The front axles of the trike are some of the highest stress load components. I am using 20 mm BMX hubs but now need axles to match. The AZ (Atomic Zombie) plans call for taking bolts, welding on some material and then grinding to “fit”. I wanted to to do better. The axles start out as 7/8″ cold rolled steel. Then there is some metal lathe work to get them to finished proportions.
Raw stock should be 158 mm long. Face off the ends to 155 mm and center drill each end.
Mount in 4 jaw chuck and center it up. Note that a 5C collet would not hold the stub end tight enough, and my dog and faceplates would not work for this size stock, so I had back to the chuck. Tail end center is a ~1/2 face solid center to allow for the tool clearance.
Step down to 20mm for 133mm from the tail end. Test fit the hub. It should be a tight sliding fit. File if necessary.
Step down to .73″ diameter for 27mm from the tail end to prepare for threading (sorry for the mixed units) .
Make a small 3mm wide by 2mm deep groove next to the step to allow the threading tool to run out into it.
Thread the end to 10 TPI and test fit against the nuts. I am using a double jam nut setup.
Drill through at 3/8 ” from both ends and for the length of a 1/2″ drill from the post end. 