![Trimming composites gets the full PPE job. [Credit: Eric Stewart]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/7-2.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "A Few of My Favorite Tools")
![Lowell Farrand spent years serving as an FAA DAR and is in the EAA Hall of Fame. He offers sound advise to builders. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/unnamed-4.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Think Like a Builder")
![Author Bill Wilson takes a break from measuring and cutting the Lexan windshield during his Onex build. [All Images Credit to Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Think Like A Builder")
Fun With Fly Cutters
Did you ever wonder what kind of tool makes those graceful machine marks on factory-made brackets and manifolds?
Static Prop Balancer
I fly my Pulsar with a 60-inch GSC ground-adjustable wood prop because it smoothes out engine pulses from the Rotax 912, and it allows...
Cleco Card
If you are like most metal airplane builders, you probably have a couple of plastic cups or buckets full of Clecoes in your shop....
Worktable Suggestions
I like to use white melamine-faced particle board for my worktables. The tabletops are smooth and hard and easy to clean or drill holes...
In Case You Missed It
Learning To Weld
After years of procrastination, the author decides to jump into welding with both feet, and finds that it is an acquired skill achieved only by practice and the right mindset.
Fiberglass Parts Holder
Photo 1. Fiberglass parts sitting on the hangar floor are easily damaged by...