Splined coupler

[slow-poke]

I'm looking for a splined coupler set, a bit like a PTO shaft. I'm fairly flexible on tooth count, anything say 7 teeth and up and 1/2-1"1-1/2" diameter. Rigid straight steel, no universal.

I want to fit this between the quill handle and quill shaft on my mill so I can easily change the angle of the handle without tools. I'm looking for something either AkiExpress cheap or readily available at Princess Auto etc.

Something like this, except I need both halves.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/weld-on-splined-hubs/product/PA1000001390

My google searches are turning up everything but what I'm looking for.

 

[JustaDB]

Anything here catch your eye? If so, click on the photo, then click on the title text above the "View File" hotlink. That will take you to the source site.

 

[140mower]

What about hacking them out of an old two piece drive shaft?

 

[slow-poke]

What about hacking them out of an old two piece drive shaft?

The thought occurred to me but I don't have anything like this at hand and even at a pick-and-pull prices would cost more than something from Ali. I was also thinking something from a yard machine of some sort, I see John Deer splined stuff on eBay but only one side not both sides.

Looking at the link in my original post I'm not sure what a " 7/8 in. x 13 Spline W-Series" refers to some sort of standard spline I guess, if I can find the other half (the splined shaft) this would work for me. Welding and or press fit will work for me.

 

[djberta]

What about hacking them out of an old two piece drive shaft?

This is likely a great cost effective way, there are all kinds of them.

 

[djberta]

Could this work?

https://a.co/d/3xqWeHK

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Go to a junk yard and pull a universal and hub from a front wheel drive car. Should be enough meat in both to get where you're going. If you tell them what you're doing with it, you might just pay for the weight, and not for the "part". Depending on your yard of course......

 

[djberta]

Have you looked at a Pto shaft assembly, the ones that can extend, retract? We had one on our mower deck. Not sure about the splines tho. Might be a good excuse to go to pa and have a look.

 

[FatherWes]

What about a nut and a 12-point socket?

 

[PeterT]

I made this (3DP) part for a completely different purpose but maybe you could adopt the idea. Each face has the same layout of half circle divots. So a 4mm ball mill plunged just under 2mm depth. One side has 4mm bearing balls bonded into it. This allows the 2 parts to be slightly separated, indexed to a new position & clamped together again via center bolt. The indexing is accurate & load carrying is basically the combined cross sectional areas of all the steel balls.

 

[Mike R]

I was thinking like PeterT but even more basic. Hand wheel side is a disc with a pin in it at some radius out - say 1". Shaft side has a disc with 8 or more holes at the 1" radius, and can be retained to the shaft numerous ways (2 set screes 90 apart, keyed, etc.) Shaft passes through to the hand wheel and can be retained on the hand wheel with a light spring. Just pull the hand wheel back, index to where you want, push back and you're done. Very simple construction. to.

 

[djberta]

What about a nut and a 12-point socket?

I actually did this myself some time ago. I made an adapter to go from my rf30 mill table to a wiper motor. Kind of worked. ended up just buying and installing a vevor power feed that has worked awesome since install. Not sure if this idea would work for slow-poke or not, I think he needs more splines?

 

[Dan Dubeau]

If you could find a cheap scrap lower end from an outboard motor with prop you'd get enough of a spline shaft and female section on the prop side. Might be worth a call around to some local marinas to see if you can volunteer to clean up some junk for them......To them it's scrap, and next to worthless.

 

[slow-poke]

What about a nut and a 12-point socket?

I did, but because of the short engagement length, I think it might be too floppy. Good idea though.

 

[slow-poke]

I'm going to go poke around PA this week, see if they have something.

 

[FatherWes]

Yes, I thought that might be a problem, with the shaft being horizontal. I used this for wrench/lever for the top nut on my QCTP. The socket sits down on it so no droop.
Lots of splined shafts in cars. I think this was mentioned (#6,@Dan Dubeau ), but, the axles on a lot of smaller FWD cars completely swapped out when CV joints are changed. I don’t think there’s a core charge so shops just scrap the old one, complete with spline and coupling ends.

 

[Susquatch]

I did, but because of the short engagement length, I think it might be too floppy. Good idea though.

Two full length deep sockets welded together? Maybe do the same with two nuts?

 

[Mike R]

My 2 minute sketch of what I was thinking of:

The plate with holes is keyed to the shaft, the handle spins on the shaft, and pushes it pin into the holes, spring holds it in place. I'm sure I've used something like this before.

 

[slow-poke]

My 2 minute sketch of what I was thinking of:
View attachment 63174
The plate with holes is keyed to the shaft, the handle spins on the shaft, and pushes it pin into the holes, spring holds it in place. I'm sure I've used something like this before.

This looks like a viable solution. Great thing is it's free. Thanks for the image, I will definitely consider this option.

 

[slow-poke]

My 2 minute sketch of what I was thinking of:
View attachment 63174
The plate with holes is keyed to the shaft, the handle spins on the shaft, and pushes it pin into the holes, spring holds it in place. I'm sure I've used something like this before.

This looks like a viable solution. Great thing is it's free. Thanks for the image, I will definitely consider this option.