Four kits, line by line
| Contents | Home Builders Kit 3X | Pro Rivet Set Kit 3X | Red Box II | Red Box "737" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivet gun | ACAT 3X | ACAT 3X | 2X | 3X |
| Regulator and springs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rivet sets | 1/8" double offset, backshooter, flush | 4 straight, 4 offset, 2 flush | 4 straight, 4 offset, 2 flush | 4 straight, 1 flush |
| Bucking bars | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Squeezer | Texas, 3" yoke, 4 sets | — | — | — |
| Dimple dies | 3/32", 1/8", #6, #8 | — | — | — |
| Drills | Palm drill, 90° angle drill | 3/8" reversible drill | — | — |
| Drill bits | 25 bits incl. threaded and 12", plus a unibit | — | — | — |
| Drill stops | 5-piece set | — | — | — |
| Hole finders | — | 5 (#40 to 1/4") | — | — |
| Microstop and countersinks | Microstop + 4 cutters | Microstop + 5 cutters | — | — |
| Clecos | 520 spring + 10 side clamps | 96 spring + 6 side clamps | — | — |
| Cleco pliers | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Deburring | Edge tool + deburr bit | Dogleg tool + bit | — | — |
| Cutting and forming | 3 snips, fluting pliers, hand seamer | — | — | — |
| Measuring | Radius and rivet gauges, 12" scale | 6" and 12" scales, mirror | — | — |
| Other | Pop riveter, dimpling fixture, rivet tape | Hi-Lok ratchet, screw extractor, blow gun | FOD box | FOD box |
| Detail | Full contents | Full contents | Full contents | Full contents |
All four are Yardstore kits, read from its listings on 29 September 2026; each column links to the page with every line and item number. "—" means the listing does not include it.
The list, per the FAA Handbook
The Airframe Handbook names the tools "needed in the normal course of driving and upsetting rivets": drills, reamers, rivet cutters or nippers, bucking bars, riveting hammers, draw sets, dimpling dies or other countersinking equipment, rivet guns and squeeze riveters, plus the clamps and Cleco fasteners that hold the sheets.
Set that against the table. The two Red Box kits are the gun end of the list only: gun, sets, bars. The Pro kit adds holding (clecos), hole transfer (hole finders) and countersinking, but no squeezer or dimple dies. The Home Builders kit is the only one that covers dimpling and cutting, and the only one that ships drill bits.
None of the four includes rivets, sheet, a compressor or safety equipment. Rivets and sheet: materials in the catalog.
Kit, or piece by piece
Every line has its own part number. Yardstore lists each kit's contents with item numbers, so a kit can be rebuilt or topped up one tool at a time. Several are covered on their own pages: ACAT 3X, Texas squeeze, ABCD bucking bars, cleco pliers, microstop kit, hole finders.
The cleco count tells you the intended job. The Home Builders kit ships 325 clecos of 3/32" and 175 of 1/8": enough to hold whole skins of a kit aircraft. The Pro kit ships 24 of each of four sizes: enough for a repair. Sizes and colours: cleco chart.
Gun size follows the rivets. The kits come with 2X, 3X or 4X guns; which one is the question the rivet gun guide answers.
In Europe. LAS Aerospace sells the pieces rather than an equivalent of these kits on the pages we have checked: 100-cleco kit, ATS Pro rivet guns, bucking bars, hand squeezer. Its tool-kit category has not been reviewed yet.
Questions people actually ask
What tools do I need to build an airplane?
For a riveted aluminum airframe: a rivet gun with sets, bucking bars, a squeezer with dimple dies, clecos and pliers, a drill with number bits, a microstop with countersink cutters, deburring tools, snips and measuring tools. That is the Home Builders kit column above. Your kit manufacturer's own tool list overrides any general one.
How many clecos do I need?
The kits span the range: 96 in a repair-oriented kit, 520 in a home-builder kit, almost all of them 3/32" and 1/8". LAS sells a 100-cleco kit with 25 of each of four sizes.
Is a 2X or a 3X gun better in a starter kit?
The FAA Handbook names the 3X for smaller rivets in thinner structure and the 4X for normal work. Both the large kits above ship a 3X. See the rivet gun guide for the numbers.
Do these kits include a squeezer?
Only the Home Builders kit, which has a hand squeezer with a 3" yoke, four squeeze sets and four dimple die sets. The other three have none.
Limits of this guide
A comparison of listed contents.
- One seller. All four kits are Yardstore's; other sellers' kits have not been checked.
- Contents change. Kit contents were read on the date shown; the seller's page is current.
- No kit was used by us. Quality of the individual tools is not in a contents list.
- Your aircraft's list wins. A kit maker or an SRM may require tools no general kit has.
Sources
- FAA-H-8083-31, AMT Handbook — Airframe, Volume 1, Chapter 4 — p. 4-36, "Rivet Installation Tools", the list of tools needed to drive and upset rivets; p. 4-30 on Cleco fasteners.
- Yardstore kit listings — contents of the four kits, via the linked product pages under Yardstore.