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Unread 07-09-2011, 13:26
kaliken kaliken is offline
294 Old Fart Mentor...
AKA: Ken S
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Re: Hex Axle- How to

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me View Post
Be aware that if you do this, you might end up with 6061 hex axles. Then you'll suffer months of mockery by all of your friends because of a silly drivetrain failure.

...just a heads up.

6061 is a fine alloy to use. You just need to be smart in the design and do the math to prove you are within proper yield safety margins. Thus cantilevering may not be the best idea, but I can vouch that using 6061 in a simply supported setup has worked fine for us for the past 5 years.

Also as a heads up. For purchasing hex stock from McMaster or any other metal supply store, we have found that the stock is usually oversized by a small amount. This means our 0.5" hex broach is a little too small. A small amount of sanding on each side solves the problem quite readily.
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