Making Plastic Washers using my Lathe

I like to use plastic washers between wood parts that rotate relative to each other.  There are many available to purchase, but sometimes a thinner one or odd size is needed that isn't available.  For those times I use this strategy to make my own from plastic scraps easily found in most homes.  Plastic milk jugs, plastic CD or DVD cases, or other plastic packaging can be used. 

For my current needs I have roughly 1/32" (0.03125") of space between parts. I found a DVD case with a soft plastic cover that measured 0.0355" thick. This comes close and should work.  

First step was to make holes for the bolts.  Drilling into thin plastic sheets is problematic.  In this case I'm using a 1/4"d hole punch to make the center holes. 

First Punched Hole

To mark where to punch I put a strip of masking tape on the plastic, and marked out where I wanted each hole to be.

Row of  Holes

Second step was to cut the sheet into squares with a hole in the middle of each.  My rather dull kitchen scissors made quick work of this task. 

Squares with Holes

A threaded bolt, two hex nuts, and two steel washers with the plastic squares clamped between is all that is needed.  

Between two Nuts/Washers

Then a trip to my hobby lathe. 

On my Lathe

A drill chuck to hold the shaft of the bolt, and a few seconds to turn the plastic stack into round washers. 

Lathe Done

Once done on the lathe, the washers were removed from the bolt and tape was peeled off. 

Plastic Washers

I only needed four on my current project, but it only took a few seconds more to make eight.  That leaves four more I know I'll use up eventually on a future project. 

If you have a drill press but not a lathe, the drill press can also be used to spin and trim the squares down to nice round washers. 

I've used this strategy several times in the past, for my projects as well as for student projects. The secret is to make sure the center holes are snug on the bolt shaft, and that they are clamped tight together between metal washers and nuts on both sides.   

4D