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bucking bar

SteveL

Active Member
Good morning!
Does anyone have a good Aircraft Spruce bucking bar recommendation for getting up under the cockpit rails and just forward of the roll bar. RV7A slider. I have Spruce's standard "Red Box" set but none work all that great.
Thanks!
SteveL
 
Thin tungsten bar

I have a thin tungsten bucking bar. Can't remember where I got it. It's about 1/4" thick and maybe 1x4 with one end angled. I sometimes tape the bigger cousin to it for even more mass. That's what I used on those rivets.
 
Ditto on the thin tungsten bar with and angle. I got mine from another builder but not sure where it originated. I have 3 tungsten bars and quickly realized my huge collection of steel bars were obsolete for 95% of the rivets.
 
I have a thin tungsten bucking bar. Can't remember where I got it. It's about 1/4" thick and maybe 1x4 with one end angled. I sometimes tape the bigger cousin to it for even more mass. That's what I used on those rivets.

Larry, is this the one you've got? https://www.cleavelandtool.com/products/tungsten-bucking-bar-77?variant=18378249273406

I'm about to do these same rivets so I'm the same boat as SteveL. I have a few other tungsten bars which are all I use anymore, but none of them are quite the right shape to get up under the canopy rails.

bb77_lg_d8e8a86f-fa1c-4b6c-968a-20c43c448efe_1024x1024@2x.jpg
 
Tungsten bar


That's the one. Handy little bar. I usually tape the heavier one as close to the work as possible for extra mass. Helps set the rivet faster. I know I used it for most of the tricky rivets. There's one or two either side by the canopy deck that are real tricky. I may have used a thin chunk of steel taped to the big bar for those. I know some builders use a CherryMax instead.
 
I stayed away from Tungsten bucking bars for a while due to their cost. Once I got one I realized what I was missing. I have a couple now. One thin one I think is about 3/8" wide.
 
Larry, is this the one you've got? https://www.cleavelandtool.com/products/tungsten-bucking-bar-77?variant=18378249273406

I'm about to do these same rivets so I'm the same boat as SteveL. I have a few other tungsten bars which are all I use anymore, but none of them are quite the right shape to get up under the canopy rails.

bb77_lg_d8e8a86f-fa1c-4b6c-968a-20c43c448efe_1024x1024@2x.jpg



I have that one and the one Brian linked. I also have a larger rectangle that is twice the mass. Between those, I don’t use any other bars on the plane. I still use a large steel bar for table top riveting occasionally.
 
I bought a small, thin tungsten bar from Cleveland tools at Oshkosh. I believe it was a sort of "seconds" item. If you have problems finding something, send me a message. You could also probably make a similar one out of 1/4" steel. They are 3/32" rivets, so it doesn't have to be all that much. Yes, I like Tungsten better too, but sometimes you have to improvise. In that area, you can probably make it plenty long length wise to get some weight / mass. There's a least one or two rivets where it's advantageous to have an angle on it.
 
SteveL,

I fought the rail rivets too , then I looked in my tool shed and found an old steel wood splitting wedge .. so used the head was mushroomed .
I put it on the grinder and reshaded the last 2 inches of the cutting end to about 3/8" wide x 1.5" across x 2" up the shank . All square and true with sharp flat corners. and polished it on the wheel . also ground off the mushroom end on one side so it would lay flat to the aluminum . wrapped it in duct tape for a handle .
It turned out to be one of my best tight area bucking bars .
Homemade and handy .

Sam
 
I ended up with so many bucking bars after the wings and fuselage were done. Two tungsten ones, and a bunch of odd shaped steel ones for several "special" rivet locations. One I found really useful was shaped like a T, with a thick center to hold, and very thin "arms" that you can get in tight spots. Going to try to rivet my top-forward skin on solo in a few weeks, and I'll probably end up using three or four different bars to get in those nooks and crannies like behind the tipper release linkages.
 
SteveL I ended up make a bucking bar for the job. It was easy to make and did a great job. If you want a picture, drop me a PM.
Allen
Very slow build 7A
 
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