8 mm Rods: Shafting Steel vs. Stainless Steel vs. Mild Steel

I think they mean anodized aluminium.

Hard anodized aluminium alloy can be harder than stainless steel.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

Are you sure Marinus ? Doesn't anodization makes the surface roughy ? That's not wanted to make guides.

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Collective intelligence emerges when a group of people work together effectively. Prusa i3 Folger (A lot of the parts are wrong, boring !)

Quote
Zavashier
Are you sure Marinus ? Doesn't anodization makes the surface roughy ? That's not wanted to make guides.

It can. But you can also polish or lap it after anodizing it. The image that you posted is a very oversimplification of one possible process. Later thickness, chemicals, types of oxides, dying, etc all play a part.

There are multiple types of anodizing. Any aluminium designed for sliding or rolling contact will be hardcoat, which is substantially thicker, harder, and less colorful than type 2. Anodizing does not materially alter surface finish.

Mcmaster sells several coatings on aluminium linear shaft and lists their compatibility with various linear bearings. The anodized coating is compatible with linear ball bearings.

All the information I have posted is easy to access in the datasheets and descriptions of the various components. There is no need to guess.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2015 09:57AM by 691175002.

Stainless steel is very strong, but this makes it more difficult to work with than other metals for specific projects...During fabrication, stainless steel must be handled separately from any other metals to avoid contamination. Handling includes; using different tools for stainless, having a difference workspace separate from other metals, clean surfaces, and clean tools. Mild steel is the most common form of steel because its price is relatively low compared to other types of steel, yet it is strong and ductile. It is often called low-carbon steel. Low-carbon steel usually contains between 0.05–0.3% carbon, which is lower than the carbon composition of other steel types.

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Ranfit Ranfit Fasteners Ferinox Bridas

One concern I've had with ground round 8mm carbon steel rods (known as 'silver steel' in the UK) is the surface finish - after grinding this has quite a matt finish, and I'm concerned that it will wear down any bearing that runs on it.

I might be over-concerned, but the printer I'm currently building will have igus plastic bearings on this stuff, and I'm wondering whether I should try to polish the rods before assembly.

I have x15 8x400mm steel rods from various hp printer's, All of them had plastic inkjet carriage / grease,. . would these be ground rods, what do you think the typical quality and hardness, of the average inkjet printer rod would be compared to cheapest ebay rods.

LM8UU's are absolute rubbish god knows why anyone would use them, the 45mm length ones are sooo much better, would be even better if they where annodized or coated with something other than WD40 to stop them rusting.
the differnt rods I was wondering about where silver steel, which I used to love at school, Chromed(dont want chrome coming off), and these other ones listed as optical...I got the optical ones, and assume they are hard enough, if they wear out they are cheap enough, but I wouldnt fancy using anything softer.

Mild steel contains carbon as the alloy, whereas stainless steel includes chromium. The changes brought about by chromium to the internal structure of the steelresult in properties which gives stainless steel its name: very high corrosion resistance and a surface which does not stain .

Mild steel contains carbon as the alloy, whereas stainless steel includes chromium. The changes brought about by chromium to the internal structure of the steelresult in properties which gives stainless steel its name: very high corrosion resistance and a surface which does not stain .

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Victor Ubique Kalpataru Kalpataru Kanak Vintex Resistant

The elephant in the room here is that whilst smooth rods and bearings/bushings of various types work, they are inferior to linear bearing guides like the MGN12 series etc... These used to be very expensive, now they are much more reasonable. Yes they still cost 3-4 times more than smooth rods/bearings but they have almost no play in them at all, and they should be long lasting. So long term they should be much more cost effective.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

One way to make the most out of the aluminium tubing is to fill it.
Filling a tube with polyurethane foam, makes for a very stiff and strong tube.
You can even tweak the stiffness by using different grades of urethane.

I stiffened up my race car chassis by filling it up with foam. Added a lot more stiffness and only a little weight.

Carbon Steel which is also known as Mild steel contains carbon as the alloy, whereas stainless steel includes chromium. Stainless steels are alloys that are made up of iron and generally contain around 11.5% chromium. ... Stainless Steel is more resistant to corrosion than Carbon Steel.

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Aleacion Tubos Unifit Flanges Bridas Fabricante Acero Bridas

Mild steel contains carbon as the alloy, whereas stainless steel includes chromium. The changes brought about by chromium to the internal structure of the steel result in properties which gives stainless steel its name: very high corrosion resistance and a surface which does not stain or tarnish.

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Bagoda Victor Neelkamal Nandini Bridas

There are multiple types of anodizing. Any aluminium designed for sliding or rolling contact will be hardcoat, which is substantially thicker, harder, and less colorful than type 2. Anodizing does not materially alter surface finish.
Inconel alloy X-750 Siddhagiri Metals and tube