Greetings,
so our team has been trying to reduce unnecessary motion and friction and in our search for this we discovered a pretty bent axle especially the long ones.
so my question is, have you guys found an effective way of straightening these out without damaging them?
i sort of just want to heat it up and hammer it to submission but my teammates seem reluctant.
suggestions?
Honestly, i would just change the axle completely because once an axle is bent, it is really hard, nearly impossible to put back to normal. Also even if you straighten the axle near perfect, it wont be perfect so, it will put excess friction on your bot.
Yeah, the more you try to fix a bent axle, the worse it will get friction-wise (and about everything else).
We just stick them in a clamp and tighten it until it is straight…
Replace, once they are bent, getting them straight is hard. It might be worth clamping for axles that are not as important (like lift axles, intake) but for drive or flywheel, I would not take the risk
I’ve also found this to be effective, but only with smaller shafts. With very long shafts, such as the 12" ones, it’s probably better to just buy a new one. If they consistently bend, try using the high strength axles and drilling out a larger hole in your metal. Hope this helps.