Quote:
Originally Posted by richardmcc2
Our team is using two of these 256:1 gearboxes for our arm as well, and I've been thinking about heat treating the carrier plate and/or the output shaft. I talked to my materials professor today, and he said it could be done if I knew exactly what kind of tool steel the output shaft and the carrier plate were made of....does anyone know the material specifications? Without these specifications, I imagine we may experience the same sort of fast fracture that others are talking about if I can't figure out the exact type of tool steel.
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I can't tell you the exact specs (I don't think anyone knows at this point), but I've been doing testing with the 42mm plate for the last two days and I have the following data:
Hardness Before Heat-Treatment: ~C24
900C, 15 min, water quench: ~C60
300C temper, 30 min: ~C50
This resulted in brittle fracture almost immediately in the gearbox (very low load).
800C, 15min, oil quench: ~C25
800C, 15min, air-cooled: ~C10
950C, 15min, air-cooled: ~C14
950C, 15min, water quench: ~C60
950C, 15min, oil quench: ~C50
The lab technician said his best guess is either O1 (oil cooled) or W1 (water cooled) tool steel. Definitely not A-anything (air cooled).
Many have said that oil quenching with a longer/hotter temper to get to ~C40 might work well. I will test this when I get more samples. I'm also getting some A2 tool steel to try.