Steel Flanged Bearing Sleeve

Mar 20, 2005 6 Replies

I'm trying to repair an office desk chair where two of the parallel pivot points on the chair base assembly have gotten out-of-round. I determined that a simple fix is to insert a flanged sleeve bearing into the two pivot holes to restore their original dimension/specification - and then re-insert the securing bolt.



Trouble is that the only flanged bearing sleeves I could locate locally (ACE Hardware), were in a standard brass material. As a somewhat softer metal and given the irregular shape of the holes and the fact that these are moving pivot points, the brass sleeve isn't exactly delivering the long-term performance I need - as the chair movement gradually cuts through the sleeve, and we're back to square one.



Can anyone suggest a source for flanged sleeve bearings in a harder material - steel? I've checked with MCS

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which was a source someone had suggested on a previous posting. Nothing in a steel-based material there. Any others?



Thanks, Chris



Look under "drill bushings".

Kevin Gallimore

OK, some good insights on this. Wouldn't have thought of the drill bushing angle. Will give that a try. Will need to keep an eye on the cost issue, but the chair was $500+ and the brass fittings I already invested in were only $2-3 a piece. So far I think we're still comfortably inside the justifiable "economic envelope" for the repair vs. the trash heap.

Anybody else with thoughts?

Thanks

I use cartridge brass for flanged bearings, I cut off 1/2" of a .303 head and drill it out 3/8 and replace the steel pivot with a 3/8 bolt. I don't think you need a steel insert, the brass does fine as long as you spread out the bearing area. I epoxy the .303 in place to make sure the steel 3/8 bolt pivots in the 3/8 brass 'bushing' and the extra volume in the .303 head is filled with grease. Works so far.

Marine tex the bronze in place and sit! Other fillers might be too brittle or too soft...this stuff is magic!

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Since you only need a couple, find a friend with some metalworking tools and have him make you a couple.... then you'll be done with it for a while, anyway. Ken.

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