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The UAW welder that helps our team out has a few tricks that make his welds clean and very strong.
I would think (this comes from an electrical guy) that if you are shearing a shaft that the shaft size needs to go up some? For our boom this year the final stage was 1/2" shaft with 20pitch Boston gears that took huge abuse and never had any problems, of course it was also supported well with bearings.
In the past when we used keyways and pins, cutting the keyway into the shaft took away a substantial amount of material and if cut incorrectly could put extra stress on the shaft according to one of our mechainical engineers.
For our gears, we usually chamfered the inside bore of the gear to allow the weld to make a nice contact at that point, also we sized everything for a very tight fit without the weld. The welder has a little tool kindof like a drill facing upward with a foot pedal that spins the shaft while he welds to make a nice continous bead around the shaft. Also he has a tub of some purple stuff that looks like playdoh that absorbs heat off the materials so it doesn't deform as much. Properly welded gearing makes for a very strong geartrain.
Also we lightened all of the gears to a great degree (some as much as 80%) as a note to all teams: lighten the steel first its a much bigger bang for the buck!
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