Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  8-14-2011
Number of Hours:  0.10
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Recoilless Bucking Bar

Today I started using a new rivet bucking tool I bought recently called a "recoilless bucking bar". It was kind of on the expensive side, but my-o-my is it an awesome tool!! The handle of it has some sort of high tension spring arrangement inside. You can just barely tell by pushing on it by hand, but when you start to rivet with it, you quickly realize that the amount of pressure and holding tension is significantly less than that needed with a traditional solid iron bucking bar. Its really quite amazing, actually! I wish that I'd of had it for all the other riveting I've done on airplanes over the last 23+ years!

The new bucking bar comes with a couple of different shank lengths. There is a giant button on the back of the handle that releases the shank from the handle. But the foot is a simple tapered male/female arrangement. No threads, no release pins, nothing. I wacked and wacked and wacked on the foot trying to separate it from the shank. Nothing. Didn't budge. I had a pickle fork for spitting automotive ball joints, but it was too wide for the 5/8" shank on the bucking bar. At lunch time, I stopped by the local auto parts store and found that they had a smaller version of the pickle fork and when I got home I found that it worked perfectly at separating the bucking bar foot from the shank! Yahoo! The 6.5" shank is a little easier to get into deep areas. In areas like the wing or horizontal stab, the shorter shank would be the length of choice.
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Recoilless Bucking Bar

Recoilless Bucking Bar

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