shafts

[willloomy]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but have any of you guys made shafts before. It's something I have wanted to try for a while my plan is to pin them like the rob allen shafts.
I just don't know what the best way to make the part that fits into the trigger mechanism. What do you guys think i should use? (it's going to be a square notch)
I was thinking of using a hack saw to cut the straight ends of the notch and then grinding and polishing it with a Dremel tool to make it smooth. however there has to be a faster and better way to do this. what do you think I should do.

I was also thinking about using a tap and die set to thread the shaft. do you think this would work?

 

[willloomy]

ill put this to make it easier to visualize

 

[jtkwest]

you have to work the metal in its annealed (soft) state. then heat temper them by heating them way up, then cooling quickly. this tempers the metal, you could skip the threaded tip and just drill a hole and make flopper spears. unless you want a slip tip. there is a guy on ebay vector marine products he makes the sharkfins,(if you just weld those on instead of pins) he makes custom shafts and everything you need to make your own. ask him where to buy the rod stock you need to start with too. he will know. he can give you tips too on making them. you will need access to a kiln to do the final tempering BTW. good luck. to be honest you can buy pinned shafts for around 30$ each from ray odor, making them is unlikely to be worth your time. even more unlikely to be better quality finish product than what you can simply buy. unless you already have a kiln at your house, it may prove to be very inconvenient.i thought about doing this myself but it seems its only worth while if you make a whole bunch of them to make it worth your time to just make 1 or 2 it would be simpler to just buy them. i really like the sharkfin shafts alot better than pinned shafts and heat tempering is essential......good luck anyway though ps: a 4" grinder has different thickness abrasive wheels. get one at 3/8" thick and use that to grind the notch. lock it in a vise. to do it. finish it off with a file and the dremel i have done it before . it works good

 

[willloomy]

I don't anticipate getting a better product than a bought one but I want to try it. For heat treating I have access to a glass shop with a kiln but I have seen people heat treating with coals on concrete I don't know if that would work or be practical at all but an interesting note.
I also prefer shark fins. But i don't know how to wield and i don't mind the pins