Jigs with carriage bolts, what kind of collars, springs?

[Stephen Tashiro]

I can think of several simple jigs that I would like to built that involve having a board with a carriage bolt through it. A spring between the head of the bolt and the board causes the board to press down on something. But I worry that the board would tend to catch on the threads of the carriage bolt. So what is a simple piece of hardware can be used for a collar over the threads where the board slides? And where in a hardware store can I look for compression springs besides those expensive custom hardware bins? I want a apring that would exert enough force to do what a typical "featherboard" hold down does.

[Michael McCoy]

I can't help you with the spring but a simple bushing should cover your threads.

[Stephen Tashiro]

A simple "bushing" would be the correct terminology, but terminology is not my main problem. My question is: If I am in Lowes or Home Depot, can I get some commonly available item to make a simple bushing? Or do I have to go to those cabinets of drawers where they keep specialized items like "allen head cap screws" and "M8 x 1.0 hex head bolts"?

[Heather Thompson]

Stephen,

You could buy a piece of copper tubing and cut to the lenghts you need, I often walk around in hardware stores/homecenters just looking at what they have avalible, clerks come up to me to see if I need help and I just say that I am brainstorming. There are all kinds of things to make bushings from, steel, wood, UHMW, be creative, tools are meant for fabrication!

Heather

[Stephen Tashiro]

I can be creative. But I wanted to begin by being resourceful (i.e. asking). I would think that all sorts of people have made jigs like this, so I was hoping the way to do it would be common knowledge.

[Joe Scharle]

I used shrink wrap once. It worked OK. Didn't shrink it, left it natural. But I thought then that tubing would have been cheaper.
Forgot the 2nd part of your Q. I bought some springs last year from Small Parts. Found out later that Advance Auto had what I needed too.
Joe

[Greg Hines, MD]

In that aisle of specialty hardware they usually have brass bushings of various sizes at any of the Borgs. That said, I usually use PVC pipe to make bushings for various jigs. The type for drain pipe is thicker and more rigid than the lighter weight pipe for carrying water.

Doc

[Wayne Cannon]

My local Ace Hardware carries nylon and steel bushings in a wide variety of lengths, diameters, and thicknesses that I find useful for such things. They also have lipped bronze sleeve-bearings that make nice bushings if you need a lip, but they are significantly more expensive. I find the hardware store's selection is much broader than either our Home Depot or Lowes.