Source for pins and bushings

[JRP]

Lots of posts here show bolts instead of pins and bushings for joints on projects. I would think pins with zerks and proper grease clearance would be better.

I decided I like machines and am looking for a product and was thinking about getting a lathe and making pins and bushings.

If I had a standard size ranges and prices, would any of you consider purchasing pins and bushings instead of using bolts? Bushings seem harder to find, and using custom made from a machine shop could get expensive.

What do you think?

 

[Baby Grand]

Sounds interesting - I would be very interested in having an assortment of std size, lubed pins and matching bushings to select from for any project that will have heavily loaded pivots.
-Jim

 

[David Devuono]

I buy mine from Princess Auto up in Canada. I would pay something like $7 for a 5 inch long 1"bore weldable bushing with a hole for a grease fitting and the pins are about the same for a 1"x 6" pin. I used their 8"x 1 1/4" bushing and Pin for the boom on my back hoe. I doubt you could make them and ship them for $7 each. I'd still buy the lathe but you don't want to work for $2/hr.

 

[David Devuono]

Correction, I am using cross tube cylinder ends as bushings.
Accessories | Cylinders | Hydraulics | Princess Auto

 

[Ford tractor]

That's just common DOM tubing. Your paying 5x for it being pre-cut and having one drilled / tapped hole. Of course, that price differential is gone if you only need one section.

 

[Farmerford]

Most (all?) the DOM tubing I purchase has an inner diameter that is a few thousandths of an inch smaller than nominal. If the pin is dead on its nominal diameter (and most are), then the pin will not slide into the tubing.

Depending on the size of the tubing and how accurate I want to be (or how lazy I am), I either drill, bore, or hone it to size. If the tubing is to be welded in place, a final hone is usually required to offset the shrinkage in welding, unless there was quite a bit of clearance to start with.

I have found that 25mm pins work pretty good with 1" nominal ID DOM tubing. The fit is a bit looser than if I were starting with a 1" pin, but it sure saves a lot of time.

I also frequently use phosphor bronze pins if the bushing is welded, since the pins suffer most of the wear and replacing the pin is much easier than replacing the bushing. Phosphor bronze is in the strength range of 1045 cold rolled rod, and not that much more expensive.

 

[Ford tractor]

Yep, most DOM is tight to too small as bought. Not having a fancy shop full of tools, the old "creative way" has been to take an 8" long 1/2" bolt, saw it 2"down the length of the threads, cut the head off and then wind sand paper on it grit out. I start with it a little too tight to fit the hole and it will wind down tighter and snugly fit as it sands the inside of the tube. Adding some extra into the wound paper increases the diameter to keep it tight. Not fancy, but it has my 2 favorite features - cheap and effective. It does take the larger drill to spin it, but it works wonders.

 

[JRP]

Thanks David

I'll think of another reason to rationalize a lathe. I learned more about bushing in the past two minutes than from hours of thinking about them.

 

[dcyrilc]

Thanks David

I'll think of another reason to rationalize a lathe. I learned more about bushing in the past two minutes than from hours of thinking about them.

It seems to me that you already have the two most important reasons to get a lathe worked out.

1) They're cool.
2) You want one.


On a side note: If you do get one, be careful. They can be really dangerous if not used with safety put first. I've seen some pictures that can make a person think twice about using one.

 

[apatche1964]

Ive been reading about the bushing material on the forum I have a dumb question On my mini ex i need to tighten up the pins and bushings but my machine doesnt seem to have bushings on the bucket and boom the pins just go tru the frame. Do you cut out enough to weld new bushings in?