Original Posted By: PIETLARS29(at)wmconnect.com
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Pietenpol ToolsHi Chad! I started building my Piet back in November and have the fuselage pretty well framed up and am working on the turtledeck stringers. One of the most useful tools for me have been the electric, laser-guided miter saw that my wife got me for Christmas a couple years ago -- I told her Iwanted to do some cove molding around the house, which I did. Of course, I wasalso thinking a little more long term, if you get my drift! It has been very useful in accurately cutting all the fuselage uprights and crossbraces with allthose different angles. Obviously you can make all those cuts with a good sharphand saw, too, but if you can get an electric laser-guided miter saw, you won't be disappointed. (Hey, if laser-guided is good enough for Al Queda, it'sgood enough for us Piet builders, too!) A bench vise is good too for when you doneed/want to make hand saw cuts.I also have a hand-me-down table saw that I've been using to cut my spruce into the various dimension strips -- I bought my spruce in 20-foot long 6-inchwide, 1-inch thick planks from McCormick's Lumber in Madison, WI. Amazingly I still have all my fingers -- as originally attached. The docs can do miracles now and reattach all kinds of various body parts, but I'd just as soon not go through that exercise -- besides, it would set back the building schedule! I also went to an auction last summer and picked up a like-new combination belt sander/disc sander for about $40. That has been very useful for smoothingparts and taking off just a little to get a perfect fit. At the same auction and for about the same money I picked up an also like-new Craftsman table router-- I haven't used it yet but am thinking I will use it for forming my own vertical and horizontal stabilizer leading edge material. Other than that, a large T-square and carpenters chalk line for keeping everything square and for laying down straight when drawing out the fuselage sideson the bench. The top longeron has to be perfectly straight. I also picked up a neat little wood chisel -- it's not only a chisel but on one side it is a flat rasp and the opposite side is a rounded rasp -- handy fortrimming off little blobs of epoxy that may drip here and there and that you may miss when wiping up excess. (My wife told me I should just leave that big C-clamp that accidentally got glued to the fuse top a week ago!) Also lots ofsandpaper and various blocks of wood to use as sanding blocks. Lots of light -- I had a couple fluorescent shop lights in the basement where I'm building the fuse. These were up by the firewall end, with a regular light bulb down by the tail. But I picked up another shop light at Home Depot forabout $10 and hung that one over the tail end -- what a difference! My feelingis that you can't have too much light (especially at my age-- I didn't used to need reading glasses until I built that darn ship model a couple years ago!)A handheld sabre/jig saw for cutting out large plywood pieces. I find that a blade for cutting sheet metal works well for cutting aircraft ply without splintering the backside all to heck. I also have a small bench jig saw which come in handy. I don't have a band saw, but that would serve very well in a widevariety of uses -- that's probably the one saw I really should have...but I'vedone okay without so far...Have fun building! And stay tuned to this list -- I've learned a lot from the real experts on this list! Great bunch of folks! Anyway, I hope this helps. Fred B.La Crosse, WIPS -- Still snowing here this fine Saturday morning -- not a good day to go out but that's okay 'cause I'm building my Piet in the basement! ________________________________________________________________________________