# drill blanks



## 15807brett (Sep 10, 2011)

What size is 0.59 drill blanks, what # need some for a project, also is that the size of Tyco axles thanks in advance again, thanks Brett


----------



## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Yeah I believe .059 is Tyco and .062 is AFX. Someone else can verify but I am pretty sure on that.


----------



## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

What about Tungsten .059" round stock for heavy
& Titanium .059" for light weight


----------



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

#53= .0595"


----------



## 15807brett (Sep 10, 2011)

hornet, thanks that's what I was looking for, anybody now what's a good brand


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

McMaster-Carr has good prices and ships quickly. I have some 3' stock in 062 that is uncut, I didn't get any 059 last time I ordered.

cwbam, if you are ever thinking of cutting your own Tungsten axles from stock, be careful. every package I have has extreme warnings about dangers associated with Tungsten.
I think it is alright to handle and use as an axle, but cutting them can release hazards that are tremendous.

I can cut some 062 to length for any one wants it. 

who to buy cut axles already to length from?
anyone advertising/selling is getting around $1 per axle I think. look around


----------



## partspig (Mar 12, 2003)

For Tungsten axles, it is more like 2 or 3 bucks an axle! pig


----------



## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Coming from a lmachine shop background, the warning Al gave is dead on. 

Here is a link from a Tungsten Carbide supplier regarding the warnings associated with grinding / machining of the material. 

http://www.hunterproducts.com/tungsten_carbide.pdf

An easy solution to the dust, is cut it under coolant to suppress the dust.

Boosted


----------



## rholmesr (Oct 8, 2010)

First we need to differentiate a couple of things... There is a difference between "Tungsten" and "Tungsten Carbide".

As far as I know, pure tungsten is not poisonous. You can get pure tungsten axle material - TIG welding rod for example is obtainable in pure tungsten form and 1/16" diameter and it's relatively cheap. Caution: There is also TIG welding rod that has other 'nutrients' in it such as radioactive Thorium (e.g. "thoriated" welding rod) which is definitely not good for your health so be careful what you buy.

Tungsten/carbide is somewhat dangerous due to the presence of Cobalt which I believe has been determined to be a potential carcinogen in large quantities. Tungsten carbide is extremely strong/hard material and makes great axles for example - it takes a hell of a lot of force to bend this stuff.

Tungsten in its pure form is more dense than Tungsten/Carbide. I believe Tungsten carbide is about 2x the density of steel while pure tungsten is about 2.5 times the density of steel. Pure tungsten is nowhere near as strong/stiff as Tungsten carbide and I think it's not quite as strong/stiff as steel. So if you make axles out of pure tungsten be careful not to bend it.

Hope this helps.
Ron


----------



## rholmesr (Oct 8, 2010)

I second what Al said about McMaster - they're awesome to deal with for this kind of stuff.

Hardened steel drill blanks, inch and metric can be found by searching their site. The .0595 steel blank is their part no. 3009A268. You can search around for metric and inch series blanks and get all sorts of tiny variations on diameter.

I also found tungsten TIG welding rod (pure) as their part number 8000A82. I've seen cheaper welding rod from other sources but if you just want to try messing with it, you can buy individual pcs from McMaster I think for just a buck or 2 for a 6" piece.


----------



## partspig (Mar 12, 2003)

Thanks rholmesr for that wonderful dissertation! One other thing that hasn't been mentioned is that you will need a diamond embedded saw blade to cut it. Regular aluminum oxide abrasive cutting wheels won't cut it. I do know that tungsten carbide is as hard as diamonds. Have a good day! pig


----------



## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

since the can of worms is open what about BeCu parts?

thanks for the advice


----------



## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I have been looking through McMaster-Carr for something to use for axles. I just reread this thread and looked for both drill rods/blanks and TIG welding rods.

The welding rods are extremely inexpensive and the drill rods are also inexpensive. After reading the warnings in the above posts, I don't see any info on the McMaster-Carr website as to the material makeup of the TIG welding rods.

So which is the better (and safer) material for axles. The drill blanks or the TIG welding rods?

Also, what size would you get for T-Jet and AFX axles? I measured them at .065" but the posts above seem to indicate .062".

Thanks...Joe


----------



## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

You can find the electrodes on eBay Cheep!


----------

