Is there any such thing as a stock shaft material?

I'm in the process of designing a prototype machine that has a few large say 2-3m shafts @ 25mm-32mm diameter. I do not have a lathe big enough to machine the ends of the shaft to fit bearings and taper locks bushing. Is it possible to buy a stock piece of steel that is ground or turned to take a standard size of bearing. What would you call this stock and where would you buy it?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by gavztheouch

I'm in the process of designing a prototype machine that has a few large say 2-3m shafts @ 25mm-32mm diameter. I do not have a lathe big enough to machine the ends of the shaft to fit bearings and taper locks bushing. Is it possible to buy a stock piece of steel that is ground or turned to take a standard size of bearing. What would you call this stock and where would you buy it?

Thanks

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Could you not have it machined at the local engineers machine shop 32mm is not that big for an engineering company to deal with.

If you do a search for ground bar stock you will find some suppliers. It seems to be available up to 3m lengths fairly easily and a range of diameters. You might be able to find a local supplier.

Zapp have ground shaft and i think they will be able to machine the ends for you.
this is a link.
http://www.zappautomation.co.uk/mech...-rail-385.html

Stock material for shafts is called shafting, google, for instance, 25mm shafting

- Nick

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Perhaps you could get round the small lathe problem by machining it in separate pieces? Machine the ends you require on something shorter, then join it to the steel bar (e.g. press fit, key, etc)? Unless the runout required is really strict (seems unlikely due to the length), that should be fine...

Or just find someone with a not tiny lathe. Mine has a 38mm spindle bore. Not sure about 3m long though - there may be a wall in the way!

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Not sure about 3m long though - there may be a wall in the way!

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Drill a hole in the wall of your workshop standard practise.

Can you do it the way they used to in industry where everything fits on the shaft rather than having to machine the shaft to accept something?
If you buy shafting rather than round bar the OD will not require machining down to accept bearings.
Taper lock couplings could provide a way to securely fit ends on a length of stock shafting with pillow blocks (if and where required) to support the free length.
Everyone's poking around in the dark because there isn't enough requirement info in the question for a definitive answer,
Regards,
Nick