RivetBangers.com

I started riveting the ribs to the spars tonight and it was the first time I had the opportunity to use some tungsten bars I picked up. Wow! These things are great! I did almost all the rivets for the main spar with a little bar about 1 1/4 x 3/4 x 1 which is somewhat triangle shaped. It only weighs about a pound but with all the weight in that little area it works really well. It is a lot easier to control the bar because it is all right in your finger tips.

Anyone else tried tungsten. I know that Bill Repucci from one of the other boards listed it as one of his favorite tools, now I know why.

Where did you get them? The only ones I have seen were really pricey (like hundreds).

T.

Good question. I am somewhat of a sucker for neat tools so had been watching for a tungsten bar after reading about them. Even on Ebay they seemed pretty pricey. Finally I called and talked to a place that sold them (can't say were) and told them what I wanted to buy and what I was doing with it. To make a long story shorter they had 6 bars that were basically rejects or broken from larger bars. He assured me that they would work great for my pupose of building the 7 but wanted to sell all of them at once. We worked out a price and I bought all 6 of them. I plan on selling 4 of them on Ebay once I figure out which ones I want to keep.

Before listing them on Ebay I will see if anyone in my EAA chapter is interested in them or if someone here is interested I can post photos. They are still quite a bit more than regular bars but from what I saw worth it. Plus I think once a person is done with them they will be able to get their money back easily by selling to another builder.

If anyone here is interested let me know. I'd rather sell to RB people than on Ebay.

I would like to know more,

Pat

I'd like to know more too... (I mean about the T bucking bars)
Lorin D
9A Wings

Hmmmm, yah... me too!

I am specualting that the harder metal makes a better bucking surface due to the shorter bucking time, better tonal quality (listening for the properly driven rivet) and less chance of work hardening.

Am I far off?

What shape are these bars? What size? What do they weigh? How about a pic?

CJ

I think the biggest difference is the density of the tungsten. I find it a lot easier to position and keep the bar where I want it to be because I can get a good hold on it and all the weight is in my hand and close to the rivet.

They do sound a little different also, seems louder to me with a distinct "ring" with each hit. Here is a photo of the one I used on the wing ribs along side the bucking bar that was my favorite.



Believe it or not the little one works better. It weighs in at a smidge over 1 pound which is substantially lighter than the larger bar shown.

I will try to take some photos of the other bars tonight and post them later.

I decided I better do this right now because once I get started working on the other wing I won't want to quit. Here is a photo of the bars I purchased.

As you can see some are broken and were part of a larger bar. Also they are not highly polished. My guess is they were rejects and never got through all the final prep. I plan on keeping #1 and #2, I may keep #3 for backriveting also, I have not decided for sure. If anyone is interested in any of these let me know which ones.



I would sell #4 - #7 to RBer's for $75 each.

#8 is not real heavy but I believe it would work fine on 3/32 rivets and I would sell it for $35.

#9 is real light and quite small, if someone is interested in it make an offer.

I'll pay shipping if anyone is interested. I've been watching on Ebay and I believe the larger ones would bring $100 or a little more there so if you buy one and don't think it is worth it I believe you could get your money back without much trouble.

Any question feel free to email me, rv7 at agfp dot com.

Spike if this is out of line just delete it. I'm not sure what the rules are on selling things. It wasn;t my original intent with this post.

John, I'd be happy to take #4 off your hands. I'd take more if others aren't interested, but would like to give everyone an equal opportunity to try these things.

I'll consider #4 sold.

I meant to put #5 at $60 instead of $75.

John,

I don't know how you found those bars, but that was good luck.

A number of builders have asked me about mine and I tried buying some tungsten but never came up with a source.

The three bars I have were all gifts, if you can believe that.

The two shapes I show on my site have worked out great!

If the rest of you can find some, get it. They are well worth the price, even if you have to pay $100 each I would buy them. You won't believe that until you use them.

Bill Repucci
www.repucci.com/bill/baf.html

Bill, I was one of the people asking about yours! I just kept digging and finally came up with some. They are nice.

Update: The only bars left ar #6 and #7 and sale is pending on one of them.

I sure hope everyone else likes them as much as I do!

John,

Sorry about that, I had a number of people contact me regarding those bars and was never able to come up with the stuff.

Good to hear you located some and found it as useful as I have.

Bill

No problem at all Bill. Your report and praises of the tungsten were one of the main reasons I kept looking for them.