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Sourcing Metal | General Discussion

I need a piece of shafting 1" in diameter 3 feet long. Final product will be a bit shorter but will buy 3 feet to get started. I'm making a grinder that will have 6 eight inch diameter grinding wheels. The shaft will be supported with 2 pillow block bearings near the middle and driven by a pulley in the centre. If it does not run true I can add additional bearings on the ends. Shaft will be turning at 500 to a maximum of 1500 RPM. It will be exposed to pure water with no lubricant in it.

Does anyone know where I can buy some sort of ready to use shafting? Recommend a grade of metal? I will have to do a little machining on the ends. I want something with no runout as supplied.
 
@Upnorth - No runout on a 30" shaft eh....... Prolly not gunna happen unless you can pretest it. Of course, that really depends on your definition of runout.

I'm thinking you should just plan on the end bearings. If it ever decided to get even a little unbalanced for whatever reason, you would very quickly have a very dangerous enraged tazmanian devilephant in the room with you!

What, are you gunna mount this devilephant on?

Can you do a rough drawing of this thing for us?
 
I just looked at McMaster-Carr and they have “ultra-straight tight tolerance shafting” that is specd at .0015” straightness per foot.

3ft of 1” will run you $200 US plus shipping and tax.
 
3ft long is quite long for just 1" shaft. I would look into a thicker shaft if it has so little support.

Since this is a grinder I assume it has ... stones at both ends. Since it is 3ft long I assume that there is like 1ft distance from the bearing to the stone? On each side? I would be scared to use just 1"

If you were in Calgary I would offer a hydraulic cylinder rod - through not sure I have a 3ft length of it - 1in is very thin and 3ft is quite long.

Look at design of other grinders and try to imitate or you need to do some calculations yourself.

The grinder design you are talking about comes on auction in Calgary regularly and sells for under $100 - i.e. scrap price. Including motor and some used up stones. Motor powers the center of the shaft and pillow bearings support the shaft.
 
I can only assume that the 1" shaft will be supported not only by a pair of pillow blocks on both sides of the pulley, but between every grinding wheel. If not you have a dangerous hot mess on your hands. How are you planning to mount 6 wheels on one arbour?

Because of the above concerns, I have 4 pedestal grinders, dual diamond wheels, two aluminum oxide in standard 40/120 grit (what you get when you buy a cheap grinder), an 8" 60/200 grit, and the other I forget, but it will be set up for buffing and wire wheel when I get the time**

** there is no time.
 
I should have described what I am doing better. The final products shaft will be much shorter than 3 feet. I need a 3 foot piece because I have a need for the extra for a second project. I did consider drill rod but I need corrosion resistance. As mentioned by Johnwa in the last post it is a cabbing machine. Buying a pre made one is very expensive. There will be 3 grinding wheels on each side of the bearings to lessen the load. Although the cabber looks like a regular grinder it turns at a reduced speed. I will be using a VFD to keep the speed down.

I'm attaching an image of the sort of machine I am trying to make a DIY replacement for. I already have a set of grinding wheels.
Cabber.webp
 
Upnorth said:
I should have described what I am doing better. The final products shaft will be much shorter than 3 feet. I need a 3 foot piece because I have a need for the extra for a second project. I did consider drill rod but I need corrosion resistance. As mentioned by Johnwa in the last post it is a cabbing machine. Buying a pre made one is very expensive. There will be 3 grinding wheels on each side of the bearings to lessen the load. Although the cabber looks like a regular grinder it turns at a reduced speed. I will be using a VFD to keep the speed down.

I'm attaching an image of the sort of machine I am trying to make a DIY replacement for. I already have a set of grinding wheels. View attachment 35147
Click to expand...
Stainless 1” shafting is available through Fastenal. At a previous job of mine we used a lot of it making conveyers for food and pharmaceutical applications.
 
Janger said:
Is this for knife making? Or jewellery? What are you making? and it looks like water pours over the wheels?

http://www.gemworld.com/Titan.asp
$3500 USD. yah that's expensive! pretty specialized - cabber's - there'a always another tool!

Here are some more at various prices.
https://cuttingedgesupply.store/collections/cabbing-machines
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It's for grinding the stones used it jewelry to shape. I have a lifetime of accumulated rocks that I need to do something with. It looks like a normal grinder but turns at a lower RPM. Water drips onto the wheel then goes into a drain to be disposed of. The water is not reused.
 
I'm make one comment, that is a lot of free spinning wt on a long unsupported shaft.

Be prepared to be beaten to death should it ever get unbalanced one inch sounds enough, but with the shaft size and forces involved will only allow it to get up to speeds where it ensures mayhem happens.

I have sheared a 1" endmill HSS on my small kneemill with a too aggressive feed (inexperience and rushing). The kinetic energy when it failed sent it zinging around the shop for a couple of loops, luckily I wasn't in the way.
 
Degen said:
I'm make one comment, that is a lot of free spinning wt on a long unsupported shaft.

Be prepared to be beaten to death should it ever get unbalanced one inch sounds enough, but with the shaft size and forces involved will only allow it to get up to speeds where it ensures mayhem happens.

I have sheared a 1" endmill HSS on my small kneemill with a too aggressive feed (inexperience and rushing). The kinetic energy when it failed sent it zinging around the shop for a couple of loops, luckily I wasn't in the way.
Click to expand...
I have decided to go with 4 bearings to support the shaft. Two in the middle and one at each end. The grinding wheels used for grinding rocks are much lighter than the ones used for steel.
 
Dan Dubeau said:
Just thought I put this here. For the past year or so I've been buying some drops pallets and bundles from Kawartha metals through one of the managers on facebook market place. Every once in a while he'll list a bunch of stuff, usually odds n ends, or a bundle of channel, or angle etc for a take it all price usually around $0.5/lb For the home shop guy who likes to stock a bit of variety it's a pretty good deal. I've been stocking up for a couple big projects on the go, and can build around whatever I get.

I bought another bundle last night, but when talking to him, he mentioned they're thinking of setting up a walk in drops section and selling straight by the pound once covid restrictions clear up. This would be at the Peterborough location, not sure about others, but I just thought I'd post it up here.

I know it's sometimes tough to get industrial suppliers to talk to small time home shop guys, and you usually get the eff off price when you do. Kawartha is pretty good though for that though.

Also, if anybody in the east gta sees one of those bundles and wants to split it, let me know. Usually a pallet bundle is about $350, and I can pick it up on my way home from work. Search "steel" in the Peterborough region and you'll find them.
Click to expand...
Just bought another pallet of new drops for $0.5/lb. just over 450lbs on this one, and a nice mix of stuff 3-4' that should get me through the next couple projects.

D2Y1XhF.jpg


Time to get cutting and welding.
 
I hauled a couple of loads of scrap aluminum and steel to the local metal recycling/auto wrecker and when I saw lots of other metal there that could be used for projects, I asked if they sold any metal. They assured me they set aside some “good” metal for resale but I didn’t have a look at that time. This yard was west of Lethbridge but I’m thinking other metal recyclers may do the same. One could always ask…. That said, you would have to be able to identify the metal types you want.
 
Alawishes said:
I hauled a couple of loads of scrap aluminum and steel to the local metal recycling/auto wrecker and when I saw lots of other metal there that could be used for projects, I asked if they sold any metal. They assured me they set aside some “good” metal for resale but I didn’t have a look at that time. This yard was west of Lethbridge but I’m thinking other metal recyclers may do the same. One could always ask…. That said, you would have to be able to identify the metal types you want.
Click to expand...
I often shop National Salvage in Lethbridge as they do also put aside some of the more useable aluminum/shafting/brass/structural stuff. I feel like a kid I a candy shop when I see their yard.
 
DPittman said:
I often shop National Salvage in Lethbridge as they do also put aside some of the more useable aluminum/shafting/brass/structural stuff. I feel like a kid I a candy shop when I see their yard.
Click to expand...
It’s been awhile since I was at National Salvage but I hear you re: “kid in a candy store”.
 
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