OFF-Topic Anything 2022

Great advice @RichieRichOverdrive I'm ahead of you on those points! Lol. Drill press height and turntable locked solid, Y axis locked and X pretty snug, it's a 2 handed operation to hold the X axis adjustment and lower the spindle into the piece but I'm getting it figured out! I was also planning on getting it close then finishing off by file and emery cloth, the insert really helps get it close WAY quicker than a file alone that's for sure!

I just finished testing on a bronze bushing, I can tell there's a little pushing/gouging happening and assume I need to get the RPMs up a bit, probably even play with the angle a touch more what do you think? The drill press is spinning at 300rpms at the moment.

That was a 7/8" OD (0.8750) bushing I need to get to 13/16" (0.8125) and I brought it down to about 0.822. Really I need to start with a 1" OD bushing or larger so I can get a minimum 1/8" lip on it but I feel this is a great start to my learning curve!

It sure is cold, not the coldest we ever had but it was a fast drop from 35 at 8pm last night. The wind is just whipping right around out there and installed a nice snow drift in the middle of my driveway.

Brianator wrote:

Great advice @RichieRichOverdrive I'm ahead of you on those points! Lol. Drill press height and turntable locked solid, Y axis locked and X pretty snug, it's a 2 handed operation to hold the X axis adjustment and lower the spindle into the piece but I'm getting it figured out! I was also planning on getting it close then finishing off by file and emery cloth, the insert really helps get it close WAY quicker than a file alone that's for sure!

I just finished testing on a bronze bushing, I can tell there's a little pushing/gouging happening and assume I need to get the RPMs up a bit, probably even play with the angle a touch more what do you think? The drill press is spinning at 300rpms at the moment.

That was a 7/8" OD (0.8750) bushing I need to get to 13/16" (0.8125) and I brought it down to about 0.822. Really I need to start with a 1" OD bushing or larger so I can get a minimum 1/8" lip on it but I feel this is a great start to my learning curve!

I like having bushings without heads and putting snapring grooves in them. A snapring is cheaper than the extra material for a head. I don't know if you would have good luck cutting grooves with that setup though. Bronze would probably be the only material you could pull it off in. With those carbide inserts you could probably spin at least 1000rpm with most material. And you're likely getting those gouges from play in the quill of the drill press or the spindle bearings themselves. Bronze is also a grabby material, especially with neutral rake tooling like you have. If you could tighten up your quill in the housing somehow that would be good.

@RichieRichOverdrive I actually need the flange because there's no flanged wheels bearings I've found with a 13/16" OD and 5/8" ID... thanks MTD! Lol. I want to replicate the front wheel bushings for some wheels I have, more of a temporary thing but better than plastic bushings that's for sure! I can get 1" OD 5/8" ID bushings locally to turn down so that will give a 3/16" flange which is better than nothing . I'll eventually ditch those wheels for ones with a 1-3/8" ID hub but they can be tough to find in a 6" wheel I've found and I'm not going with an 8" on this (upcoming) project.


I could probably make a tool to cut a groove for snap rings, might come in handy in the future!

The quality of the inserts themselves isn't the greatest I'm sure, I got a whole kit with 4 insert holders and a sleeve of inserts for $40 so ya it's more of a proof of concept purchase! Lol. I've only played with it for about an hour in total so there's alot more experimenting to do, I've heard the softer the material the more spindle speed you want and I haven't even tried that yet but I will keep messing with it and posting results!

Thanks for all your experience and advice it's much appreciated!

For a 6 inch rim with a 1 3/8 bore check the junkyards for a newer john deere or AYP. Those rims have a 1 3/8 bore, lot of guys swap over to ball bearings in em. Did that last summer for my parents lawn tractor. I don’t know how the offset compares, but it’s a thought I guess!

@Brianator You'd be surprised on how long those plastic bushings last. The ones on the front of Budgie were 50 years old and had ran with no lube. They had worn notches into the steel spindle but would still fit a 3/4" shaft tight like they were brand new. I had to wrestle those front wheels off for the first time, they were so stiff. Of course I'd bet most of the newer MTD plastic bushings are just ABS plastic or something soft and thin. Those bushings on Budgie were probably 1/8" wall and some hard nylon or delrin plastic. Super wear resistant.


I don't know what McMaster-Carr shipping is like up in Canada, but they have some pretty reasonably priced bushings in the sizes you're looking for. Only thing I don't like about McMaster is not being able to sort by price.
https://www.mcmaster.com/bushings/for-shaft-diameter~5-8/plain-bearing-type~flanged/for-housing-id~13-16/

@Rustbucket Garage You're not wrong they're out there just not as common as 8" wheels and I'd like to end up with 2 pairs, maybe even 3 so I can have different sets of tires to easily swap, the salvage yard near me scrapped most of the tractors and wheels they had which sucks though...


@RichieRichOverdrive I can believe it, mine are 35+ years old and aren't in terrible shape, I'd trust them for a mower or yard beater but for what I'm planning I'll need actual bearings, the bronze bushings are more of an experiment to learn with and a temporary solution.

Just a heads up this topic comes to a close in a few days!  Don't fret, a 2023 version will take its place.

Hope everyone is having a good Christmas eve! Seems our white Christmas won't last too long, it'll be back in the 60s here next week. The weather here is just something.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Hope everyone is having a good Christmas eve! Seems our white Christmas won't last too long, it'll be back in the 60s here next week. The weather here is just something.

Same here.  It was 3-5 degrees all day Thursday and they are talking we could be 65-70 this Thursday.

Merry Christmas fellas!

Merry Christmas to you and everyone that celebrates.  If not, I hope your day is just as swell. 

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you're having safe and happy holidays!

When you can't find them vice grips you know you have:

Nice hack @Murraymountain I like it!