I just wanted to let you know that I machined the part earlier this week
and was VERY happy with the finish that I got. It's a smooth as a baby's
bottom. I had to cut 2" pipe threads in it, and they too turned out great.
Taking larger cuts of .100 to .150 worked great using a very sharp HSS
cutter. Thanks again for the input!

-- Geoff

"Geoffrey W. Schultz" wrote in
9.17:

Based upon input from this forum, rec.crafts.metalworking and all of the
pointers that were provided, I decided to go with black UHMW. As
described on some web sites it's the "poor man's teflon" with a very low
coefficient of friction, good UV stability and machines well. On top of
that, a 3"x1' piece of rod UHMW is only $11. I ordered it yesterday
from MSC and it'll be here today.

I've opted to simply machine the UHMW to form the sleave bearing surface
rather than purchase a sleave bearing and mount it in the housing. I'll
let you know how it turns out,

Thanks again for all of the help!

-- Geoff