[Swatson]

Hi all...Im a new member to these forums although Ive been browsing for months and love this site. I built my own version of a cnc router based off of an early Joes CNC design. But instead of using the pipe rails I made mine from angle iron and used V bearings. For many months my machine worked quite well, but as time goes by material fatigues and the V bearings just dont quite have the tightness that I needed. I priced a few eccentric bushings online and the price wasnt really all that bad but I didnt really want to dish out money for the 16 bushings I needed.

My answer was just to make them myself (my wife always tells me Im a cheap skate). I took a 3/8 inch hex bolt stuck it in a drill vise and used my press and drilled a 1/4 inch hole off center through the head and into the shaft. After the hole was drilled I cut off the excess material slightly less than flush with the end of the V bearing (its a bearing after all...you dont want the bearing center to turn on the bushing). Viola...really cheap eccentric bushing. The same could have been done on a lathe but it was just faster for me to do it on the drill press.

The only tips I have are these
1. Make sure the 3/8 inch hex bolt has enough threadless shaft on it to clear the bearing center
2. Buy the softest bolts you can find (as a plus these are usually the cheapest)
3. Use a good sharp 1/4 inch drill bit and plenty of cutting oil.

If you mess up a few times its no sweat as the bolts I used cost less than 20 cents each so all I lost was a little time. For half the price of one eccentric bushing you can make all you need yourself. Hope this helps some of you other cheap skates out there and if this info is posted somewhere else I apologize but I couldnt find it.

[ger21]

I believe the Mechmate builders do the same thing.

Got any pics?

[Swatson]

I will try to post a couple pictures of them this weekend...I have an interesting problem in trying to get one taken. My machine is working all the time now that word of my work has gotten out. Its a very nice problem to have for a hobby I got into with the hopes of making a little extra money.