Removing Slight Amounts (0.005") from Round Bar Diameters Quickly?

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated! Not sure if I'm willing to set up the follower, because now I'm contemplating just swapping out the bars for drill rod. I should have stopped to think about drill rod being a more precise material.
 
There's really no reason to use stainless here, as mentioned you're gaining mainly corrosion resistance.
TGP rod would likely be smoother and slide better
 
I agree with a lot of posters here: Namely, ream out the holes to the size of the bar, not the other way around. You will be much happier with the results, and removing 0.002" from a hole is not that big of a deal. Your original holes probably aren't that precise anyway, so adding precision here will greatly improve results when using your aligner.
 
Two or three months ago I bought a set of -.001/+.001 reamers in 1/16" intervals. They have made several jobs either possible or much easier. Seems like they would be a perfect solution for fitting drill rod to the Port-Align.
 
7milesup said:
A three-foot-long piece of precision O1 drill rod in exactly .500 dimensions costs $14 plus shipping. I would do that.

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Thanks! After a quick check it looks like McMaster has very competitive pricing on ground O1 and W1 tool steel rod.
 
The ultimate solution would be Thomson shafting, you will wear out several sets of bushings before anything happens to the shaft.
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/shafts/linear-motion-shafts-5/?s=hardened+shafts

Drill rod is probably the next best choice, providing precision size but, in the unhardened state, wear resistance is likely no better than mild steel.
It will still likely last as long as your need.
 
For those, I did try to measure them. What I don't know is how accurate that is. I suppose I could simply do one drill and ream to find out how accurate.

Unfortunately, I over engineer everything.
 
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