Tungsten Bucking Bar

[jackking123]

Sorry Newbie question. Searched and found nothing. Simple question what shape/weight tungsten bucking bar do you recommend (for tight places, riveting on bottom wing skin or back fuselage skins, etc).

I am not new at building and have a BOX full of bucking bars. Been awhile since last project, +$170 for a 1.3lb to 1.5lb bucking bar for being denser for tight spaces is hard for a cheap skate.

Of my +10 bucking bars my smallest 3 bucking bars are 7oz, 1lb and 1.47lb.... I don't use the two light ones unless I have to, and where tungsten comes in? The 1.47lb one is like a cube with one side cut at angle about 1.75 x 3.5 x 1.75.

I want the bucking bar weight as as much as practical. My large Big Bertha is 3.87 lbs. I will use it almost always if I have room. I have a bunch in the middle plus the 3 "light" bars.

• Do you think it's worth it?
• What shape, weight, vendor's do you recommend?
• I have a friend with a tungsten bucking bar (hint borrow as needed, ha ha).

 

[AlpineYoda]

I'm going to guess that about 50% of my rivets were bucked with a small tungsten bar - sort of like you describe. 2 inches long, 1/2 inch thick, with an angle on one end and a square end on the other. 10% were done with a tool steel bucking bar that had a bunch of complex shapes for really hard to reach situations. The other 40% were back riveted for large sections like the fuselage or wings, where backriveting can be done quickly and consistently.

Most people I've talked to have a small variety of bucking bars for various needs. The best actual size and weight really depends on your hand size, strength, fatigue, etc.

 

[wirejock]

I have three and use two almost exclusively. They are both about 3-4" long with an angled face. One is maybe 3/4" thick. The other is about 1/4" thick and the face angled as opposed to tilted.

 

[mountainride]

The most common Tungsten Bar in the US is the Aircraft Tool Supply ATS 6007. This is the 1x4x5/8 bar with an angled face that is included in most RV kits and can be used to hit 95% of the rivets in the kit. Cleveland modifies this bar by cutting the angle on the long end. It can be purchased directly from Aircraft Tool Supply, ACS or many other suppliers. I made some bumpers for this that prevents dings and allows the bar to be positioned on the shop end blindly. I can look at a set of bottom skins and tell whether or not a bumper was used.

 

[mburch]

I have a bunch of different tungsten bars, but my most-used ones are the 6007 depicted above, and the 6005 which looks like this:

 

[rockyfatcat]

I worked at Robinson Helicopter while going through A&P school. I did one man riveting everyday, and I even made my own bucking bars. The first time I used a tungsten bucking bar, I borrowed it and immediately went and bought my own.

If you have a similar set of experiences. You’ll love it. Tungsten is smaller but heavier. The additional weight makes it act like a much bigger bar.

 

[Girraf]

A tungsten bar is absolutely worth the money. It made riveting a more satisfying and enjoyable experience. I have just the one.....1x4x5/8 with the 20 deg angled face.

 

[DougRDU]

I love my simple rectangular tungsten bar and have other shapes on my wish list

 

[penguin]

Once you get a tungsten bar you will rarely use anything else, all my steel bars are rusty...

 

[543TB]

Thousands of rivets bucked with the tungsten bar, the handful done with a steel bar had much less satisfactory results.

 

[Carl Froehlich]

I have one tungsten bar that I borrowed. The rest are steel.

In the photo the bars are lined up with most used on the left. Here the first is 80%, the tungsten 15%, the “shoe” 3%, the funny looking thin bar (a fly market $1 special) perhaps 1% (but without it some rivets can’t be done), the last two are rarely used.

I find the tungsten bar ok and it is best choice for some rivets to, but the larger steel bar is, at least for me, easier to keep square on the rivet. It is especially good at riveting bottom wing skin as the side of the bar is the rivet surface (so the bar fit in your palm as you are doing the contortions to get your hand under the skin.

Side note - I have helped a neighbor on his RV-14 project and used his long, thin tungsten bar. It was handy for some hard to buck tail cone rivets.

Carl

 

[PhatRV]

I bought my only tungsten bucking bar to rivet the wing bottom. This is what I used.