precisionworks
Flashaholic
Making custom shafts, or making replacement shafts, is a bread & butter item for a job shop like mine. Just got a phone call to make one up ASAP that will ship UPS overnight :D No TV watching this evening.
My two primary shafting materials are 1144 Stressproof and 4140HT. Some properties are similar, others are different.
For ease of machining, nothing beats 1144 when a high tensile strength steel is needed ... 115 ksi is the figure often noted. For many shafts, that is more than adequate. Machinability is 70% of the standard 1212. Turning speed is about 200 sfpm with carbide tooling. 1144 is considered non-weldable because of the lead & sulfur content.
4140HT (Heat Treated) has even better fatigue properties than 1144, plus higher surface hardness (28-32 HRc). Machinability is 50%-55% of the standard 1212. Turning speed is about 100 sfpm with carbide. It is readily welded without problem. Tensile runs about 120 ksi - 140 ksi.
4140HT machines much like W1 or O1 tool steel, which is to say not too bad. It is a medium carbon alloy steel, not prone to work hardening unless one gets careless with dull tooling. An interesting point, from the Lindquist Steels website, is this:
FWIW, both 1144 & 4140HT have about the same pricing structure. If you need smaller quantities, like 3' or 6' (or some multiple of 6') a good supplier is http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/metalguide.aspx
Pricing on the phone is less than pricing on the web :eek:
My two primary shafting materials are 1144 Stressproof and 4140HT. Some properties are similar, others are different.
For ease of machining, nothing beats 1144 when a high tensile strength steel is needed ... 115 ksi is the figure often noted. For many shafts, that is more than adequate. Machinability is 70% of the standard 1212. Turning speed is about 200 sfpm with carbide tooling. 1144 is considered non-weldable because of the lead & sulfur content.
4140HT (Heat Treated) has even better fatigue properties than 1144, plus higher surface hardness (28-32 HRc). Machinability is 50%-55% of the standard 1212. Turning speed is about 100 sfpm with carbide. It is readily welded without problem. Tensile runs about 120 ksi - 140 ksi.
4140HT machines much like W1 or O1 tool steel, which is to say not too bad. It is a medium carbon alloy steel, not prone to work hardening unless one gets careless with dull tooling. An interesting point, from the Lindquist Steels website, is this:
FWIW, both 1144 & 4140HT have about the same pricing structure. If you need smaller quantities, like 3' or 6' (or some multiple of 6') a good supplier is http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/metalguide.aspx
Pricing on the phone is less than pricing on the web :eek:
