1144 Steel Shafts

High-strength free-machining steel — near-alloy strength as-supplied, with low distortion when machined.

At a glance

Stocked condition	Cold finished, stress-relieved
Machinability	Very good (resulfurized)
Weldability	Not recommended (resulfurized)
Corrosion resistance	Low — protect it like any carbon steel
Hardening	Use as-supplied; induction-hardenable but usually unnecessary
Density (nominal)	0.284 lb/in³
Food contact	No
Magnetic	Yes

1144 in the stress-relieved condition (best known by the trade name Stressproof) is the shortcut to a strong shaft: the strength comes from cold drawing and stress relief at the mill, not from a heat-treat step after machining. That means no quench distortion, no post-hardening cleanup, and one less vendor in the chain.

Because it is resulfurized it still machines fast, and because the residual stresses are relieved it stays straight even when you cut deep keyseats or long flats — the classic failure mode of ordinary cold-drawn bar.

Configure a 1144 part →

Any geometry in the configurator — diameters, threads, keyseats, grooves, holes, tapers — can be machined in 1144. Pick the material in the sidebar and the price updates live.

When to choose 1144

You need alloy-class strength but want to skip heat treating entirely.
Deep keyseats or flats would warp ordinary cold-drawn bar.
Strong shaft, fast turnaround, one vendor.

Consider instead

4140 — when the part must be through-hardened or sees impact loads.
1045 — when a hardened journal is part of the plan.
12L14 — when the strength premium is not needed.

Typical applications

Drive shafts that skip heat treat
Heavily keyseated shafts
Motion-control and actuator shafts
Splined shafts (as-supplied strength)

Ready-made starting points in this material's wheelhouse: Gearbox plug-in output shafts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Strength without the heat-treat step, and stability: the mill's cold-draw-plus-stress-relief process means the bar does not warp when you machine deep keyseats or flats, unlike ordinary cold-drawn bar.

As supplied it approaches annealed-alloy strength, which covers a lot of shaft work. Heat-treated 4140 is still meaningfully stronger and tougher — pick 4140 when the load case genuinely demands it.

Not recommended — its sulfur content makes welds brittle. Choose 1018 or 1045 when welding is part of the design.

Stocked as 1144 CF — stress-relieved (Stressproof-equivalent). Material and condition are paired — each grade ships in one condition optimized for our process; see all grades on the materials page.