trimming bushings (how to)

**satori** · 03-31-2007 09:36 AM

couldn't find much specific info searching. what tools do you guys use to trim bushings? i'd like to start using my black randal bushings again, but they're not even flat on both sides. i'd like to make them a jimz shape- how? thanks.

**WAX** · 03-31-2007 09:48 AM

lathe them for the flats

you can make a ghetto lathe with a kingpin, extra bushings, a nut and either a grinder or a belt sander for trimming/shaping the outer diameter

**scabus maximus** · 03-31-2007 10:02 AM

For the truly budget-minded skater I submit the following method.

**satori** · 03-31-2007 10:04 AM

i'm not conceptualizing the ghetto lathe- plz explain further.

do you think you could use a router? or would that chunk the thane?

**Crappysurfer** · 03-31-2007 10:12 AM

i would NOT use a router, i use a drill press and a file/rasp
i put a few bushings on a kingpin, the one i want to trim in the middle, put a nut on the kingpin so the bushings are snug, slide it into the drill press, tighten down, turn on drill press, pull gas mask over face put gloves on then hold the file upto desired bushing and trim away. turn off drill press every now and then to see if it is at desired width...

easy enough?

**satori** · 03-31-2007 10:35 AM

sweet, my friend has a drill press! thanks a lot, i'm gonna go at it today!

**monkeyhead** · 03-31-2007 12:49 PM

I have experienced poor results with a file (took a hell of a long time), mind you that the teeth were quite fine. Anyway I have had much better results with 60 grit sandpaper clamped down to a table. Takes down the diameter of a rad in no time. Just becareful when you take off the kingpin because everything, especially the bushing, will be HOT.

Also one more piece of advice, note that depending on how tight the bushing(s) are on the kingpin the bushings will be slightly deformed. On one of the first bushings I "lathed" I tightened it too hard, making the bushing into more of a mellow hourglass shape than just a strait barrel.

**karrot** · 03-31-2007 01:08 PM

^^
monkeyheads bushings look like crap, dont listen to him

**Crappysurfer** · 03-31-2007 02:44 PM

yeah i was gonna say....i used a file and my edges were clean and nice, and it worked very quickly

**monkeyhead** · 03-31-2007 02:44 PM

They look like regular barrel bushings...

**satori** · 03-31-2007 08:21 PM

thx 4 the help, (esp. crappy). the drill press, a couple files, and some patience = perfect bushings!

**Crappysurfer** · 03-31-2007 09:18 PM

no prob man! its fun and addictive huh?

**Ogre** · 03-31-2007 09:37 PM

A Router will melt you into submission, lest yo have a sharp tool.

**satori** · 03-31-2007 09:47 PM

yea it actually is, i'm going to make rain wheels this way, and am also going to look into pouring my own urethane. could be a fun, if dead end project. regarding the drill press method, it is kinda hard to get everything exact, like a flat plane around the whole diameter, but with practice and experimentation who knows.

Originally Posted by Crappysurfer2

no prob man! its fun and addictive huh?

**Crappysurfer** · 04-01-2007 10:14 AM

you can get things pretty precise with a caliper and a sharpy, ive made rain wheels this way too

**satori** · 04-01-2007 10:17 AM

what did you connect the hub to when you did wheels?

**tyler87** · 04-01-2007 10:20 AM

Just use a kingpin and extra conical bushings again.

**gaztick** · 04-01-2007 05:16 PM

I've lathed about 100 (no joke) radikals on a drill press. they all turn out beautiful by the end. just use low grit sandpaper to take the majority of it off, then some high grit sandpaper to give it a smooth finish. i have lathed barrels, stims (like both kinds of jimz bushings), hourglass, half-circles, super small barrels, you name it. a drill press with a file with sandpaper will do it all