Undersized Bushings. Is there such a thing?

[tommy2tone]

Howdy.. I know I haven't been on here for awhile but life got in the way.. I am wondering if anyone makes/sells undersized (Slimline) bushings. I make a lot of decal pens and apply CA over them. I am not privy enough to have the skill to use a caliber to turn. I tried turning undersized with the bushings but end up going to far and ruining blank. Would like to have undersized bushings to turn down to then build the rest up with CA.

 

[jttheclockman]

Jeff if you are talking a standard slimline pen, there is not much material there to begin with. But you can take a standard set of bushing and just turn a bit off them. You really should get to learn to use a caliper. They are digital now a days. very easy to use. Make sure you mark these odd bushings so you do not mix them up. You can do this with any set of bushings for any kit.

Or just take the blank off the bushings and sand the blank down some to compensate for the CA. That is what I do. But I use a digital caliper to tell me how far I sanded. Think you are trying to make it harder than it is. Good luck

 

[Skie_M]

Yeah, when you're down to the slimline bushings, you've got a millimeter left all the way round before you hit brass... that's not a lot of holding power against a lathe chisel. Switch to sandpaper at that point and you'll have less problems, unless you're working with a segmented blank with contrasting colors that like to bleed.

As for changing the size of a bushing .... you can do that easily by just sanding the bushings themselves with a few plain brass tubes on the mandrel ... (one in front of the bushing pair you want to alter, and one tube behind, with another bushing that you won't alter after that to tighten up for your tailstock end).

The idea is, that you just want to lightly sand some of the outer surface of your bushings away so that it's a tiny bit smaller than the standard size. Sandpaper will do this nicely, while your lathe chisels won't really want to do the job.

Don't forget to go all the way up with your micromesh pads to polish the heck out of those bushings, and then apply a few coats of paste wax for good measure, in case you forget to swap them out for vinyl or delrin bushings right before you do your CA finishing.

 

[randyrls]

Jeff; I will add to what John T and Gregory Skie said. Get a cheap set of digital calipers at Harbor Freight. Put the calipers on the fitting (not bushing) and press the zero button. Now you have a dimension to shoot for. If you need to make under sized bushings, mount 3 or 4 bushings on a mandrel. Lay a strip of sandpaper on a short piece of backer board. Now you can sand some bushings to a consistent dimension. Be sure to clean up the sanding dust, you don't want it contaminating your pen blanks.

Hope this helps.....

 

[Sataro]

For undersized bushings, you probably need to try some of my old ones out. After turning with them for a while they tend to become undersized. Not sure why over time this happens? I sure wouldn't think I was turning the bushings down along with the pen blank! :biggrin:

 

[magpens]

Yup, I agree. Sanding down the bushings on your lathe mandrel is the way to go and it's not hard. But you do need calipers to measure how much you have taken off. You only need to take off a few thousandths of an inch, 0.005" at the most, to allow for the thickness of the CA you will later put on the blank.

Looking at things differently .... why do you have to end up with a pen that matches the original size bushings ? Why can't you leave the pen a bit fatter than normal ?

 

[TurtleTom]

I'm with magpens on this one. Make them fatter. I make contrasting wood spacers instead of the kit sleeve in the middle sometimes (they're on brass tubes too). That way I can make them a lot fatter without looking like Scarlet O'Hara's waist.

 

[KenV]

Howdy.. I know I haven't been on here for awhile but life got in the way.. I am wondering if anyone makes/sells undersized (Slimline) bushings. I make a lot of decal pens and apply CA over them. I am not privy enough to have the skill to use a caliber to turn. I tried turning undersized with the bushings but end up going to far and ruining blank. Would like to have undersized bushings to turn down to then build the rest up with CA.

Jeff -- have not seen a standard manufacture bushing for slimline style that is undersized.

There are some vendors who make special bushings, generally for "turning between centers" that will make what ever you want -- for a price.

If I was wanting to make some bushings smaller, would string them on a mandrel and use abrasives to reduce them to the desired diameter. You will need a machinist calipers or micrometer (depending on the precision desired) - but a few hours effort will give you enough for a lifetime.

 

[Smitty37]

Howdy.. I know I haven't been on here for awhile but life got in the way.. I am wondering if anyone makes/sells undersized (Slimline) bushings. I make a lot of decal pens and apply CA over them. I am not privy enough to have the skill to use a caliber to turn. I tried turning undersized with the bushings but end up going to far and ruining blank. Would like to have undersized bushings to turn down to then build the rest up with CA.

To answer your question...no one that I am aware of. That aside, why not do as several suggested and just make the pen bbl a little proud of the nib, center band and cap? I see many many slimline pens made that way and it does not seem to detract from the looks of the pen and I'd guess that nobody will even notice when writing. I wouldn't.

 

[sbwertz]

Actually, I have a BUNCH of undersized slimline bushings. My blind turners go through about two sets of bushings a month. Because they often don't know they have reached the bushings until they hear the tool on metal. As a result, the bushings get shaved down pretty quickly. (And the tools have to be sharpened often!)

You can simply take a set of slim bushings and sand or turn them down a bit.