The New Hotness

I needed some black plastic tubes with several different IDs, which usually calls for some tedious machining. Then I realized I could just shrink some heat-shrink tubing around mandrels.

Drill rod worked fine, as did a socket wrench. The only catch was avoiding the engraved lettering, which tends to lock the tubing firmly in place.

In a pinch, I suppose you could turn a rod to the right OD and make a mandrel. That would likely be faster than machining a tube from solid stock, at least for me.

Chuck the mandrel in the lathe, lean a box cutter against the tubing, turn it by hand, and cut to the right length with nice flat ends. Pry it off by sliding a fine needle between the tubing and the mandrel.

You knew that already, right?