Thoiught it woukd be fun to make SS bushings.

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TonyL

TonyL

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Calling on machinist :-).
What do I need to make SS TBC pen bushings?

A metal lathe? What quality? Size? Etc?
What else?

I know I can buy them and I do; I also live 2 miles from Constant.

But I thought it would be fun to learn.

Thanks.

PS. I want to make them out of SS; I know they can be made of Corian, and many other materials.

Thanks again!
 
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TonyL said:
Calling on machinist :-).
What do I need to make SS TBC pen bushings?

A metal lathe? What quality? Size? Etc?
What else?

I know I can buy them and I do; I also live 2 miles from Constant.

But I thought it would be fun to learn.

Thanks.

PS. I want to make them out of SS; I know they can be made of Corian, and many other materials.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

I'm no expert but I would assume that even a small HF lathe with good quality tools would be do fine.
 
TonyL said:
Calling on machinist :-).
What do I need to make SS TBC pen bushings?

A metal lathe? What quality? Size? Etc?
What else?

I know I can buy them and I do; I also live 2 miles from Constant.

But I thought it would be fun to learn.

Thanks.

PS. I want to make them out of SS; I know they can be made of Corian, and many other materials.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
For that small a work piece you could use one of the Chinese made metal lathes (same lathe under several different name plates - including harbor freight). Stainless cuts harder than carbon steel so you might want to get a carbide turning bit to go with the lathe. Sounds like a fun project. Wish I had room. Id love to have a little metal lathe.
 
Tony, I don't wish to start an argument with our friends who have suggested a small lathe would work fine. I just wanted to tell you of my own experience with turning SS with my Micro-Lux 7x16. I use the carbide indexible insert tool. I tried turning SS ONE time, at .005" It grabbed the tool and, raised the compound up on the post. So I stopped there and, never tried it again. I suppose I could have continued with taking lighter cuts but, that would involve much more time.

If you are serious about buying a lathe, may I suggest at least a 9x20 if not larger. As my friends have told me, "you can turn small things on a big lathe but, you can't turn big things on a small lathe" In my option, the same goes for hardness of material. Just my thoughts and, some may disagree.

I can also suggest that, when selecting a lathe, look for one that has a locking lever on the tail stock. The wrenching type is a big PITA. However, there are conversions available for this. I noticed the Precision Mathews has this feature. This will be my next lathe. I hope this helps and, good luck.
 
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rd_ab_penman said:
Why go through that expense when you can TBC without bushings?

Les
Click to expand...

Les; That's sort of like asking someone, why did you make a kit-less pen when you could have bought a kit. Answer: 1- Because I want to. 2- Because I want to advance to turning metals. 3- Just for the fun of it. 4- Gives you a reason to buy new tools. Maybe we might have to move number 4 up to the number 1 spot in some of us severer cases !!! Jim S
 
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I have a Taig mini lathe, but I would forget the SS bushings with a Taig. You have to go slow, but with a few accessories you will be making all kinds of tooling. I make my own bushings out of 1018 steel and find that sufficient. I have also made bushings out of 6061 aluminum, they also work pretty good.

With the milling attachment I literally have a mini machine shop that fits in a small suit case. I can also turn pens on it, duck calls, mini hollow forms, very small bowls and every thing I can do on my bigger lathes. I am a lathe junkie, I also have both a Craftsman 618 and a Craftsman 109 metal lathes that I can make the bushings on. But I find myself using my Taig almost 100 percent of the time. I have variable speed, forward, reverse and all of the bells and whistles of the big boys. I just have to remember it is a mini lathe, a real mini lathe.

Will it ever pay for itself by making my own tooling? I doubt it, but I enjoy the time spent making the little stuff that I can buy for almost the price of the materials I use to make it. But I have the added convenience of going to my shop, and making a bushing without waiting on the mailman to bring me a replacement that I have lost.
 
Tony -- I have a couple of Taig lathes but not for stainless steel.

Most start with easier material like leaded steel to develop technique, and take advantage of less challenging materials than SS

Get a good sized lathe and plan to learn a lot

If any of the local schools have a basics for machinists class sign up and learn the fundamentals.
 
Thanks Ken and all. I have and excellent technical college nearby.
 
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