No one wants to beat their airplane up with a bucking bar when driving rivets. Many people tape their bucking bars with masking tape, or duct tape. This came up in a recent thread and I decided to share my method here on the tips and techniques, hope you find it useful. Actually, my dad should get all the credit. He came up with the idea.
Go get a cheap bicycle innertube and cut it in to "rings" to stretch and fit over your bucking bar. As you rivet, slide them around to wherever you need them to do their job. The rubber gives a little, and is thinner than the completed shop head should be, so it won't get in the way. It will get beat up, so check it frequently and replace when necessary. In the picture, you can see a ring that was recently retired due to too many holes. Just cut another one and you're ready to go.
I've accidentally driven rivets when the rubber was between the rivet and the bucking bar. It drove just fine, and the innertube was still in good shape, but the shop head was not nice and shiny, it had a sort of textured appearance.
Here it is:
Tip: Bucking Bar protector / glove
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