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Help! My tools are always in the wrong place..

spatsch

Well Known Member
My airplane is at the hanger which is about 50 minutes from my home (welcome to the NY metro area...). Now I started building again which I do at my home for efficiency reasons. My RV which I maintain myself is at the airport. So the problem I am running into is that I am not only shuttling tools back and forth a lot but often the tool I need is in the wrong place which adds effectively a 2 hour time penalty to finishing the project.

I can't be the first one that ran into that issue. How do people solve this?

I thought I built myself a trailer with all the tools in it. Maybe even a workbench. Then I at least move all tools back and forth and I can finish any project either at the airport or at home. Right now my tools are "split" between the two... .

Any suggestions/pictures welcome!

Thx

Oliver
 
Will follow this one with interest... Just moved my project from my home to an airport about 45 minutes away. Still getting set up there, but so far what I've found is that it helps to have several smaller jobs going at once - when I get held up for lack of a tool or something that is back at my home shop, I can just move to the next smaller job, until I get held up there as well. I'm writing more notes and 'don't forget to bring...' lists than I ever did, that's for sure.
 
Yard sales, hangar clean outs and Harbor Freight "bargain bins". --That is the answer!

When I get so old, I can't remember anything, and my kids have to sell off all my airplane junk, it will be a mystery why I have at least 2 of every hand tool.
 
It is a common plight of having important parts of your life scattered about at different locations. Once you figure out that you need a copy of each tool at each location, then you find that ones of the same kind/size gravitate toward each other at a single location...
 
Tools

Depends on the job. A duplicate set of everything in an average builder's shop would be very expensive. Start with a list from memory. List all the tools you needed but didn't have.
A second set of wrenches and such is pretty cheap at Harbor Fright. Use the coupons. I have lots of HF duplicates for off roading, long trips, etc. A set of rechargable battery power tools can fulfill quite a few jobs and save hauling the big guns. Love my Ryobi stuff. Consider security too.
Then you can decide if a tool bag is adequate or if you need a trailer! :D
 
For the first year after moving to the hanger, I kept tools in my truck that I used at home and at the hanger. I gradually found the ones I needed to buy an extra to have one for both locations. A battery drill with charger and a set of sockets come to mind. My default location is to leave the tool at the hanger...and since I'm there anyway, I should get in a quick flight to justify the trip.
 
Tools

I would suggest making sure your rechargable tools...drills, saw, handheld air compressor, sander...are all the same brand and use the same battery.
Have a charger at home and the hanger.
This way, if you don't buy two of everything, at least you won't be stuck when your battery goes dead at home, and your only charger is at the hanger.
 
I've duplicated simple stuff like wrenches, socket sets, etc - too hard to try and move stuff around, I always forgot where things were and never had what I needed. I struggle enough remembering to bring a headset along when I go flying (and that's with one of those Tile locators attached to it so I can figure out where it is!).

I have bought sets from Tekton (www.tekton.com) - they are really nice tools for the price. Free shipping, and you get a 10% credit for every order from them online. I have no connection with them at all, just a satisfied customer.
 
I carry tools in bags. I've got a bag for wrenches and pliers and a bag for sockets and another for screwdrivers and cordless driver. I've got a drill bag with all the bits and extra batteries and such. I have 2 large bags for sheetmetal tools. Easy to load what I'm going to need. Make a list of what you're going to need next time before you leave the hangar.

Ed Holyoke
 
I have the same problem, only my drive to the airport is one hour. I finally capitulated and bought a second set of cheap tools for the house and left the good ones at the hangar. I still need a second air compressor, though.
 
I have the same problem. While building my RV, everything was in the basement shop, including the aircraft. When I moved the airframe to the hangar 50 minutes away, I slowly ended up purchasing duplicate tools from a hardware store that was closer to the hangar vs a round trip back home. I didn't like it, but it was more cost effective than a round trip to the home shop.

Now, the RV is in a hangar only 35 minutes from the house, but I have a second aircraft in Maryland which is 5 hours away. Guess what??? I now have three sets of tools: home shop, local hangar, and now the hangar in MD.

I do not have an economical solution to the OPs question.
 
Make friends with others at the airport that will allow you to borrow a tool now and again. Do not abuse this relationship and make sure you return the tool IMMEDIATELY after you are done using it.
 
When we finished our bush plane, it was at an airpark 25 miles away, and we commuted several times a week to work on it by RV. I ended up stranding a number of duplicate tools down there, and for the unique stuff for which I only had one copy, I had a tool bag that went back and forth with me.

I generally had a work plan for the next session when I left the project, so that I knew what I had to bring along on the subsequent visit. This worked out about 95% of the time, and we almost never wasted a session because of not having the right tool. It’s all in the planning.
 
It will pass. Simply because you will do something about the problem. You need the right tools in the right place. For most folks it probably means buying some duplicates.

The tools I have in the hangar are much more maintenance related and are the smaller subset (still more than a double stacked rollaround) of the home set. The tools at home are more fabrication related and way wider range. Conversely, I have more aviation hardware and parts at the hangar vs less at home.
 
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Make friends with others at the airport that will allow you to borrow a tool now and again. Do not abuse this relationship and make sure you return the tool IMMEDIATELY after you are done using it.

I keep trying to give my friend his engine stand back. He says that's ok, to just hang onto it. I think he likes the free storage and extra floor space in his jam packed hangar (1 of 3).
 
A little off topic but I found a real good way to store my commonly used hand tools and wrenches etc. The magnetic tool holders from Harbor freight work well. I put them up high, on a frame over my workbench so they are easy visible and reachable. An 8' length of those things hold a lot of tools. Amazing how much time aggregates in looking for specific tools in drawers or boxes and then putting them back. Now I just grab it, use it, then stick it back up. Maybe not the same place but just as easy to find next time. A duplicate but smaller setup is on my rolling cart toolbox at the hangar.
 
Just dealing with this myself now. When the empennage went to the hangar, it stopped being a storage space and became a workshop, so the additional setup began. Made a cheap workbench out of a flat solid-core door, added lighting, bought a cheap compressor and brought some cheap tools from the house. Once the fuselage and wings make it to the hangar, I'll bring the C-table with all the metalworking tools over and either invest in more tools or bring the rolling chest to the hangar. It will be awhile before I have to worry about that, but I am enjoying the beginning stages of hangar transformation.
 
Where do you need tools? Kind of a poll

I created a little google sheet that we can all edit to log where we should put our tools. Feel free to add your tools to the list, and increment the counter on the physical location you believe we should have the tools.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MN-R7TZFQlJm5VEA7AtQ6cKC6oO1IciaHSLckP6QNsU/edit?usp=sharing

Just increase the number in the cell if you have your tool there. I think it might be interesting to see which tools others have found useful in which location.
 
I found a great way to build an airplane without any tools. I happened into a great situation at our local airport. I helped an older gentleman finish a rv 6 which I had to fly the initial 25 hours off. Free fuel.
When I expressed a desire to build my own the hangar owner said build it here. No rent and a shop with lathes milling machine and all the tools you could ever need and more. Just make sure the tools are put away when you are done.(I do keep the keg replenished as I live beside a craft brewery) it also comes with advice as a few senior aviators and builders visit most evenings. The owner has never built an airplane but just likes to see planes built and is able to afford it and is very generous and a promoter of aviation.

It?s always better to be lucky than good. Finished my rv9a and looking at my next project.

Jack
 
I bought some utility boxes (commonly used for holding fishing lures etc) that have adjustable sizes to store my supply of cotter pins, nuts, bolts, etc. that I bring back and forth from the workshop to the hangar depending on what I am working on. Nothing worse than making the drive to the hangar only to find out you ordered the wrong nut or do not have the correct cotter pins. I solved this by buying at least 10 of most sizes and keeping them well organized in the boxes. I also purchased a rolling toolbox from HF that has 5 drawers which I filled with a duplicate safety wire/screw drivers/wrench/socket sets etc that live at the hangar. The wrench set came in foam cutouts to hold them in place so no searching for the correct wrench. The key is to keep the drawers one layer deep so you can see everything in the drawer without digging and put a label on the outside of each drawer so there is no wasted effort opening this drawer then that drawer looking for a specific tool. I use 2 gallon buckets to load up with much less commonly used items to tote back and forth between workshop/hangar. If somehow I forget to bring something from the workshop to the hangar I just buy it from Home Depot (5 minute drive from the hangar) vs burning the fuel and more importantly time to go to the shop and pick it up. The last method I employ is to keep groups of tools that are used together in small portable tool boxes that (1) keeps them organized internally, (2) makes them easy to move between work locations. Example: Aviation Electrical box - I keep all my crimpers, shrink wrap, spools of small gauge wire, and similar items in it. When I grab that box I know I have everything I need for that type of work. Beyond that there is a third set of tools that live in the plane and never leave it baggage area. Enough stuff to take the wheels and wheel pants, and cowl off.
 
The same thing happened to me and my solution was to build my own grass runway beside my house. Now I have all my tools in the same place and if I want to fly I can go out and be back inside my hangar in the time it used to take me before just to drive to the airport !

Another upside is that I can offer other pilots a nice airport to come visit and camp out for free and have fun in a safe, controlled, family oriented atmosphere. Get away from the cold weather and come visit us.
 
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I solved that problem about 23 years ago. My hangar is 55' from the back door of my house! The commute is VERY short.
 
get used to it. except for aviation specific tools i pretty much duplicated mine. and it still bites you all the time. like ''gee, i need a 2'' piece of alum. tubing for my lawn mower''.
 
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