Webcam adapter sleeve

My dad asked if I could make a sleeve to attach the webcam to the telescope lens, something more stable than the blutak he’d done some testing with. This little project gave me a chance to have a go at turning some Delrin stock I had picked up a few months earlier and some more practice boring accurate holes.

Very simple procedure with this one, I just needed to clean up, face and bore two different sized holes on either side of the stock. I took my time with this so I didn’t accidentally over-size the holes, this ensured that I ended up with a well fitting sleeve that is snug enough to stay put with just friction.

Delrin is strange stuff to machine. It is very soft which means you can take quite aggressive cuts without bogging the lathe down, and it throws some very strange “chips” depending on the sort of operation you’re doing and at which speed you do them.

The only flaw with this sleeve is a slight mismatch in surface finish as I had trouble getting the chuck to hold the piece during a final pass. Delrin is slightly greasy, and I couldn’t tighten the chuck very much as it would deform the sleeve into a rounded triangular shape. Dad wasn’t worried about the finish so I gave up trying and handed it over. One very happy customer!