What type of steel to use for stub shafts and wire drives?

[Troy Hammons]

Looking for some insight on what to use for stub shafts and wire drives. There are lots of choices out there. I have had issues in the past couple years with some stub shafts breaking or bending. It seems one manufacturer had too brittle of material, and another was too soft. I'm looking for something in between. I don't know if there is something pre heat treated that is strong enough? I was looking at a few grades of tool steel in the annealed state. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[RaceMechaniX]

Troy,
Save yourself the effort of building your own and call up Brent Byers. He has .098 wire to 3/16" stubs and also has .125" wire to 3/16" stubs. When I made my own I was using 316 SS precision ground blanks from McMaster or 12L14 blanks. The spring steel wire I had to source from Germany.

 

[Terry Keeley]

Are guys still just using loctite to fasten the stub?

 

[Mike Hughes]

I have for .078 wire. I would think it might hold for the larger stuff. It is pretty tough stuff.
Mike

 

[RaceMechaniX]

Yeah, 638 still working for me.

 

[Wasted wages]

That still just amazes me...that the "glue" is that tough... how tight of a fit is the wire to the stub shaft?

 

[Troy Hammons]

Thanks Tyler, I've been using his wire drives for a while and they work great. I want to make some square drive stub shafts to try.