Sourcing Handwheels

Does anyone know where I can buy bored and keyed handwheels in imperial sizes?

The only ones I can find online are metric, whilst I could bore one out easily enough I don't have a means of cutting the keyway.

Thanks

Can you get a metric one that's just a bit smaller and bore it out and thin down the key? e.g. get a 12mm bore and bore out to 12.7 = 0.5 inch.

Boring one wouldn't be a problem but I don't have a way of cutting the keyway.

...and to be honest I'd prefer an easy way that I don't have to spend time on.

Buy slightly larger and wrap some suitable shimstock around the shaft, leaving a gap for the key?

Vague answer to a vague question. Grizzly.com

Martin C

Thanks Martin - in an effort to be less vague: I need a UK supplier for a 6" Handwheel with a 5/8 bore and a 3/16 keyway. Are there any other details that would help?

3D print one. Loads on Thingiverse

John

Bore out a metric one then turn up a sleeve that can have a 3/16" slot cut in it so you end up with a "C" shape and then loctite that into the enlarged hole.

Better still, first result on e-bay. 6" available with 5/8 plain or keyed and from a UK maker

Doh! how didn't I spot that? thanks.

I like Jason'idea of a sleeve with a slot wide enough to be the keyway. Suitably dimensioned and secured to the handwheel, (With an anaerobic )

If all else fails, Put a close fitting sacrificial sleeve into the handle, and drill a hole of the same size as the key, centred on the boundary between Handwheel and sleeve. Remove sleeve, and file the half hole until it has square corners. Hey presto! Keyway!

Howard

Hi Micheal, Guys,

This is what I use to make keyways in a bore !

I've posted this before along with a drawing for the 3 mm one, though I've now done 2, 3, 4, and 5 mm keyways in pulleys both in steel and aluminium.

The drawing for the 3 mm one. Adjust dimensions to suit keyway.

A nice solution John

Michael, I wanted to rid my mini lathe of those terrible plastic handwheels. At a show I found trays of handwheels on RDG Tools stand. They were imperial and varying sizes and claimed to be of Myford origin.

Required sleeving for my purpose but a quick call to them may help.you.

Regards.

Do you have access to a lathe and a drill press? You don't need fancy machinery to cut a keyway, and one for a handwheel is an excellent job to start on since it is not as critical as something taking really heavy loads.

I've described this technique before here, so at the risk of being repetitive... Turn a plug to fit the hole in the hand wheel. Ideally the plug should be the same or very similar to the handwheel material and should be reasonably flush both sides. Locktite it in place. Make a centre punch mark where you want the keyway, right on the line of contact between the plug and the wheel. Drill a hole using a drill just a little under the size of the desired key. Knock out the plug, and now you have have nearly 80% of the desired keyway. Take a file that will fit through the hole and is less than the desired thickness of the key. Carefully file out the corners, using the hole as a guide. You can use a piece of the keysteel as a guide to see when you are getting to a good fit. If the width is the same as a piece of HSS that you happen to have, you can also use that as a kind of chisel to help take out any high spots in the middle. Files do tend to cut more at each end unless you are very skilful with them. I have done a few keyways like this, and with patience you can get a very good job.

John

The old timers did them like this all the time, as well as cutting the matching one on the shaft with a cold chisel and file. You can do almost any job with hand tools if you are desperate and patient enough

Thanks for the various suggestions, I was really looking for the least possible hassle solution and in the end I found a used one.