Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Matteson
We have the full aircraft builder's set up in our shop with pnuematic hammer, a variety of bucking bars, and plenty of kleckos.
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For clarity, you should already have seen what a
klecko is (see some previous posts). A
bucking bar is a relatively heavy bar of metal, maybe the size of a hammer head, with a dimple in one end made to fit the head of a solid rivet. You hold the rivet (which looks like a short nail with no point) in place with it, and whack the other end with the
pneumatic hammer. The inertia of the bar holds the rivet in place so the hammer can flatten the other end. They also make bucking bars for the end-to-be-flattened, one uses it kind of like a chisel with a manual hammer. A little more effort, but really low-tech and thus simple. But you need three hands: bucking bar, flattening bar, and hammer.
Very large rivets (think
George Washington Bridge) are heated so they flatten more easily, with the important added benefit of shrinking when the cool, thus pulling the joint together even tighter. Small rivets (think FRC177 robot) rarely are heated.