Drilling Hockey Pucks

[OccupantRJ]

On my Clausing 5914 lathe refurbish, the rubber base pads were missing, so I researched the Shore hardness of several rubber items to make some new ones out of. I settled on hockey pucks at 91 Shore A and had to order them from Amazon as they are a rare item in the South.

I had read of others using these for machine mounts but was not sure how drilling a 1 inch through hole would work. I made up a clamping fixture out of some scrap wood and clamped it into the mill vise to insure clamping security and stability.

I used a Forster bit at 325 rpm and fed downward for about 2 seconds at a time, fully clearing the drill from the hole each plunge. It worked like a champ to do the job. I needed to clip a piece off the side to clear the machine base, so off to the wood cutting bandsaw it went.

3,000 feet per minute was used on the cut with no issue whatsoever. I took a few pics to maybe help others who are considering hockey pucks for machine mounts. The large hole was needed to allow the installation of an external snap ring onto the adjuster foot after a steel top plate is bonded to the puck.

 

[Dave in Mass]

I think for hockey pucks, you would want to use the Eddie Shore scale of hardness....

 

[The Cobbler]

Good to know.
I have a dozen or so pucks...I don't play hockey... my buddy works at an arena! LOL

 

[BuffettFan]

I'm surprised at how clean of a cut you got.
I've never tried machining hockey pucks, but have machined a lot of other types of rubber with mixed results.
I'll have to keep this one in my bag of tricks.
Nice job on the machining and on the fixture. I see so many people try to skip that important step to save time. It usually ends up taking them longer and results in an inferior finished product.

 

[acer66]

Nice, making also a mental note.

 

[frank001]

Did you freeze the puck before drilling? Seems like that would help in getting a clean hole.

 

[larry4406]

Did you freeze the puck before drilling? Seems like that would help in getting a clean hole.

I was thinking the same thing to deep freeze it.

 

[oldgoaly]

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

cause that's what oldgoaly's do well

used to do....

 

[OccupantRJ]

Did you freeze the puck before drilling? Seems like that would help in getting a clean hole.

No, did it at room temperature. I had machined enough rubber before to have a feel for how it might act at that hardness. If it had misbehaved, into the freezer it would have gone. Average O-Ring material is usually 70 A Shore hardness, and the harder O-Ring are usually 90, just to give some comparative examples. I chose the Forstner bit over a hole saw due to the small friction surface area on the rim compared to the 1 inch drag on both inside and outside wall of a hole saw.

 

[johnnyradiant]

You only need to freeze them if you need a clean pass, not a clean hole.

 

[like2wheel]

FYI , if you need a slightly softer puck for vibration dampening, use a blue (kids) puck.
They are a little lighter therefore less dense

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I think for hockey pucks, you would want to use the Eddie Shore scale of hardness....

Thought you got burned by auto correct. Thought you meant Eddie Shack but I checked out Shore on the net. Both of these guys were pretty tough characters.

 

[racingtadpole]

I had to bring them in from the US, they are unobtanium in Aus.

 

[OccupantRJ]

FYI , if you need a slightly softer puck for vibration dampening, use a blue (kids) puck.
They are a little lighter therefore less dense

Thanks for the info. I will research that in case a softer one is needed. The lathe is around 1200 lbs, so I wanted something in the upper level of hardness.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

I make a part for my business from Hockey pucks. Here in Canada they sell an orange one that I use as I need it a little softer.

 

[Stooge]

That came out real nice, i wonder if the rednecks who stack hockey pucks to body lift their trucks take the time to make them this nice.

It's never even occurred to me that there are parts of the country that cant just go into almost any store, (even small convenience stores), and buy hockey pucks, even the softer orange ones are everywhere.

 

[OccupantRJ]

That came out real nice, i wonder if the rednecks who stack hockey pucks to body lift their trucks take the time to make them this nice.

It's never even occurred to me that there are parts of the country that cant just go into almost any store, (even small convenience stores), and buy hockey pucks, even the softer orange ones are everywhere.

Raleigh the state capitol has some in the sporting goods store, but that is just because their is an ice rink there. That is an hour away, so Amazon got the nod. They have a 4 pack on Prime for around $13.

 

[jimkinney]

It's never even occurred to me that there are parts of the country that cant just go into almost any store, (even small convenience stores), and buy hockey pucks, even the softer orange ones are everywhere.

You mean like Florida We have to paint ours orange. My son plays, so I know how hard it is to find them here.

Jim

 

[dwall174]

wonder if the rednecks who stack hockey pucks to body lift their trucks take the time to make them this nice.

Never used them to actually lift a truck, But I've seen it done
I did however make some DIY rear truck-cab mounts out of angle-iron & hockey pucks for an old Chevy pick-up (old mounts rusted out).

I made hockey puck isolation pads for my air compressor about 5-6 years ago & they worked really good. They still look to be in good shape after years of freezing & thawing here in Michigan.

Doug

 

[Craptain]

RJ, I bought my pucks from Ebay in a 12 pack for the same use as you. I just haven't got around to doing it yet though. Nice write up. Now I have something to follow when I do get a round tuit.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[gorilla]

A puck with a eye bolt screwed into it is the lift adapter for a C5 Corvette.

 

[OccupantRJ]

RJ, I bought my pucks from Ebay in a 12 pack for the same use as you. I just haven't got around to doing it yet though. Nice write up. Now I have something to follow when I do get a round tuit.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Well done! I see what you did there.
Amazon had 12 packs for $18 or so, but I wanted to give these a try for the hardness spec. These are made in Czechoslovakia.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Hockey pucks for body lifts and body mounts, never thought of that. Machine/equipment mounts, yeah. I'll put the former in the back of my mind for future reference.

 

[WittHay]

That came out real nice, i wonder if the rednecks who stack hockey pucks to body lift their trucks take the time to make them this nice..

The rednecks used to use about 4 hockey pucks for a 4" body lift and 4" blocks under the front springs and extra long shackles to lift the old Chevy 4x4's

The non rednecks used 3 hockey pucks with a steel bushing in the centre and re arched front springs and dropped front spring mounts to run the 40's and 44's

The OP did a really good job drilling the pucks. Like anything made cheap in this day and age, I would be leery of using made in China hockey pucks to support much weight. Made in Eastern Europe or Canada pucks are fine

 

[gearhead1]

I bought some off ebay and used for body mounts on demolition derby cars because they’re harder than the factory rubber which makes for less movement. I never thought to use them for machine mounts until I came on Garage Journal. LOL.

Can’t remember how I drilled them, but OccupantRJ’s method was definitely better, I’ll try that next time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[toplessHO]

A puck with a eye bolt screwed into it is the lift adapter for a C5 Corvette.

pic please

 

[corvettecrazy]

pic please

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0071N6WDI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/2710388-another-diy-jacking-puck-thread.html

Been the standard since at least 1997.

 

[NUTTSGT]

pic please

I had to look myself. It's covered in the first 20-30 seconds.

 

[Marctrees]

Hockey Pucks are harder than most anti vibration pads.

May not be the best choice like for a Compressor.

Otherwise, be aware most Chinese rubber is compunded by Chinese... tends to melt through years of heat.... Think the HF "Stink"...Proper rubber compounding is the diff between Jello and stuff that lasts a lifetime.

As said, IF Hockey Pucks, buy ones from WHERE they play Hockey.

Not too much Hockey in China.

Marc

 

[dwall174]

Hockey Pucks are harder than most anti vibration pads.

May not be the best choice like for a Compressor.

Yeah they maybe a little harder, But in my case they have held up fine for the past 5-6 years.


Doug

 

[dwysywd]

Never used them to actually lift a truck, But I've seen it done

I did however make some DIY rear truck-cab mounts out of angle-iron & hockey pucks for an old Chevy pick-up (old mounts rusted out).



Doug

I did this too. Purchased a truck bed for my 1986 toyota. But it was from a previous Gen truck. So the hockey pucks made the perfect spacer for the bed to align with the body.

 

[Deception]

i had drilled a set of pucks to use as jacking pads for my vette until I bought permanent ones to install on the car

 

[OccupantRJ]

Here is one of the mounting pads ready to install on the lathe.

 

[Kev In]

I use hockey pucks for holding my commonly used taps and various drill bits that I use all the time. Pucks are also great for getting steel cabinets and safes off the concrete floor. They have so many uses around the shop and house.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I use hockey pucks for holding my commonly used taps and various drill bits that I use all the time. Pucks are also great for getting steel cabinets and safes off the concrete floor. They have so many uses around the shop and house.

Excellent idea!

 

[PFSard]

I use hockey pucks for holding my commonly used taps and various drill bits that I use all the time. Pucks are also great for getting steel cabinets and safes off the concrete floor. They have so many uses around the shop and house.

Another idea worth stealing!! LOL

 

[Bears Fan]

Who knew? Hockey pucks used in the garage

 

[greenlizard]

They make a great firearm disassembly block. I've drilled holes in them to allow pins to be removed and routed various grooves across the puck surface for this and that. Last practically forever.
I've always used Czech pucks, I try to avoid Chicom chemical stuff.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Got the hockey puck pads installed on the lathe and the lathe in position. I think they will work out very well.

 

[davethorik]

I too have machined a hockey puck!
The steel factory kickstand foot on my KLR650 is sharp and will gouge blacktop easily. Also very small, so it sinks in anything soft.

Redneck solution was drill and counterbore a puck, drill corresponding hole in kickstand foot, and bolt puck on to kickstand. Won't gash up blacktop, better flotation than stock for soft stuff. Makes bike lean less on flat ground.

I did this using a hand drill. Drilled thru, then counterdrilled with a larger silver and deming. "Flat bottomed" it using a wood spade bit

I've also turned rubber washers on a manual lathe, kept them on dry ice, part off a few pcs from bar, back in cooler grab another bar