My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.

If the axle shaft happens to be large enough at the 30 inch mark, cut it
and re-spline it without
affecting the heat treating. Otherwise you are pretty much wasting time
unless you are going
to be using it for some low power application.

Sounds like an axle shaft from a Dana 60 maybe? I get my short ones from
Dutchman
Machine in Portland Oregon.

"John Hofstad-Parkhill" wrote in message
...
My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One one
end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately 1-1/2"
in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot of length
from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.

John Hofstad-Parkhill wrote in news:qNPLf.34$8r4.1070
@news.uswest.net:

My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.

Hi John. I would send it and the housing to Moser Engineering.
Especially if this is going to be used in some sort of Race Car
application?

Its an art best left to the pros that do it on a routine basis IMHO.
Marty

John Hofstad-Parkhill wrote:
My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.

Axles are tough. I used to use a torch to cut off just the bit I wanted, then
anneal it so it could be machined. Now I use a big abrasive cutoff saw. I really
think it would be a nightmare trying to cut off a big axle like that on a mill
or lathe, John.

Grant Erwin

I made a hybrid axle splicing a VW engine to a Harley Hog years ago.
Centered and bored both ends and inserted a 3/8" alignment pin.
Chamfered the mating parts and tacked it all together before welding.
It made a nice looking job and the owner was very happy with it. I
think it was just a street rod, not competition.
Bugs

Depends on the axles, some of them are tough stuff to cut.
(Been there & regretted it)


Tony

"John Hofstad-Parkhill" wrote in message
...
My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.

it is EASY to cut it.

welding it back togehter is easy.

having it hold together is the hard part.
the ONLY way to have it hold together is to lathe it apart, then taper
one end down to a point. maybe taper both ends.
weld it back together on the lathe wth a weld at least 3 inches wide.
do it right, and it will shatter at the area next ot the weld, and not
the weld.

PS: easiest to find someone that knows how, and watch them the first
time.

talk to teh drag racers and circle trackers. they are always doing this
stuff.

On 25 Feb 2006 17:08:19 -0800, "Doug" wrote:

it is EASY to cut it.

welding it back togehter is easy.

having it hold together is the hard part.
the ONLY way to have it hold together is to lathe it apart, then taper
one end down to a point. maybe taper both ends.
weld it back together on the lathe wth a weld at least 3 inches wide.
do it right, and it will shatter at the area next ot the weld, and not
the weld.


Most of them are made of steel similar to "stress-pruff" what is tough
but certainly not impossible to machine. If you machine the 1.25" axle
down to about .5" for an inch or two at the splice and chamfer the
1.25" edges, then take a piece of stress-pruff 1.25" diameter and
several inches long and bore it for a snug fit on the resulting
"pins", chamfer the ends of the resulting slug, press together and
fill the two reuslting "V"s with weld, you end up with an accurate
straight axle without too much reduction in strength.
Good for a narrowed auto rear end for use on a light tractor, or for a
light sports car - but not for drag race use or use with a locked
spool in track racer.
*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
John Hofstad-Parkhill wrote:
My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.

Axles are tough. I used to use a torch to cut off just the bit I wanted,
then
anneal it so it could be machined. Now I use a big abrasive cutoff saw. I
really
think it would be a nightmare trying to cut off a big axle like that on a
mill
or lathe, John.

Grant Erwin

Axles are made of 4140 and HT to 50 RC. Yes they can be machined. Also you
can have them annealed, then machine them and HT them again. Also they make
good lathe chuck keys. Never seen one brake and you have to use them a lot
to show any wear. I have one laying around for such projects.

Richard W. wrote:

Axles are made of 4140 and HT to 50 RC. Yes they can be machined. Also you
can have them annealed, then machine them and HT them again. Also they make
good lathe chuck keys.

You must have a really big chuck!

"Rex B" wrote in message
...

Richard W. wrote:

Axles are made of 4140 and HT to 50 RC. Yes they can be machined. Also
you
can have them annealed, then machine them and HT them again. Also they
make
good lathe chuck keys.

You must have a really big chuck!

12" steel 4 jaw. I will be making a chuck key for it from an old axle, but
not for a while yet. Don't have the mill set up the way I want it yet.

On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:02:47 -0600, John Hofstad-Parkhill
wrote:

My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.



What types of vehicle would have a 1 1/2" dia axle ?
I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some to make some blackpowder
cannon barrels out of


BK

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 06:00:41 -0600, Barney-Killer
wrote:

On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:02:47 -0600, John Hofstad-Parkhill
wrote:

My friend is at it again. His friend has asked him to cut an axle. One
one end is a hub, on the other a spline (32 teeth), it's approximately
1-1/2" in diameter, and 42" long. They wish to cut approximately a foot
of length from this axle.

The questions are many, but how would YOU do it?

He's got a 13" Clausing lathe and a BridgePort.



What types of vehicle would have a 1 1/2" dia axle ?
I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some to make some blackpowder
cannon barrels out of

Medium duty trucks (grain trucks, fuel delivery trucks, and other
similar ones) often have a 1 5/8" axle in them.

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:11:55 -0600, Wayne Cook
wrote:

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 06:00:41 -0600, Barney-Killer
wrote:
What types of vehicle would have a 1 1/2" dia axle ?
I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some to make some blackpowder
cannon barrels out of

Medium duty trucks (grain trucks, fuel delivery trucks, and other
similar ones) often have a 1 5/8" axle in them.


Thanks, Wayne

I'll start watching out for old vehicles of that type.


BK