cold rolled or hot rolled? (1 Viewer)

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granger, indiana
I was in the hardware store yesterday and found some 3/4" round steel for my steering shaft for ps conversion. They had hot rolled(hr) and cold rolled (cr). which one and why? I was going to have a keyway cut into it for the ujoint yokes and probably weld on it also. Thanks for your input. Tom
 
either would work just fine, with no advantage from one over the other.
cold rolled would be a little harder than the HR, while the HR would be easier to work.

take your pick.
 
Other than one being easier to work than the other, what are the differences?
 
Cold rolling changes the grain structure of the steel, generally making it harder (stronger) and less ductile. If you had to machine it or tap it, a cold rolled steel would be harder to work with. Steels that have been heavily cold rolled are often tempered to bring back some ductility but all this is moot given your application. There is no way you are going to torque that 3/4" round piece of steel, whether cold-rolled or hot-rolled.
 
Generally, cold rolled is drawn from hot rolled. HR may be a little oversized for this application and need to be machined to size. CR will be fairly precise and damn near perfectly round. When CR is drawn, it is pulled through a carbide die that is made to very exacting tolerances. 3/4" diameter may go in the die at .780" and come out at .749".

Really, it is an interesting process to watch (for about 10 minutes). Unfortunately, I spent about 9 months working in a place that did nothing but cold draw steel. I was one of the guys setting up the dies to be used and later on, I was in maintenance, where I had to fix these monstrous pieces of machinery.

Probably a little more info than you needed, but knowledge is never a bad thing in my book. HTH.

Tony
 
You might want to consider getting an actual steering shaft with a slip section. This will allow for some movement between the body and frame if you get flexy. I had a solid shaft and ran into problems.
You can get them at Summit.
 
cheap 40 said:
Generally, cold rolled is drawn from hot rolled. HR may be a little oversized for this application and need to be machined to size. CR will be fairly precise and damn near perfectly round. When CR is drawn, it is pulled through a carbide die that is made to very exacting tolerances. 3/4" diameter may go in the die at .780" and come out at .749".

Really, it is an interesting process to watch (for about 10 minutes). Unfortunately, I spent about 9 months working in a place that did nothing but cold draw steel. I was one of the guys setting up the dies to be used and later on, I was in maintenance, where I had to fix these monstrous pieces of machinery.

Probably a little more info than you needed, but knowledge is never a bad thing in my book. HTH.

Tony
Right you are, about the knowledge part. Thanks.
 

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