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Clecos (and Cleco Pliers) are the first things to master when building a metal airplane. Cleco is a brand name for a clamp that fits in a small hole.
#40 clecos are silver colored #30 clecos are bronze colored #12 are tarnished gold colored (not shown)
The cleco has an internal spring that draws back the "outer"
fingers. As they pull back, they are spread apart by the inner
finger. This causes them to fill up the hole and hold the two pieces of
material together.
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Clecos come in
many sizes. Most holes in the RV-series aircraft are either #40 (just
larger than 3/32"), #30 (just larger than 1/8"), or #12 (just larger
than 3/16").
When drilling
holes, a cleco is used to keep the holes aligned without having to insert a
permanent fastener. After some practice, it gets pretty easy. Drill,
insert a cleco in the hole. Drill, cleco, drill, cleco, drill, cleco, etc.
The plane soon
looks like a porcupine with all of those clecos installed.