Process to make a 3mm R1 spacer

[davidblythe]

Start with a round bar of 35mm o/d brass, drill a centre hole in stages to 13mm, then with a boring bar turn to 18mm i/d

then part the piece at 4mm

was then stuck how to get 3mm consistently as it was impossible to hold in a 3 chuck jaw, clocked in and the parted face needs cleaning up

so made this form tool to hold the parted 4mm spacer which is 2.9mm deep and holds the spacer via 3 4mm bolts and allows accurate clocking

fairly easy to get down to 3mm thickness with both sides having clean faces

deburr, chamfer and the jobs a good one with consistent results

any easier ways to do it

[shocky]

brass must cost a bit why not do it out of black nylon how much are they out of interest

[davidblythe]

Had a length of scrap in the garage and needed a set quickly so it was easier to use it, made 3 extra sets

lots easier to make a new R1 bush that is 3mm wider (incorporating the spacer) and runs through the whole eye of the suspension unit as easier to clamp in the 3 jaw

probably do next set of 3mm spacers in mild steel or ally

not tried to buy nylon yet

[Arch_Stanton]

Buy some "soft jaws" for your chuck, same as your hard jaws but made from mild steel, these can then be bored to suit whatever O/D and depth you need to hold.

[davidblythe]

Buy some "soft jaws" for your chuck, same as your hard jaws but made from mild steel, these can then be bored to suit whatever O/D and depth you need to hold.

cheers Arch for the advice, hadnt heard of soft jaws before now

the trouble for me is there is no local knowledge, very few machine shops left and no technical colleges left offering courses down our way, so I end up reinventing the wheel when there is a much easier solution available

painful process being self taught

[oldbiker]

It sounds to me like you are enjoying the process of self teaching,

prior to my going to big word school to get all my certificates,
I did the same thing, as I said a while ago you are often the best teacher if you know what you want to learn. I started by making a few chrome slides for 26mm amals, I found that most of the info that I needed could be found in level 2 engineering books from the local library.

ref the soft jaws for lathes. they are a good investment,

fit them in the chuck with a small piece of scrap at the back of the jaws, bore the inside of the jaws to the size you need (or turn the outer face of the jaws), release the scrap, and fit your work piece in the jaws, the work piece can then be turned round with no errors, ideal for slides etc, accuracy is about 0.001 inch,

however, if you remove the jaws from the chuck you will probably need to recut them prior to using them again, even if turning an identical workpiece