Custom bushings

[highlander]

Originally Posted by Adrian Clark

Could you elaborate on what your building exactly? And what sort of load would the bushing be under? Axial? radial? both? I ask because you're talking about using a massive bushing for a very small load, and I think your design could be improved. And given that this is theoretical, I think that your time would be much better spent figuring out how to design your turret so that it doesn't require an expensive custom bushing.

My first thought is to suggest delrin. I say this hesitantly because I don't exactly know what this bushing is doing, but I think a delrin bushing would be able to handle 30lbs load with ease. Not to mention it would cost about a third as much.

If your heart is set on using a bronze bushing picking out the alloy should actually be pretty easy. From what I understand this is a low load (for the size of the bushing) and low speed mechanism, which means you don't need to use any of the harder more expensive bronze alloys. I suggest you look for a cheap bearing grade bronze with good machinability. Something along the lines of 932 multipurpose bearing grade bronze or machinable 936 bearing grade bronze. Both are available from mcmaster, onlinemetals also has a nice selection of 932 bronze tube. Your sponsor shouldn't have any problems working with either of these alloys. Bronze doesn't get hard to machine until you get into the harder high strength alloys, and even those aren't too hard to machine.

-Adrian

+1. We need to know what stresses you have.