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Lathe spindle liners..tubes...what to use?

rfrink

Cast Iron
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Location
Ohio
I really need to figure out a solution for spindle liners/tubes in my CNC turning center. For years...I've always cobbled something up from pieces of tubing or pipe that was near the size of the work piece material. They always rattle...and they are always a pain in the neck....I've even avoided jobs when I knew that I would have to come up with a new spindle liner for it.

What do you guys use? do you buy them from a supplier...custom made (expensive)...or make them from somthing in the shop...any fail proff designs that work well...simple...and low cost. Something that even the slowest set-up guy can manage on his own...lol!

Thoughts? how about pics?

Sincere thanks!!

-Rob
 
I have made 1 inch thick nylon donuts that semi-press into spindle. 1 just behind chuck, 1 in the middle, more or less, 1 at the outboard end. Bore id some .01-.015 larger that material. Works well. One repeat job has been using the same donuts for at least 5 years.
 
Trusty-Cook

They are like $120 each...way better than trying to put custom made donuts in and taking the chuck off to get the one closest to the end. I have about 5 of them and great customer service.
 
I have made 1 inch thick nylon donuts that semi-press into spindle. 1 just behind chuck, 1 in the middle, more or less, 1 at the outboard end. Bore id some .01-.015 larger that material. Works well. One repeat job has been using the same donuts for at least 5 years.

I checked out the Trusty-Cook stuff. It looks nice...but might be too much money for our parts and shop.

The Nylon donuts sound easy enough...do you use them with a bar puller? do they slide around while in use...falling out the open end...or getting pulled towards the chuck? I like this idea....(thinking while typing..)

-Rob
 
IMO it's either spend a lot of money or do whatever gets you through the night.

Tubes with a suitable ID for the barstock and nylon etc etc donuts to make up the space work well.
 
I checked out the Trusty-Cook stuff. It looks nice...but might be too much money for our parts and shop.

The Nylon donuts sound easy enough...do you use them with a bar puller? do they slide around while in use...falling out the open end...or getting pulled towards the chuck? I like this idea....(thinking while typing..)

-Rob


Here's what I do. I make the same as mentioned above with the doughnuts. My spindle I.D. is 1.810. I make the spindle liner doughnut 1.805 O.D., but then I machine 2 O.D. grooves close to each end. I make the groove diamater so that when I slip an "O" ring into the groove, the O.D. of the groove is expanded to about 1.82 diameter. This gives you a .01 press fit in the spindle, but the rubber gives enough to make that press fit, tight enough to stay in place during machining, but loose enough to remove easily by tapping them out with a plastic or aluminum rod.

Works great. We just spent about a few hours one day, making all different sizes of these things. We haven't had to replace them in over 8 years of use.
 
On the bigger sizes I make a sleeve that fits on the end of the material and just put a screw in it to hold it on. I only use 36" lengths of bar so I can get away with it. On the smaller things I use whatever tube or pipe works and make two plastic donuts to keep it centered. If the bar rattles a little then a strip of heavy paper wrapped around the bar seems to do the trick.

Cant say I have had much trouble with it, but I do keep precut donuts and end plates on the shelf to cover for when I need a size I dont already have. I have never had the time to wait on a store bought liner. Most of the time the job comes in the door and we try to be cutting on it within just a day or two.

Charles
 
I checked out the Trusty-Cook stuff. It looks nice...but might be too much money for our parts and shop.

The Nylon donuts sound easy enough...do you use them with a bar puller? do they slide around while in use...falling out the open end...or getting pulled towards the chuck? I like this idea....(thinking while typing..)

-Rob

How much do you charge an hour? How long is it going to take you to make custom donuts for different sizes and find the right pipe to fit the part? Then you get to taping the last piece of the bar and have to find a way to get the last little piece out and keep it from falling in the space between your collet closer and your spindle liner....

messed around making my custom liners when I first bought the lathe and discovered it was cheaper in the long run to just buy them. Same thing for making soft jaws. You can buy them cheaper than you can make them but some guys don't get that....
 
Trusty-Cook

They are like $120 each...way better than trying to put custom made donuts in and taking the chuck off to get the one closest to the end. I have about 5 of them and great customer service.

+1

I ordered a bunch of these for our 3 Mazak QT6ts and they have worked great for 5 years now. I was all set to make my own and when I priced the materials and the time to make them I decided it was cheaper to buy these. Plus I'm not sure how I would have made one for the 8mm square stock we cut from time to time.
 
How much do you charge an hour? How long is it going to take you to make custom donuts for different sizes and find the right pipe to fit the part? Then you get to taping the last piece of the bar and have to find a way to get the last little piece out and keep it from falling in the space between your collet closer and your spindle liner....

messed around making my custom liners when I first bought the lathe and discovered it was cheaper in the long run to just buy them. Same thing for making soft jaws. You can buy them cheaper than you can make them but some guys don't get that....



While this does make sense...there are times when the opposite is true.

I keep a couple lengths of stock on hand for Soft Jaws, whether it be Vise and or Chuck Jaws.
If I have a lull between jobs for whatever reason...I'll make a run of Jaws and be good for a year or two. What does it cost for a bunch of CRS and Aluminum Bar? What does it cost to keep a Machine and Employee Idol?

But, when I'm busy...I just pick up the phone and order.
 
The Nylon donuts sound easy enough...do you use them with a bar puller? do they slide around while in use...falling out the open end...or getting pulled towards the chuck? I like this idea....(thinking while typing..)

-Rob

I think I had one come out on the out board end once on a very thin wall donut. It didn't fit as snugly as it should have. Made a 2 inch thick donut and took care of that. Never had a problem with the others.

Also have some with an "o" ring groove like Dave K mentions. Use them on a spindle with a 3 3/4 bore.
 
I bought 4 more from Trusty Cook about 6 months ago and I could be mistaken but they sure weren't $120 each.

The first couple I bought 5 years ago still look and function as the day I got them and they sure are quiet compared to some of the home made units I've heard running.:eek:
 
Spindle liners

Your all suppost to be machinists why is this so tough. I use UHMW, machine o-ring grooves in the ends and middle, put on o-rings,take a long drill around .015 larger then the stock I am turning and drill the center out however long you want it and your good to go. Mine work as good as my trusty cook and never any noise.
 
Here's what I do. I make the same as mentioned above with the doughnuts. My spindle I.D. is 1.810. I make the spindle liner doughnut 1.805 O.D., but then I machine 2 O.D. grooves close to each end. I make the groove diamater so that when I slip an "O" ring into the groove, the O.D. of the groove is expanded to about 1.82 diameter. This gives you a .01 press fit in the spindle, but the rubber gives enough to make that press fit, tight enough to stay in place during machining, but loose enough to remove easily by tapping them out with a plastic or aluminum rod.

Works great. We just spent about a few hours one day, making all different sizes of these things. We haven't had to replace them in over 8 years of use.

I did exactly the same thing... plastic plumbing tubes from the Home Depot... plastic leftovers for bushings...
Glue... Bought the O rings....
 








 
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