Scotch Tape and Undersized Bushings.

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Randy_

Randy_

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I've got some bushings that are a pretty sloppy fit in the tubes they are supposed to service. That sloppy fit will certainly translate to some out-of-roundness in finished pen blanks. My solution is to wrap a piece of Scotch tape around the small diameter of the bushing to build it up and create a better fit with the tube. To date a single layer of tape is all that has been necessary to change the fit from loose to snug. The tape I am using is about 1.5/1000" thick so I am removing about 0.003" of slop and inaccuracy from the fit of my bushings and tubes.....an amount that most folks can readily detect by feel. I cut the tape so it is about one mm short of being a perfecr butt joint. You don't want the tape to overlap or you may get a layer that is too thick. If a single layer of tape makes the bushing too big to fit in the tube, then the fit is probably good enough. If, however, it is looser than you would like, you might try a layer of plastic(Saran) wrap on the bushing. I think that stuff is a little thinner than Scotch tape.
 
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Aluminimum foil might be an option measuring as thin as .00025. Not sure how that compares to Saran Wrap but it would offer greater compression values. Just wrap it around the mandrel.

Chuckie
 
Originally posted by Chuck Key
<br />Aluminimum foil might be an option measuring as thin as .00025. Not sure how that compares to Saran Wrap but it would offer greater compression values. Just wrap it around the mandrel.

Chuckie
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Most standard gauge household aluminum foil is about 0.0006; the store brands are a little thinner, the value buy may go down to 0.0005, but I doubt that you can buy 0.00025. Heavy duty is about 0.0009". The commom plastic wraps run from 0.0004 to 0.0005" on average but do vary somewhat accros the width and down the length. DAMHIKT
 
IIRC one of the suppliers recommended using a high tech aluminum foil solution in the form of a beer can. This was in response to the same problem that Randy is experiencing.
 
Sometimes the bushings and barrels run long and the last bushing is on the threads of my mandrel. So I wrap a layer of masking tape around the threads to make up the diff. It works good and the barely is still mostly on the mandrel, only the tail end and the bushing are on the taped threads.
 
Originally posted by Chuck Key
<br />IIRC one of the suppliers recommended using a high tech aluminum foil solution in the form of a beer can. This was in response to the same problem that Randy is experiencing.
Click to expand...

John: I remember the thread discussing that solution and remember putting a vernier to a piece of Coke can. Sadly, I do not remember the result and don't have an empty handy. Do you know the thickness of the aluminum typically used in soda cans.

P.S. IIRC, NASA stated that the skin on the LEM was approximately the thickness of the material used for soda cans. That is a nerous thought!!![:D]
 
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