Question on DIY Shafts

[andyt808]

I have been reading some previous posts on making shafts and got the basic idea down. I have found that most people recomend the 17-4 blanks for the shaft. The main question I had after reading some of the previous posts was which is preffered the annealed version or the tempered version. The previous posts mentioned that the tempered version was much harder. Is it too hard to work with? Is the annealed version to soft to use without tempering it?

All feedback is welcome. Thanks ahead of time, Andy.

 

[Groupermadness]

Hi andy, i just got 5 shafts made for me, non stainless 6.5mm only reason i choose this material is it flexes less and i can temper the shaft and tips, they are hardened from 5 cm from the back to 10cm above center, this reduces wobble flex off the shot (i dont use rail system) the only thing with non stainless shafts is you have to look after them so they wont rust. i am very happy with these shafts and prefer them to stock manufactured ones, only problem i have is getting floppys for them LOL.

 

[sickbugs]

annealed metal is soft, tempered is hard, search the net for a metalworking area near to you (blacksmith, mill, ect.) if you can find one, you can make the spear annealed, and get it tempered from a pro.

 

[andyt808]

I guess the biggest question now that I know I probably can't get a shaft annealed is can I work tempered shafts?

 

[dave]

quick answer; no!
Even if you have access to a fully equiped metalworking workshop, it is not viable to do work of the required accuracy for the trigger end of the shaft on tempered steel. If you are asking basic questions about annealed or tempered steel I would guess you dont have the skills or knowledge to make spears succesfully
DIY shafts are just not really practical, you need volume to make heat treating viable, and they need some fairly precise machining. It is far cheaper to just buy them
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
www.c-ski.co.uk

 

[Dan Man]

I am not an expert on making shafts or anything I thought I would just share my experiences on what I have done.

I have reshaped the ends of spring stainless shafts before. It only took about 10 minutes with a file to make it fit a riffe mech. Its really not that hard if you are only making a couple of shafts.

For the fins I don't have access to stainless welders and cutting notches can be messy. So what I opted for was drilling a hole down vertically into the shaft and putting a pin in there. I riveted over one end so it was solid in there and tapped it back with a hammer to make a tab like thing. I have loaded these shafts up before and they hold fine. This was all with shafts that had been cut or something wrong with them and they needed repairing.

So in short I would say its entirely possible to make a few shafts for nix.

 

[milhouse]

Reshape a shaft, and make a shaft is not really the same thing...

 

[Dan Man]

How much different is it? The end of the shaft was blank so I had to make the mechanism part for it.

Seriously I don't think It would be that hard if you had access to a milling machine. Just go really slow and make multiple passes for the mech cut out. Use a bit of cutting compound.

Use a cobalt bit and some cutting compound to drill a few holes. How hard are floppers in install!

If someone could get me tempered spring stainless I could make a shaft no problems.

 

[milhouse]

The problem is not in the machining part, but how did you get your shaft hardened?

 

[Dan Man]

I didn't get it hardened it was a shaft already. All I was saying is the maching is not hard at all. And if you paying $10 for a shaft and you bend it who gives a rip! Just take the flopper from it and put it one the next one. Or thread it and use slip tips.

I had an 8mm spear for my 90cm Edge railgun that I made from ordinary stainless steel and a pranger. Worked fine until someone stood on it when it was over a gun in the boat!