Delrin (sorta) washers

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
I like to use nylon washers behind my chucks and faceplates to keep them from binding onto the spindle. Makes removal easier. But, with my new Grizzly lathe and it's 1 1/4" spindle I had a temporary problem. None of the local stores carried 1 1/4" nylon washers. Come to the rescue. J. Collazzo
http://www.turncrafts.com/ from one of my penturning forums, sells interesting and useful items that other vendors seem to overlook. I bought six 4"X4"X1/8" delrin sheets from him at a very reasonable price. Used a Forstner bit to cut my 1 1/4" holes, then shaped them (very crudely) to round on the bandsaw. Voila, I have no-bind washers and delrin left over for future projects like this.
 

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Hi Frank. From what you say, those washers meet the customer(you) requirements, and therefore they are quality products. You did good.:thumb:
 
I've also heard that Old CDs work well too. I've got a bunch that I use for computer updates at work. I'm going to try one soon.
 
I thought about salvage stuff. But, Delrin is tough and nuttin', meaning nuttin' sticks to it. I figured that no matter how tight, two delrin washers would unscrew easily. Worth it for the couple bucks.
P.S. I have to remember to not kick into reverse at high speed with these babies in place. :eek:
 
Well folks. Mice and Men have nothing on me.
My first attempt to turn something on my new Griz lathe, reported more than a week ago, was a bust. It was a vase mounted by hot gluing the base to an aluminum face plate. Thing wobbled sumptin' fierce. I figgered it was the glue being kinda rubbery and pitched the project.
Yesterday, I started a new project, using the same faceplate but with the wood (thanks, Vaughn :) ) screwed to it. Talk about wobble. Bad. Then I checked the faceplate and adapter, they were way outa kilter. Tried removing, very hard to do. Had to use spindle lock and big wrench. What happened was that the pair of homemade Delrin washers I had between the adapter and spindle head, not only didn't allow easy removal, they caused the wobble. Somehow, the drilling affected the thickness of the material (1/8" thick Delrin). The adapter, or any other tool, like a chuck will not seat properly against the spindle head. Failed project. Oh, well. :eek:
 
Sorry to see the washers didn't work out, but appreciate you posting it here for the rest of us to learn from. Do you suppose the unevenness was due to the edges of the holes getting boogered up during drilling? It is something you could carefully trim away with a sharp knife?
 
Sorry to see the washers didn't work out, but appreciate you posting it here for the rest of us to learn from. Do you suppose the unevenness was due to the edges of the holes getting boogered up during drilling? It is something you could carefully trim away with a sharp knife?

No, it's a distortion I can feel. Maybe the heat of drilling with the Forstner did it. Actually, I dunno. Just know, experiment was an El Floppo. :(
 
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