After looking around the powerflex site I was totally shocked by the price of bushings. They are really expensive!! So here's a quick plan I came up with that any mechanically-minded individual can use to produce their own sick bushings:
I don't own a lathe, so unless I come across one on Craigslist that fits my budget I'll buy the crappy mini lathe from Harbor Freight and return it in the 90 day window. This is $550, but it's returnable so essentially just worth my time. I shop at harbor freight all the time since there's one right by my office, so no, I don't feel bad about using their generously provided return policy. Some bushings may be larger than what the chuck can hold but that won't be a problem since they all need hollow centers anyway and they can be mounted and turned that way.
Looking around online, polyurethane rod, from
www.usplastic.com, is:
$73.23/36" for 1.5" diameter
$109.34/36" for 2" "
$200.57/36" for 3" "
Now, 36" of poly rod makes a LOT OF BUSHINGS!!
So the economics of this seem like a total no brainer especially if I can sell some extras out of the stock I make for myself. Cost of the metal inserts is minimal.