Bushing

[Woodmum]

Hi All,

I'm very new to the pen turning craft and I'm trying to find my way around all the suplliers.
I'm from the Netherlands, and we don't have to many choice right here.

When I look online I find that all the suplliers have a different codename for the bushings that go with a kit.
Isn't there a standard for bushings?
So you don't order bushings you already have under a different name.

How do you cope with that?

Thanx in advance!

 

[flexi]

Hi and welcome,
Most bushes are kit specific, there are a few which duplicate but not on the whole. The easy way around this is cone bushes and a set of calipers and you can turn most kits. The set I have are like the ptfe bushes sold for CA finishes but mild steel, you will need to check oftern when turning but I do anyway.
Alternately you could check out the IAP website which has amember publish a list of all kits and bushes dimensions a great read at bedtime

 

[flexi]

These are a pair of what I have, also great for buffing

 

[silver]

Hi and Welcome to the forum.

As Mark Explained above. great list of bushes and pen kits on the IAP website. but be aware they still use the old currency of imperial 99% of the time..

Hi All,

I'm very new to the pen turning craft and I'm trying to find my way around all the suppliers.
I'm from the Netherlands, and we don't have to many choice right here.

[/QUOTE]

I guess it must be a nightmare trying to get pen kits, never mind bushes.

When I look online I find that all the suppliers have a different codename for the bushings that go with a kit.
Isn't there a standard for bushings?

You will find that there are only a few that use the same bushes, the Sierra pen kit is one such kit. Some kit suppliers will state "sierra bushes" (Or bushings if you are in the USA)

Slimline bushes are usually the same size, however I have seen very slight differences with some suppliers so I tend to replace when I change kit supplier or need to re-stock pen kits.

So you don't order bushings you already have under a different name.

How do you cope with that?

Thanx in advance!

I treat the bushes as a disposable item, like sandpaper so I usually buy new when I buy a batch of kits and add that cost in the manufacturing process to final product cost. You should get around 30 pen kits out of a set of bushes easily. so if you put that in to price perspective to the kits you can see where I am coming from.

I have plastic bottles with the bushes in labeled up to suit each pen kit.

 

[alan morrison]

Hello Paul, and welcome to the forum.
Bushes are mostly specific to each kit.
If just starting out and you like a particular kit, buy a good number of those kits and buy the bushes to suit that kit. That will spread the cost a wee bit.
Label them in a container as Eamonn suggests.
When you move on to another kit same again.
As time goes on you may move to just using calipers, like Mark above.
Alan

 

[Penpal]

Welcome to the forum,geographically you are not far from manufacturers and stockists,I have been making pens for round 40 yrs now and am switching over to between centres turning,quite fed up with the huge numbers of bushes,storing them etc.

 

[Woodmum]

Thanks a lot for your kind answers!

You know it is a challenge when you first start out and you want to find out what kit to use.
As you say, when you make 40 kits, the price of the bushings are negligible.
But when you want to try out some kits, it becomes more of an iussue..

I also find that company A sells the bushings for around 5 euro, and another comapny for 10.
But they don't publish any sizes on their site... And (since I'm Dutch) I rather have the 5 euro ones :wink:

 

[Curly]

Welcome to the forum.

Most suppliers provide an assembly instruction sheet that sometimes has the bushing diameters in them. They are often on a link to a pdf somewhere on the description page others have an instructions page to get it from. You can use it to compare the sizes of different kit tubes and the bushings for them. One of the frustrations is each kit supplier will have their own name for the same kit, the mentioned Sierra being one of them.

There is nothing to stop you from using worn out bushings or smaller than needed as long as they fit the tube diameter from other kits and measure to size using callipers as you work.

Silver mentioned the IAP's list of bushings and tubes. They also have apps for iPhones and Android you can download for a dollar US. It is searchable by typing in a name, diameter or length and a list of all the kits the search matches will pop up letting you make comparisons. It doesn't have every kit or every seller but it is very comprehensive.

For what it is worth I use bushings between centres to get to rough size then finish between centres using digital callipers. A dead centre with a 60º cone in the headstock and a live bearing centre with a 60º cone in the tailstock. No mandrel.

Pete

 

[21William]

There’s an app for it. Regularly updated as well I believe. It used to be free but now 89p!

 

[Dalboy]

I am like Mark and use tapered bushes and calipers when I turn pens but you need to be a little careful in that you do not want to tighten them too tight otherwise you can cone the end of the tube and possibly split the blank. I am now a little more fortunate now as I can turn up some new ones as needed.

 

[Woodmum]

Welcome to the forum.

Most suppliers provide an assembly instruction sheet that sometimes has the bushing diameters in them. They are often on a link to a pdf somewhere on the description page others have an instructions page to get it from. You can use it to compare the sizes of different kit tubes and the bushings for them. One of the frustrations is each kit supplier will have their own name for the same kit, the mentioned Sierra being one of them.

There is nothing to stop you from using worn out bushings or smaller than needed as long as they fit the tube diameter from other kits and measure to size using callipers as you work.

Silver mentioned the IAP's list of bushings and tubes. They also have apps for iPhones and Android you can download for a dollar US. It is searchable by typing in a name, diameter or length and a list of all the kits the search matches will pop up letting you make comparisons. It doesn't have every kit or every seller but it is very comprehensive.

For what it is worth I use bushings between centres to get to rough size then finish between centres using digital callipers. A dead centre with a 60º cone in the headstock and a live bearing centre with a 60º cone in the tailstock. No mandrel.

Pete

I see what you all mean! Thanx for the kind answer!

 

[wm460]

Be careful some pens eg Sierra from one company can be a different size to one from another company. DAMHIKT

 

[Phil Dart]

When a company produces a new pen kit, unless they want the bushes to tie in with another kit in their own catalogue, compatibility with kits from other manufacturers I assure you is usually the last thing on their mind. I have even seen a discussion on this forum from someone arguing that all kits should be designed to standard sizes so that all bushes are the same!

Bushes though, although ultimately they do wear out, will last for a good long time, and I'm afraid that unless you turn between centres, acquiring a set with a kit that is new to you is part of the game. Making kits to standard sizes is a ridiculous concept that does nothing more than limit creativity, and the safest thing to assume when you experiment with a new kit is that the bushes are unique. But the good news is that as your experience grows, you will be able to sort out for yourself which kits and manufacturers are worth buying and which are not, and your understanding of compatibility will grow with it.

Welcome to the forum Paul - enjoy the journey