Custom Forged Steel Shafts
Custom forged steel shafts are rotating components — motor shafts, pump shafts, turbine shafts, gear shafts — open-die forged to near shape and machined to customer drawings. Forging gives continuous grain flow and soundness that bar stock cannot match in large sections. Shafts are supplied rough or finish machined with UT/MT inspection and EN 10204 3.1 mill test certificates.
| Diameter | 100 – 1500 mm |
|---|---|
| Length | Up to 12 m |
| Max weight | Up to 35 t |
| Forging type | Open-die; steps, flanges and collars forged in |
| Condition | Rough machined (+3–5 mm) or finish machined |
| Heat treatment | Normalize, Q&T, stress relief; induction hardening available |
| Inspection | UT per EN 10228-3, MT, hardness, CMM report, MTC 3.1 |
Materials
- · 42CrMo4 / AISI 4140, 34CrNiMo6 / AISI 4340
- · C45, 40Cr, customer-specified grades
RFQ Checklist
Include this in your inquiry for a fast, accurate quote
- 01Drawing or STEP model with tolerances and surface finishes
- 02Material grade and heat-treatment/hardness specification
- 03Rough or finish machined delivery condition
- 04NDT scope (UT class, MT) and acceptance standard
- 05Quantity and target delivery date
- 06Certificates required (3.1 MTC, heat charts, CMM report)
From ingot to balanced shaft
Ingot or bloom → open-die forging with minimum 3:1 reduction → post-forge heat treatment → rough machining and UT → quench and temper → finish machining, keyways and journals → MT and dimensional inspection → protective coating and export packing. Dynamic balancing is available for high-speed shafts.
Typical applications
Electric motor and generator rotors, pump and compressor shafts, gearbox pinion shafts, steam and hydro turbine shafts, marine intermediate shafts, and drive shafts for heavy industrial equipment.
- Why specify a forged shaft instead of machined bar stock?
- Above roughly 150 mm diameter, bar stock risks center segregation and porosity, and its grain flow is axial only. Open-die forging works the full section and follows the shaft profile, giving higher and more uniform mechanical properties — required for motor, turbine and gear shafts under fatigue load.
- What HS code applies to forged shafts?
- Transmission shafts are classified under HS 8483.10. Shafts identifiable as parts of electric motors or generators may fall under HS 8503.00; general machined steel articles can fall to HS 7326.90. Final classification follows the drawing and end use.
- What drawings and specs are needed for a shaft RFQ?
- A dimensioned drawing (or STEP file) with material grade, heat-treatment condition, hardness range, tolerances and surface finishes, plus NDT scope. If the design is not final, key dimensions and the duty description are enough for budget pricing.
- Do you supply finish-machined shafts ready for assembly?
- Yes — including keyways, threads, and ground bearing journals with CMM dimensional reports. Rough-machined supply with UT clearance is also common where customers finish critical fits in-house.