I'm sure that a few here are familiar with my "o-ring sealed R9 mods" but "in the beginning" I made all my tune parts with just a drill press, a Dremel tool, drills, files, emery cloth, hammer and a home made "flaring tool".
For the spring guide I would use a 1/4" sch 40 x 5" long steel pipe nipple (it was shortened to 4" long after shaping) that I bought at a local hardware store, then I would drill out the ID for the R9 piston stem, then I would spin the pipe in the drill press and "file & sand" the outside for a snug fit with a Maccari spring. Since the factory spring guide flange was a thick steel washer with a c-sunk hole I would use it for the flange. To join the guide to the flange I would file a step 1/8" long on one end of the "fabricated from pipe" guide to form a shoulder while spinning in the drill press, making the step large enough for tight press fit to the hole in the guide washer. After pressing the sucker together (guide with factory flange c-sink facing out) with a big c-clamp I would flare the end of the guide with a homemade flaring tool to hold everything together. Back to the drill press the assembly went and I flattened the flared end of the guide flush with the flange using a Dremel tool and I would guarantee that the flange was perpendicular to the guide by spinning the flange end on a steel plate clamped to the drill press table.
Anywhoo, while LABOR INTENSIVE the guides worked well and I made several before I got my Chinese Nerf lathe that I use now.
By the way, the pipe nipple wouldn't work for any spring larger than .540 inside, so for the factory R9 springs I would order some 3/8"ID X 5/8"OD DOM tubing and do the same thing.
I hope this was of interest to those that have an "itchin" to try making a snug spring guide but don't have a lathe. You also CAN'T have a life because it did take me a few hours to do one that fit the spring nicely by constantly stopping the drill press, checking the fit, starting the drill press again for more filing/sanding, etc. Another difficulty I had was getting the drill to stay in the middle of the guide while drilling it out. For the drilling procedure I used a cheap cross slide (from Grizzly tools) to hold the drill bit perfectly vertical (in a verticle "locating hole" that was drilled in the cross slide jaws) when clamped to the drill press table. Then I would lube the drill & inside of the pipe with cutting oil and commence drilling the guide as it was rotating in the drill press. Even with the "drilling guide" I found it best to drill half the length of the guide, then flip the guide and drill the other half.