Spline cutting work offered for once-off job

[paulsheer]

Hullo,

I am busy making CV inner shafts for my Jeep as follows on my craftsman commercial 12x40:



I finally got them both done expecting to be able to hire a machine shop to cut the splines. The splines are 32 teeth for the small (1" diameter) end, and 27 teeth for the large (1.25" diameter):



But my first quote came in at $700 for the job which is a bit too pricy

So now I'm stuck.

Is there anyone interested in doing this job for a fee by mail? BTW I am in North Dallas.


Alternatively, has anyone made one of these?
Or know where I could buy one?
I suppose I could use this to cut the teeth and then buy dividing plates with 27 holes and 32 holes:

Thanks for any ideas

Paul

[Lew Hartswick]

:-) I would consider that a challenge to build the lever keyway cutter and the index mechanism for the lathe . :-) Of course I'm retired and nothing else to do. Your situation may vary. :-)
...lew...

[01-7700]

Ambitious project all the way.

[MrFluffy]

Why not just use the saddle traverse with a cutter in the toolpost to achieve this for a couple of jobs? You will still need to index the shaft, but you already have a perfectly good solid mechanism to hold the cutter at a accurate depth fitted from the factory.
Interested to see what else you plan to do to the spines post cutting in terms of hardness/heat treatment since I see resplining some half shafts in my future at some point when narrowing a jaguar irs rear axle fitted to my hot rod...

[paulsheer]

any idea what sort of cutter i would use? teeth look straight with a 60 degree valley. but that is just how they look -- too difficult to actually measure in there. they dont seem to be curved like gear teeth.

[paulsheer]

Why not just use the saddle traverse with a cutter in the toolpost to achieve this for a couple of jobs? You will still need to index the shaft, but you already have a perfectly good solid mechanism to hold the cutter at a accurate depth fitted from the factory.
Interested to see what else you plan to do to the spines post cutting in terms of hardness/heat treatment since I see resplining some half shafts in my future at some point when narrowing a jaguar irs rear axle fitted to my hot rod...

well i have to do that (27 + 32) * 2 times

yes, it may work. i'm just not really comfortable with that as a plan

the steel is D2 tool steel. there are shops that do hardening+tempering in the $100 range.

i chose D2 because it is easy to get and is about as strong as the strongest steel you can get -- 300 kpsi

[01-7700]

any idea what sort of cutter i would use? teeth look straight with a 60 degree valley. but that is just how they look -- too difficult to actually measure in there. they dont seem to be curved like gear teeth.

There are a few spline cutting youtubes using a mill - might get some clues from those.

[paulsheer]

There are a few spline cutting youtubes using a mill - might get some clues from those.

yes -- i watched a bunch :-)

but they don't seem to give that info

[CCWKen]

Piece of cake. Where are you located?

I would either make the two cutters, regrind a couple of old gear cutters or key slot cutters. $700? That just means that shop didn't want to mess with it or doesn't trust your turning. Any speed shop should already be set up to cut splines. The spline specs are the only empty hole there. Are the ends center drilled?

Edit: Ok, I see--North Dallas.

[paulsheer]

Piece of cake. Where are you located?

I would either make the two cutters, regrind a couple of old gear cutters or key slot cutters.

ha ha. i appreciate your confidence :-)

i am sure it is easy to do -- but not so easy to get perfect

how do i know the tooth angle, tooth curvature, or type of cutter?

there are a zillion "gear" cutting cutters out there on the interwebs...

but very few "spline" cutters

everything on ebay is a hobbing type cutter for 4 axis CNC

[Dave C]

There's a retired machinist with a home shop in Pearl, Ms, that narrows rear ends for drag cars . He has a Bridgeport set up with a dividing head and tail stock to hold the axle, and cuts the splines with a custom made carbide cutter.

[kitno455]

It is hard to see from your pictures, but I'm not sure you are done turning just yet. That necked down area just inside the splines is not just for looks. Did you replicate it?

allan

[paulsheer]

There's a retired machinist with a home shop in Pearl, Ms, that narrows rear ends for drag cars . He has a Bridgeport set up with a dividing head and tail stock to hold the axle, and cuts the splines with a custom made carbide cutter.

do you have a contact?
can he do work couriered with UPS?

[paulsheer]

That necked down area just inside the splines is not just for looks. Did you replicate it?

no i did not

the OEM teeth are not machined, but rolled. it is necked down due to the rolling process to make the teeth.

is it really important?

why is that?

[CCWKen]

Do these run in housings with bearings on each end? D2 isn't a particularly good choice for axles if there's any chance of radial forces. D2 doesn't take kindly to flexing. You certainly don't want the body of the shaft stone hard. About 45RC and no more than about 48. Typically, only the splines are induction hardened so they don't shear and to reduce wear when some axial expansion may occur. I'm not sure D2 can be spot hardened. Someone with more know-it on metals might help.