Making bushings from Aluminum??

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
randyrls

randyrls

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2006
Messages
5,059
Location
Harrisburg, PA 17112
Can between center bushings be made from aluminum? I have some 6061 rod to try this on. I realize that the aluminum will be softer than steel, but has anyone tried it?

I use calipers for sizing the blanks, and turn my bushings about -.005" under-size so I don't hit the bushing while sanding.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
You need what is called a center drill, or combination drill and counter sink. If you are making them on a metal lathe, you could just drill a hole in them and stick the center in it. Bigger the hole the better for grip on the dead center. Wouldn't need to drill all the way through, just deep enough for the center to set in without the point bottoming out.
 
kennspens said:
can you do it on a wood lathe? i have extra bushings i was going to try and drill w/ a center drill.
Click to expand...

The tricky part on a wood lathe will be getting the bushings to fit inside the tubes really snug. You can always make the bushings undersize and use calipers on the outside but no matter what you do, the fit in the tube has to be spot on.
 
If you have one of the collet chucks (which I assume run pretty true), you can. Otherwise holding them in a work holding chuck, I am not sure how true they run for something like that. If you have two drill chucks, you might get away with using one in the head stock, but there again, it may not run true enough, but worth trying. If you can drill your aluminum stock in the drill press, either all the way, or both ends with a center drill. You could then put them between centers and turn them that way. Almost gaurantees them being right on the money.
 
What i want to try is using a center drill on my extra psi bushings to be able to turn between centers with them. I'll let you know how i do.
 
Paul in OKC said:
If they already have a hole in them, just use them as is. Although you will get a better 'drive' from the dead center one with the angle from the center drill.
Click to expand...

If he does not have very hard centers like carbide he will chew up the centers without center drilling the standard bushings. That happened to me and I had to clean up the centers then center drill the bushings.

Later, I made my own bushings which worked even better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom