Topic: RE: Make Swing arm collar and/or bushings

[chewbacca5000]

So I got a new to me 1940 montgomery ward / logan 10" lathe that I am currently refurbishing and I am thinking of all the cool parts I am going to make with it.

One think I am wondering is how to make swing arm collars / bushings?  What material steel tubing would I use?  What about bronze bushing? 

Would like to hear from some machine pros on this one.

[chewbacca5000]

bronze would be my recommendation. Soft enough to turn easily on a small lathe, non-corrosive, and inexpensive material.

Any sources for bushes that are slightly larger?  I could them turn them to the final dimensions.  What about the collar?  is that just mild steel tubing?

[70CB750]

Welcome to the dark side, Chewie 

[BobbyR]

Hondaman has been doing this for a while. Check some of his threads, he discusses materials and sizing.

Bronze is a preferred material since oil lite bearings are made from it. Bronze has fissures in it and lubricants can be absorbed.

[70CB750]

McMaster-Carr is good source for bushings and also raw material.

Sign up with Enco - http://www.use-enco.com

they have coupons for discounts and free shipping once a month or so for tooling and also raw material.

Often stock can be bought on febay for less $ than from any other place, order cut to size.

[Redline it]

Nice! If you can post your bushing projectk, that'd be cool.  Those MW Logan lathes are pretty nice. I have what I thought was an Logan 820 10 inch swing thread and turret lathe, on the bed and stand, it might be an 821? But everything works on it. If you don't have lathe experience there's some thing that can cause accuracy damage. Tool bits not ground or set right and spindle speeds and feeds will cause a rough chatter, I'm not sure if that's related to when the work is trying to "jump" on top of the bit, and it's can cause misaligned spindle. Although they'll handle large cuts, "hogging" is not good.

[754]

Bronze bar is pricey, you can find it with Hole already in it, unfinished..so ID and OD may he a few mm off.
 However bronze can be tricky, drill it to close to size it distorts,  need correct drill rake or it mat pull in..
Bottom line, I just ordered a set from Germany,  for near the price I pay for he bronze..

Center sleeve is sort of  hardened. If you turn that down a bit, you can get tighter fit, but then cannot use off the shelf bushings.
 
Regardless you probably. Need an adjustable. Reamer to FIT the whole assembly together, if you want a really got tight assembly that lasts.....good luck..

[chewbacca5000]

Thanks Frank.

I got a set from Germany Kenosha kid, but my collar seems to have quite  a bit of play when I put it into the bushing.  Is this normal?  Will it make any difference?

[chewbacca5000]

Nice! If you can post your bushing projectk, that'd be cool.  Those MW Logan lathes are pretty nice. I have what I thought was an Logan 820 10 inch swing thread and turret lathe, on the bed and stand, it might be an 821? But everything works on it. If you don't have lathe experience there's some thing that can cause accuracy damage. Tool bits not ground or set right and spindle speeds and feeds will cause a rough chatter, I'm not sure if that's related to when the work is trying to "jump" on top of the bit, and it's can cause misaligned spindle. Although they'll handle large cuts, "hogging" is not good.

Wow very cool indeed!  Think that 820 has a quick change gear box.  I am really excited by this little lathe as it is 10" x 24 so I maybe I can turn longer pieces as well.  Thanks for the tips.  Probablly gonna start with aluminum to practice before doing any steel.

From what little I have read there is quite a bit to know about grinding bits and angles etc...  Since I am going through the trouble of rebuilding the headstock and backgears I don't want to crash it.

I might just order the "triangle bits" so I don't have to worry about grinding to start off.

So many little details can be made using one of these.  Spacers and bushing ahoy!

Now if I want to run Kawi mags I can make my own spacers.  Yippi!

[754]

Are you saying the Centre long sleeve still has play? They tend the other wear and cost more than the bushings. . If you can find someone to plate it you may be able to reduce the clearance,but you may have to mask the bore if the plating is hard.. You will need to know how much clearance you want to take up and polish it to size.
 Get the SouthBend book,learn how to grind bits, way cheaper than insert tools that don't always work well on a smaller lathe..

[70CB750]

I think you want to grind your own.  Much cheaper and it will help you understand the machining process.

Get some HSS and Cobalt  bits and read up on it, it is not difficult:

http://www.steves-workshop.co.uk/tips/toolgrinding/toolgrinding.htm

Carbides are great to have, but for msot of the work, HSS is all you need.

Also, lathe is only beginning, tooling gets expensive.

For my Logan, I got AXA 100, that's a good set to have:

http://www.shars.com/quick-change-tool-post-set-piston-type-100-axa

[chewbacca5000]

Are you saying the Centre long sleeve still has play? They tend the other wear and cost more than the bushings. . If you can find someone to plate it you may be able to reduce the clearance,but you may have to mask the bore if the plating is hard.. You will need to know how much clearance you want to take up and polish it to size.
 Get the SouthBend book,learn how to grind bits, way cheaper than insert tools that don't always work well on a smaller lathe..

Could I zinc plate them, and turn them down on my lathe?  I think zinc is pretty hard.  Not sure if you remember, but I did that diy zinc thread on a center stand sleeve and the thing really bulked up!  I think zinc is pretty hard if I am not mistaken.  Should be able to re-zinc the swing arm sleeve and turn it back down to be perfect.

Not sure how it would hold up as I believe zinc is softer than brass.

What about brazing the swing sleeve then turning it down?  Brass on brass can't beat that right?

[754]

Actually Dissimilar metals play better together.

I would not turn the spacer on the lathe, except maybe to get it round BEFORE plating..
 Calculate how much buildup you need, go a few thousand over,  then polish it down....
I am thinking this could work and maybe reasonable if you do several at a time.