Steel made axles

[deephis46]

Just wondering...

Is there a axles that the case made from steel? Or stainless steel maybe..
It should be awesome, if any, so we can braze or weld any mounting or accessories on it.

deephis

[Greatscott]

The big risk there would be putting too much heat into the case, warping it, and interfacing parts and pieces not fitting correctly. If anything, make a case with 3mm mounting holes so that you can make anything you want, then bolt it to the case.

[deephis46]

When you said warping, what thickness is on your mind?
Stainless steel would be trickier than steel to work with heat, but I think it depends on the thickness. But I don't know, I only experienced welding a stainless steel with thickness not more than 3mm though.
With the 3mm mounting holes should be a great idea but I want to eliminate more screws on axle if possible to make more look scale.
Like on the mounting link on many axle using 3mm, 2.5mm is just right for the look and strength also.

How about cnc'ed steel axle case?

[521BBF]

Warping is a concern, but you could certainly bend it back into shape if you measure carefully.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

If you've got the capability to weld/braze SS then you should be able to adapt your equipment to be able to weld/braze on aluminum and I'm pretty sure there are multiple axle housings made from that already in the marketplace.

It's a cool idea, I'd love the mass of proper steel housings but the manufacturing costs to tool up and make a steel or SS axle would be astronomical. If anyone did make them, I'd bet the price tag would be in excess of $500/axle housing, maybe even more.

The cheap offshore "alloy" housings definitely have an iron component to their alloy so you might order one of those to play around with. They're cast though, so welding to them won't be easy to do well.

You could make them in a cnc mill but you'd need to have at least 4-6 separate parts that require at least 3-4 clamping fixtures, 2-3 programs and several tool changes. We bill our machines out around $250/hr + set up time and fixture costs. Without actually spending any time working on a design I'd estimate at least 10-15hours to produce the first axle from a 3d model that you provide, gets cheaper the more you produce of but then you have start thinking of it as a business and how many you could sell.

Or you could cast them in mild steel but then you'd looking at massive costs to create and verify the molds and then a huge bill to make a production run of them. And again, welding to cast metal isn't ideal.


Short answer, look into the cheap offshore "alloy" housings since they have some level of iron in their mystery garbage alloy.

[521BBF]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

If you've got the capability to weld/braze SS then you should be able to adapt your equipment to be able to weld/braze on aluminum and I'm pretty sure there are multiple axle housings made from that already in the marketplace.

Not necessarily. Aluminum is a totally different animal to weld than steel. On this scale, it would be damn near impossible.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by 521BBF

Not necessarily. Aluminum is a totally different animal to weld than steel. On this scale, it would be damn near impossible.

I'm making some assumptions here obviously. If he's running mig then yeah, he probably couldn't dial down low enough but since he said could weld SS I thought maybe he's running tig and then there should be no problem welding alum on a tig.

Generally speaking though, you're bang on. Welding aluminum on anything at rc size can get tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Aluminum loves to burn right through before you even know what happened. I'd only ever try it with tig or go old-school and use oxy/acetylene pencil torch and really work that puddle..

[521BBF]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

I'm making some assumptions here obviously. If he's running mig then yeah, he probably couldn't dial down low enough but since he said could weld SS I thought maybe he's running tig and then there should be no problem welding alum on a tig.

Generally speaking though, you're bang on. Welding aluminum on anything at rc size can get tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Aluminum loves to burn right through before you even know what happened. I'd only ever try it with tig or go old-school and use oxy/acetylene pencil torch and really work that puddle..

I was assuming TIG. If MIG, the entire axle would probably vaporize before your very eyes! HaHa. I have made some incredibly small TIG welds on steel with very small electrodes and filler, but you can't really do that with aluminum. At least I have never seen it. If anyone has done this, I would love to see some pics.

[Phildirt]

If you're worried about mounting accessories or tabs to an axle without hardware to achieve an uber scale look then 3D printing is where its at, you can design your casing with all of those bits incorporated into it. From what I've seen machining/brazing/welding at scale is going to cease to exist as the printing technology increases. If it's weight you are worried about just throw all the brass at it.

[MrBlank]

Originally Posted by deephis46

Just wondering...

Is there a axles that the case made from steel? Or stainless steel maybe..
It should be awesome, if any, so we can braze or weld any mounting or accessories on it.

deephis

GCM racing makes (made) the Metalhead steel axle housing (I believe they later switched to an aluminum casing). I do not think either is still in production.

They were solid machined steel centres and tubes and could be bought with or without welded link and shock tabs.

I wish I had been into RC crawling back in 2011 when they made them as I would have grabbed a set. I first learned of them a couple of years ago when I saw a set mounted on an scx10 for sale on Kijiji (Canadian equivalent of Craigslist) but the guy wanted almost $600, the axles were the only thing I wanted, and they were in very rough shape.

Here is an RCCrawler link with plenty of info and photos:

GCM MetalHead Axle Thread-For Axial Scale Truck

[HumboldtEF]

I've never seen an actual steel axle housing, and any I have seen that are described as being steel are actually cheap zinc from what I've heard. Take that with a grain of salt though.

[MaX-D]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

I've never seen an actual steel axle housing, and any I have seen that are described as being steel are actually cheap zinc from what I've heard. Take that with a grain of salt though.

Would something like this be cheap zinc? I stumbled acrossed this yesterday looking for something else. Just curious.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-Xtra-S....c101096.m3021

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[TheLetterJ]

Yes, I have some of those and they are most definitely NOT steel, but they are heavy (I want to say they are each 5oz heavier than plastic AR60's)... most likely zinc. I've had good luck with them.

[MaX-D]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

Yes, I have some of those and they are most definitely NOT steel, but they are heavy (I want to say they are each 5oz heavier than plastic AR60's)... most likely zinc. I've had good luck with them.

Actually thought about scoring on a set to put one of these axles on my rig and the other on my sons. We both need more weight up front. I figured if they suck, I can always throw the plastic one's back on. Good to know you've had good luck with them. I think I'll pick up a set.

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