OK last time I harp on about bushes.

Has anyone out there tried to make their own bushes?

Have the mean's (a lathe and someone to operate it) to do it but not sure which option to take, nylon or poly? Is there a great difference in handling and is one easier to lathe than the other? plus do you need to have a top hat on the bush, or would a simple washer do the trick? Any idea's would be great before I blow more money on another useless bit!

cheers
Chris

[Edited on 6/10/03 by flyingkiwi]

Made some poly bushes on the lathe for the tie rods on my old fiat X19.

Horrible stuff to machine, it tends to "grab" on the cutting tool producing an uneven surface. I would imagine nylon being harder would be far easier to work with. Maybe a lathe expert could do a better job, I certainly won't be trying again !!

Another X19 man gone the locost route!

Yeah that old rusty, ridden with electrical problems, leaking roof, crap transmission, complete pile of fun car.

Wet roundabout + X19 + to much loud pedal = merry go round.

Get em spinning and they don't want to stop.

Bitch to work on though. I had the Bertone version in a metallic / pearl red, 1500cc. But about as close to owning a ferrari as I am ever likely to get.

Nylon is no good unless you are using it make bearing type bushes...which you could only use at the front....otherwise you need something compliant like Poly....

and yes it is a real bastard to machine....

have you tried freezing the stuff before machining? works with rubber, if the stuff is too soft to be accurate freeze it so is really hard and run at a fairly high speed with a nice sharp cutter. i have machined cast nylon before which was pretty easy but not poly so cant really comment. poly is less porous than nylon i think so probably a bit worse than nylon.



Russ.

U will need a top hat... and a good machine man with the correct tools will machine no problem. I had a set of 26 made... no probs at all, and the fit perfect.
Hope it helps

never machined poly but nylon machines ok. just put a good steep angle on the top edge works ok for me
also wach out for flex probably not to bad with a short stub but if your turning a long lenght and parting off a load at once
it will flex in the middle and will end up over size. the only thing about useing a stedy to sort this out is that it marks the nylon.

Thanks for the idea's guys, now for today's stupid question. What do the top hat's do? Is it to prevent the bush slipping during forward and aft movement?

Was thinking along the lines of getting a bar of poly already machined to the size of the bush tubes (or slightly larger) wedging them into the tube then sticking poly washers of a larger size at the ends? Any thoughts on that idea?

Cheers
Chris

without sounding like im not in the locost spirit, is there a reason why you cant buy them? it certainly seems a lot easier than making them. if you have to make them then good luck!

i think the top hat does indeed cussion the ends of the bush tubes, to stop fore and aft movement.

Polyurethane is moulded like a liquid and cures in the mould or injection moulded isn't it?. That's what my nephew who is a dental technician tells me. They use something similar but a lot harder to make dentures.

yours, Pete.

There's no reason why I can't buy them (sudden windfall this afternoon has provided me with the funds to get them without the missus moaning - love fruit machines!) but having brought almost everything so far I thought I might actually try and make something. I've heard people have made them before and thought if I could make them that would be cool.

Will look into the idea of moulding them, sound like a good way to make some for my boring car.

Cheers
Chris

A little trick to cutting rubber or urethane on a lathe:

U need to make yourself a tool that can fit a nice sized blade(clamp it in), those used in stanley knife,about 25mm high will do. Simply slice thru the bush with no hassles.

We've got a rubber moulding company and use this method occasionally to cut once off bushes now and again.

cheers darren

I've got something like that at home, sort of a paint scraper, holds a stanley knive blade at a 45 odd angle. Something like that??

More 90', just as if you were going to cut it by hand, works like a charm!

cheers darren