170825_120416.jpg

You literally don't have a valid excuse to not start. Go to rummage sales, antique shops, relatives, friends, eBay, Craigslist and just get the minimum. Working with minimal tools is both fun and challenging, that's why we do it.

Just start. Stop reading threads and just pick something and start!
 
Back
Top