A friend of mine needed a bushing assembly for his street bike to be reduced in width by about 0.230″.  Having a 1930’s South Bend Lathe in my shop, I naturally said “come on over”.

My respect for machinists just went up a few notches (it was already high).  I’m also glad I got a 4 jaw chuck for the lathe instead of a 3 jaw.

4-jaw chucks allow you to hold irregular work and precisely center it. The process for doing so can be tedious, but it’s a good feeling when your indicator reads in at less than 0.001″ variance from side to side.

This little project was fun for a few reasons.  The assembly comes apart into several pieces.  The little ring has multiple inner diameters used for different things, so it needed to be machined carefully on both sides.  Holding small and irregular parts is a challenge.  But seeing it all come together was great.