Toolbox

Due to the fact that I was unable to attend a couple of Sport Air workshops as I'd planned in order to mangle aluminum & rivets that won't be part of an airplane, I ordered the Van's toolbox kit.

 

 My parents were in town for the week, and my sister for the weekend, so everyone got to experiment with the DRDT2 and rivet gun. 

 Natalie demonstrated blind riveting.

 Since I've never done any sheet metal work, having a project to learn from shortened the learning curve.

Some things I learned: familiarity with new tools, how to remove vinyl coating without scratching the alclad surface, how to identify a bad rivet, how to drill out a bad rivet, how to feather the rivet gun trigger to prevent it dancing across the surface with a flat set, and how to  better organize the shop.

At $28, this is some of the best money I've spent so far.

Toolbox: 7hrs