"Poor man's" CF driveshaft?

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Liquid SSSnake

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Arrma RC's
  1. Infraction
I was thinking if I cut a spare Infraction center shaft and epoxied it inside a 5x7mm carbon fiber tube. It wouldn't save weight, but it could keep it from whipping.

Cut it in half, maybe at a 45 degree angle, carve in a few "splines" for the epoxy to set into.

I did epoxy wheel hexes on a toy to hobby grade conversion once, it took a lot of abuse and that part never failed! The CF tubes only $12, any thoughts?
 
I was thinking if I cut a spare Infraction center shaft and epoxied it inside a 5x7mm carbon fiber tube. It wouldn't save weight, but it could keep it from whipping.

Cut it in half, maybe at a 45 degree angle, carve in a few "splines" for the epoxy to set into.

I did epoxy wheel hexes on a toy to hobby grade conversion once, it took a lot of abuse and that part never failed! The CF tubes only $12, any thoughts?
I would try it. Not a big cost and worth it if it is a success.
 
Interesting thought, but I don't think it would work.
They spin at a very high RPM and cutting and gluing will have to be very balanced etc.

Might be worth a try if you only risk $12,
 
Interesting thought, but I don't think it would work.
They spin at a very high RPM and cutting and gluing will have to be very balanced etc.

Might be worth a try if you only risk $12,

I think it mostly depends on how close of a fit an off the shelf tube will be.

A few people have noticed the safe D pinion input wobbles. I actually have TI shafts and they oscillate because of the inputs, but don't go berserk like stock shafts.
 
I nickel plated ny shafts and in the acid bath to remove the oxid coating the ends of the shafts developed hair line cracks. I thought they would be okay so I tried them, the torque of the motor split open the cracks like nothing. If you use super strong epoxy you might get lucky. The 45 cut is a great idea.
 
I was thinking if I cut a spare Infraction center shaft and epoxied it inside a 5x7mm carbon fiber tube. It wouldn't save weight, but it could keep it from whipping.

Cut it in half, maybe at a 45 degree angle, carve in a few "splines" for the epoxy to set into.

I did epoxy wheel hexes on a toy to hobby grade conversion once, it took a lot of abuse and that part never failed! The CF tubes only $12, any thoughts?
I finally got around to making a set.

A8C6FFD5-7AD0-43BD-83EE-F23432C51DAE.jpeg
 
Spill the beans how??
Cut the end off of a set of RCAWD center shafts at 25mm from each end. Then cut the CF tube to a length that allowed me to insert the cut off ends into the tube by 10mm. I used Loctite 638 as adhesive. I made sure to offset one end 90 degrees from the other, just like stock shafts. I ended up having to tap each end in gently with a hammer. I made sure to keep the overall length the same as the originals. For me that was 176mm rear and 109mm front.
 
Cut the end off of a set of RCAWD center shafts at 25mm from each end. Then cut the CF tube to a length that allowed me to insert the cut off ends into the tube by 10mm. I used Loctite 638 as adhesive. I made sure to offset one end 90 degrees from the other, just like stock shafts. I ended up having to tap each end in gently with a hammer. I made sure to keep the overall length the same as the originals. For me that was 176mm rear and 109mm front.
What size CF tube 7mmx5mm?
 
What size CF tube 7mmx5mm?
The RCAWD shafts are 6mm so I bought 6x10mm tube. I also ordered 5x8 tube for use with stock shafts to try as well. Haven’t got those ones done yet.
 
Weird I saw this thread today, I was literally getting things together to make carbon fiber drive shafts for my minis. And if those shafts that JD made work on an infraction then what I want to do will definitely work on my minis.
 
Maybe? 🤷🏻‍♂️ I was trying to eliminate as much of the crappy RCAWD parts as possible.
I was thinking the cut is farther in the shaft and would be less prone to coming off. Never used RCAWD before.
 
I was thinking the cut is farther in the shaft and would be less prone to coming off. Never used RCAWD before.
Could be a very valid point. I have 10mm of shaft engagement at each end right now which I feel is the minimum I wanted to try. My thought was I needed enough length to keep them true, but not more than that. I am counting on the L638 to do the rest. If it doesn’t hold up, then it will be a lesson learned and I will try again.
 
Maybe? 🤷🏻‍♂️ I was trying to eliminate as much of the crappy RCAWD parts as possible.
I was thinking the cut is farther in the shaft and would be less prone to coming off. Never used RCAWD before.
Could be a very valid point. I have 10mm of shaft engagement at each end right now which I feel is the minimum I wanted to try. My thought was I needed enough length to keep them true, but not more than that. I am counting on the L638 to do the rest. If it doesn’t hold up, then it will be a lesson learned and I will try again.
All we can do is try. I appreciate your help.
 
I was thinking the cut is farther in the shaft and would be less prone to coming off. Never used RCAWD before.
I wouldn't bother with anything they make, it's literally just shelf queen parts. I would buy GPM and Integy 10x over before ever buying anything made by RCAWD again, luckily I only wasted $55 on their garbage parts. I bought a bunch of stuff for one of my minis, some cvds, hubs, caster blocks, steering rack and turnbuckles with aluminum ends. The cvds bent or broke, the holes in the hubs for the pins to go through were drilled too large so they just flopped around on the pins, the steering rack was made wrong and would hit the top brace and the rod ends on the turnbuckles had so much play in them they were worse than stock 3s plastic pivot balls after being used for 4 months.
 
RCAWD is best known for Crawler parts. Overpriced IMHO. And the quality is average at best. For other rigs I wouldn't bother. The last parts I purchased were the Lim/Infr center drive shafts. No better than the stockers. Oscillation still sucked and rubbed and wore out the shaft against the rear brace worse than the stocker rear shaft.
I like some of their Crawler Tires their Crawler wheels and bodies. Just really expensive nonetheless. Overpriced IMHO. I noticed many Crawler YT influencers swear by RCAWD however. Don't know why. But RCAWD does send out their stuff for free to these YT'ers much of the time. And very hyped too.
 
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Just put some together, tried expoxy but the CF tube and drive shaft was extremely tight. The epoxy was pushed out. So I just hammered them in after grinding them just a hair to rough up the metal. Took 30or so blows on each end to get them in. Very tight like I said. Now will they work??? Will test this weekend. Took awhile to get the CF tubes. From China , U.S. based was 4x the price. I waited 13 days to save a out 30.00

IMG_20211101_163817762.jpg


IMG_20211101_163825366.jpg
 
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Just put some together, tried expoxy but the CF tube and drive shaft was extremely tight. The epoxy was pushed out. So I just hammered them in after grinding them just a hair to rough up the metal. Took 30or so blows on each end to get them in. Very tight like I said. Now will they work??? Will test this weekend. Took awhile to get the CF tubes. From China , U.S. based was 4x the price. I waited 13 days to save a out 30.00

View attachment 177441

View attachment 177442
I gave up on my attempt and bought some PP shafts. I might keep trying this winter. My CF stock may have been subpar.
 
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