Pen turning bushings

dlane

dlane

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Was asked if I could make a bunch of bushings for turning pen blanks.
They see some hits with wood turning chisels and sandpaper and get worn down after a while.
The Id is about .246 , od different sizes up to .500 with steps on them.

Questions: what type of steel or material would be best ?
Should they be heat treated , Or case hardened ?

My thought is to get round stock , useing 5c collets, drill ID reem, turn od profile, part off , debur

Any thoughts
Thanks
 
I couple of years back I made pens for the grandsons, and for some I made the bushings. I made them from aluminum. if you touch them with the turning tools no big deal. worked great.
 
I believe these will be sold with bullet kits, not sure how many times they will be used.
Aluminum would make it easier
 
The commercial ones are likely steel, but not hardened. A site with several designs for reference.

Penn State Industries pen bushings

If I were making these I would use aluminium or brass. May not last as long as steel, but easier on the turning tools if they hit these materials.
 
I made mine out of brass. Same thing if the chisel touches it no harm done.

Greg
 
I made a few out of delrin--they seemed to work as good as steel or aluminum.
 
Beerfan, they give you a guide to the finish diameter you’re turning to, so the hardware parts fit flush on assembly. Since the lathe chisels are held by hand, it’s not the sort of thing where you dial in to a number.

The ones I’ve bought over the years are brass and steel, and yes, they do need replacing every so often.
 
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