Stainless 304 conical washers

A farmer friend has been overhauling his Fordson County Crawler . Some of the wheelnuts were seized and had damaged threads , both the nut and stud . Another friend donated two Ford 5000 studs,which fit , but the 5000 nuts are flat faced, which isn't ideal...( they should be taper on the crawler)

"What you could do ..is use some conical washers between the new nut and wheel ? " says I..

" Ahh! Yes, the Fordson Majors wheelnuts are like that ...that would do .!! If only I knew someone with a lathe ...." says he...with a grin .

So yesterday I made two.. out of a bar of 304 stainless , as it was the nearest size bar I had , 2 " dia , (and it turns beautifully )and he was delighted and paid me handsomely , even though I said I'd do it for nowt..

Curiously, when I bored them in the lathe , I started with a 10mm drill , and as luck would have it , the first morse 2 drill I picked that looked about the right size , and sent through, was a perfect clearance size for the stud thread...about 3/4" ...Hit or miss, it fitted over the thread lovely..and the two long swarf spirals produced , was very pleasing . Must be my best sharp drill !!!

The second washer i made, I hesitated when drilling... Fatal error with stainless innit ? Drill went squeakthe stainless went hard drill was blunt.. So off to the grinder , tickled it sharp again ..and sent it through the washer . Due to my crap sharpening , it then only produced a single long swarf spiral ...but it went through ok...

For some reason it cut undersize ,despite pushing the whole drill through..the stud refused to go through it ! Still , a few passes with a boring bar , and the stud passed through as per the first washer .. and while i was in there , I internally chamfered the bore, a little , both sides..

Was my choice of 304 poor ? He's so pleased , he wants 6 more made !

I'm now thinking though , farmers being hamfisted.. If he does up the nuts with a scaffold pipe..will the 304 deform and compress onto the thread and get stuck ???

The flat nuts and studs are high tensile 8.8..

304 is a bitch if you as much as hesitate. I always go for 303 or 316 at a push. Our friends over the pond have a saying "304 she's a whore, 303 she's for me" Try drilling a sub 1.5mm hole in 304 and you will get the picture.

Hacksaw,

look around the double wheeled LDV, Transits etc vehicles, they use the same type conical washers to locate/centralize the inner rear wheel to the studs........they are high tensile and split......often have to use a thin bladed screw driver in the split just to open em up a bit to get em off......I'd suggest u do the same especially as u have the added worry of the nut's rubbing and squashing them in the tapers.....with probable round over......

clogs

Now that's a good idea ! Will do... Thanks.

In general stainless (301,303,304,316 or 330 and also many 400 series) is a beutiful material to work with.

With sharp tool it gives beautiful finish ex knife, threads nicely etc. I like it more than BDMS for sure but speeds and feeds are lower than in case of carbon steel - hence machine is less productive.

You just need sharp tools and you should not hesitate (rub it not cut) while machining.

I suspect that "it work hardens" mythology is coming from industrial settings where blunt like head of nail tools are used with #plenty of horses on journal# in hope that these horses will do a trick like in case of carbon steel.

Well... they won't - hence a lot of bitching here and there.

Martin

Yes ,my turning in 304 results in items looking like a "bought from a shop " piece , with almost a finish like a hydraulic ram...

Downside ... My dog has the run of the workshop, so I have to pick up EVERY bit of swarf , by hand , hoover , dustpan and brush, etc on my hands and knees !!! And it's spiteful sharp stuff ...Not magnetic enough for a welding magnet to pick up Takes longer than doing the actual job...