TECH: How I drilled my dropped axle

Were do you plan to use these washers?

 

Nice work and pix Scoot.....that project of yours is coming along nice !!

Rat

 

I just started painting my axle last week, because I couldn't figure out a way to drill it accurately. Great info, will save it for later

 

I think he meant finding the middle of the web by running a small set of dividers roughly half the distance and running it along the length of the axle. Basically scribing from the top and the bottom.

 

just drilled one my self . i found that water with a bit of soap was about three times as fast as oil! and i only used one hole saw on 17 holes!!

 

Cool!!! Wanna make some hot rod money??? I've got an undropped one.

 

Water soluble cutting oils are available from any industrial supplier, mix it with water according to instructions. Usually something like 20:1 to 40:1, mix a couple litres in a pop bottle, dispense into a squirt bottle, squirt while drilling. This cools as well as lubricates the tool.

A one inch drill would work also. Again, drill a 3/16 or so pilot hole, countersink to near one inch to keep the drill centred. General rule for speeds: four times the cutting speed of the material divided by the diameter of the tool. This will give roughly the right cutting speed at the cutting edge, in surface feet per minute. Material cutting speeds: if you use 200 sfm for aluminum and 90 for steel you'll be in the ballpark.

Re holesaws: If you're cutting a fairly deep hole, it helps to drill a small hole just inside the holesaw diameter. Gives the chips someplace to go, prevents clogging and breaking teeth. Big holesaw? Drill a couple holes.

 

Nice Scooter, thanks for the thread!

 

Great job! One thing I found out is that if you are planning to chrome the axle then get it polished before cutting the holes, I speak from experience. My polisher had a nightmare trying to keep the edges of the holes sharp and even......

 

YEAH! Go Hawks!

Wood was a product of Saturn. I know! Hard to believe right! NO! The hole saw does not have to be Orange... Unless it's a RIDGID and then they just come like that. Nate you could use some of your pink nailpolish and fake it, if you want it to match that knife which again, DOES have to be pink! And if the saw was pink you could still use whatever oil you prefer. You will not get a discount if you name drop. Name dropping is lame. They will probably charge you more.

 

Man! Think about how long it took me to make you that cutout pattern. Now think about when you will need your axle. Still want to send it to me?

 

Hmmmm.... for the sling shot?

 

Hahahaha! I guess that's the difference between free and hot rod money...

If you're down, I'm down. I don't have a press here in SLC. I've got one in a storage container back east, though, a lot of good that's doing me. Come to think about it... I don't have plywood or blue tape or a pink knife or an orange hole saw!

I'm fully capable when borrowing shop time at my old place of work, that could get old though, for them, you know?

 

those slugs look a lot like small railroad car wheels


or maybe you could sell them as...

plugs for some rerestorer trying to undo a hot rodders bastardizing work on a gennie heavy 32 axle ....



ad reads
gennie Henry Ford axle filling plugs ..
restore ruined hot rod axles with original FORD steel eliminates whistling at high speed...

only $ 33.00 per slug while supply lasts (packed with bonus original metal chips and early Ford flathead used engine oil)
plus shipping and handling

order today!

make a great gift!

garounteed to bring back the 70 lbs removed from that damn drilling!

 

Great Read - Good Pics

Do you think a proper sized step drill could do the job?

 

Do you think Henry Ford ( and others ) made that axle a solid I beam cross section for nothing? If Henry thought he could have saved a penny by not casting holes and saving iron he would have, but not at the expense of safety and reliability.

Of course, if you are just going to have a trailer queen or a straight line racer, cant see much harm being done.

 

My buddy has always drilled his axels with a hole saw. Thanks for the post, I learned a good way to index and space them out.

 

nice Scooter, I have the same axle to do this too...now I have instructions

 

they made it solid because that was the easy way to do it and it dint need additional machining..thus saving money

this will not affect the integrity of the axle..hell you can buy em this way.

if you drill a hole in the center of a 2x4 it doesnt affect its bending strength.(as long as you dont make the hole too dam big).drill it on the edge..now you got an issue.

awesome work scooter..

 

that is super cool

 

Why does there always have to be ONE guy that just doesn't get it that can't just let it go??

Are you implying a person should not drill an axle??? Really??? Or was your initial question of "Do you think Henry Ford ( and others ) made that axle a solid I beam cross section for nothing?" just rhetorical question while the rest was supporting verbage?

If I misunderstood what you're saying and that's not what you're implying then sorry ahead of time, but it sounds like you're implying that everyone who drills their axles are destined for death.

1st - This has been done for decades and when done correctly is not unsafe. In fact. Various manufacturers SELL THEM DRILLED.

2nd - I noticed you are a Manufacturing Engineer. Do you have any background in Mechanical, Structural, or Materials Engineering? Is this an educated statement you are willing to back-up with mathematical proof or are you just making an assumption based on your own formulated common sense in order to be the one negative person in the whole thread? (do a search you will find it HAS been proven already) If so, there are OTHER threads to include your math.

3rd - This is a how-to tech thread. If this thread is not helpful because you don't plan on drilling your own axle, fine. No need to comment, right? Post your objections in another thread that discusses structural failure rates when drilling axles. There are other threads SPECIFICALLY dedicated to that subject you might find interesting. If you can't find one, then start one and then everyone WILL point you in the right direction.

4th - Are you on the right forum?

Again. Maybe I took you the wrong way, and I'm sorry if I have. I will retract the entire post if I misunderstood.

Thank you everyone else for your CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and positive feedback. I really do hope someone can use it and if someone else does use it and it works, let me know. I would love to hear.

 

Well played Scott.
Did I miss it, are you going to chamfer the edges?

 

Yes! I believe I will. I have a MONSTER counter-sink at the shop. I will probably use that and just touch each hole with it. I'm thinking a very slight break on the edge of each hole will give a nice finished look.

 

actually , the ford axle was forged , not cast. i see no practical way of forging it with the holes in it. so putting holes in the axle after it was forged would be an additional manufacturing step and thus more money....and not any savings

 

I may never drill an axle - - hawever as I stated above, this is a great read - as I went thru the article I was conferming my thoughts for ongoing machine work to be done _ as well as did some very interesting imagineering on my next in line project.

As with any Tech thread - there is much to be taken away - some to be - used some to comfirm that that's not for you.

 

I will second the run of the mill hole saws. I have actually had good luck with the cheap Ace Hardware brand holesaws while Milwaukees burnt up under the same circumstances.

Looks good scoot!

 

He could have saved money by casting it, but it ain't cast, it's forged in the interest of safety and reliability. Not that cast ductile iron axles aren't safe. They just didn't have the technology to make ductile iron castings economically that long ago. Hey, has this board ever been a venue for the forged vs. cast axle debate?

Bob

 

Yeah.... it's on here somewhere. Probably several times, actually.

 

yeah alot of them ended up having that picture of the man beating his dead horse too

 

Good idea. Sharp corners can give rise to cracks, and since you've blatantly violated Henry's engineering and created a dangerous situation by drilling holes in it, no need to make it worse.