Ferrules?

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phil.p":35s0hszc said:
Does anyone know a source of brass/ bronze/stainless tube for ferrules? Plumbing stuff is either to big or to small - there must be an alternative to buying commercially.

I ended up buying some thick brass tube from

http://www.plhillsales.com/product.asp?Type=224

it was too cheap to be worth spending too long looking for alternative sources to recycle. I did get a short length of stainless tube from work, but it was very hard to cut and work so I gave up after a couple of ferrules.

what sort of diameter are you after?
 
15mm's a bit small, 22mm's a bit big, so I think 18mm - 20mm maybe? I was hoping someone would come up with a source that I hadn't thought of - thanks for the link, though - I'll probably end up going down that route.
I know they can easily be bought ready made, but it goes against the grain a little.
 
Two model engineers' suppliers I've dealt with in the past stock brass and stainless (and mild steel) tubes in a variety of diameters and wall thicknesses. The College Engineering Supply and Folkestone Engineering Supplies. Both recommended.
 
the only place that i can think of is fittings for something like pneumatics, hydraulics etc but they tend to be expensive.

bullet cases? although hell of a calibre at that size!

off hand, I cant think of any industry using 18-20mm or c5/8ths as a standard. You used to get hep2o plumbing fittings which used a stainless pipe liner which could be worth measuring but probably a bit thin and a bit big still.
 
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If you use tubing, avoid the thin-walled stuff; if the handle is not dried thoroughly or the humidity changes radically, the ferrule can split.
Many of mine did when I moved from dry Berkshire to very damp mid-Wales. It can do the same in an extremely wet summer (like this one).
The same goes for second-hand chisels, bought in one part of the country, sold to another.

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If the 'hobby' tube turns out to be a bit thin-walled, try this from Folkestone Engineering Supplies ( www.feskent.co.uk );

1/2" x 16swg brass tube, 300mm £4.38
5/8" x 16swg brass tube, 300mm £5.40
3/4" x 16swg brass tube, 300mm £5.98
1" x 18swg brass tube, 300mm £7.40
postage and packing, about £5.60

16swg = 0.064" = 1.6mm
18swg = 0.048" = 1.2mm

Other suppliers are available. The College Engineering Supply and M-Machine Metals are both used to supplying small quantities to model engineers. They may be a tad better on price, but given world commodity prices, anything with copper in it will look very expensive wherever you get it, unless you can scrounge some thick-walled tube from somewhere.
 
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