Confused about ordering bushings?

[legosnell]

Looking at ordering bushing that will work with specific cutter/reamer sizes. For example a cutter/reamer size 1.97mm. There are 2 options for height 1.5mm and 3.0mm. and bore size 4 options? Does the height have to do with plate diameter and are you better off going with the 3.0mm as opposed to 1.5mm? and what about the bore size? Since the bore size is going to have to be drilled out to the size of the pivot, is it best to just buy the smaller bore size bushings?
Looking to get bushings For cutters/reamers: 1.97mm, 2.47mm, 2.97mm and 3.47mm

each option is $5.50 to $7.00 2.0mm OD examples:

options available: 10 piece pack of brass Bergeon bushings from Switzerland. Size #1. Combine with other sizes for quantity discounts. 2.0mm OD x 1.5mm height x 0.40mm bore.

10 piece pack of brass Bergeon bushings from Switzerland. Size #2. Combine with other sizes for quantity discounts. 2.0mm OD x 1.5mm height x 0.50mm bore.

10 piece pack of brass Bergeon bushings from Switzerland. Size #3. Combine with other sizes for quantity discounts. 2.0mm OD x 1.5mm height x 0.60mm bore.

10 piece pack of brass Bergeon bushings from Switzerland. Size #4. Combine with other sizes for quantity discounts. 2.0mm OD x 3.0mm height x 0.60mm bore.

10 piece pack of brass Bergeon bushings from Switzerland. Size #5. Combine with other sizes for quantity discounts. 2.0mm OD x 1.5mm height x 0.70mm bore.

10 piece pack of brass Bergeon bushings from Switzerland. Size #6. Combine with other sizes for quantity discounts. 2.0mm OD x 3.0mm height x 0.70mm bore.

 

[SuffolkM]

Getting the heights matched to the plate depth (often) saves quite a bit of time, as you otherwise have to get deeper bushes and file them to the right height before fitting. 2mm, 3mm are useful I find.

The inner diameter is important- you want to a variety of IDs so you can conveniently broach them slightly for enough shake. You do not want to have to make big changes here, as broaching small adjustments is far easier than gross changes. Starting with small bush IDs and making them significantly larger is not the way to do it.

The OD is the least important. You simply need enough to deal with any dodgy pushing-in and other wear around the pivots you are bushing. To be clear, the point of a larger OD is not primarily so you can broach more material.

Hope that helps
Michael

 

[Elliott Wolin]

I use KWM bushings, and the bushings are made to go with specific KWM reamers. There's a chart that makes figuring this out very simple. I see on the web there's one for Bergeon as well (searching for "Bergeon bushing chart" works). I believe Bergeon has many more bushing sizes than KWM, one of the reasons I went with KWM (as do most hobbyists, I believe).

Also, in my opinion all you really need are a few reamers and a few bushings with matching ODs, you can always use a broach to open up the ID. I bought a very small number of KWM bushing sizes, typically the smallest ID for a given OD and thickness, and open the ID as needed. As a hobbyist it doesn't matter if I introduce an extra step. I have not found this to be a problem, just go slow and be careful (and if you have to knock a bushing out and try again, no big deal).

A professional likely would purchase all the different Bergeon sizes as this would often (not always) avoid having to broach the ID to size. As for me, I don't do enough clocks to justify a large investment in bushings.

 

[TJ Cornish]

Disagreeing slightly with some of the prior sentiment, there's a reason there are 100 different bushings. You may not need all of them right away, but if you keep at this, you will eventually need most of them.

My advice: Pick a system - either KWM or Bergeon. KWM seems a little more complete in the US, not sure about elsewhere in the world, but both systems are fine. Once you pick a system, get a starter set in the height of the clocks you want to work on. I started with 1.9mm tall KWM, but quickly added 1.4mm tall and then 2.7mm tall. The starter sets usually go from about 1.0mm bore to 2.0mm bore. I haven't yet needed less than 1.0mm, but I have needed larger. I recently worked on my first 9-tube clock which needed 3.5mm tall bushings.

I wouldn't sweat broaching up 0.1mm if money is tight and you need to skip sizes, but any more than that starts to be a diminishing return.

I quite like the "The System" starter packs from Timesavers like this one: American Made Bronze KWM Bushing Assortment #1

 

[Elliott Wolin]

I purchased a bunch of KWM bushings from Butterworth on sale/clearance. I purchased ones w/o oil sinks, which I make myself with a chamfering cutter. I install so few bushings that this strategy makes sense for me. I also bought an inexpensive random assortment on eBay including very small and very large bushings, I think they were Bergeon but I'm not sure. Between the two I've been able to find the correct size for the few clocks I've worked on.

I understand my strategy may not be appropriate for everyone.

 

[shutterbug]

I have, a time or two, stacked bushings in very thick plates. I would not recommend bushings with oil sinks for that, but it works well if you don't have the length you need.

 

[Jaap]

Hi Shut, I think 2 bushes staket on each other is not a brilliant idee. Where would the oil go? Between the 2 bushes. I think in this case it is better to use bush wire, wich you could cut in the needed length, like we used to do in frisian clocks.

 

[shutterbug]

I don't know how much could. They are pressed pretty hard against each other. I agree though that a proper length bushing would be better if it's available.