now U joints

[edwards at mail.sunbeach.net]

For the work-a-holics, just make a drive shaft using an old shaft, some 1/4 
> > > plate steel, a lathe, welder, and an axle from a FWD GM midsize. 
> > 
> Okay, you can't cut a straight line with a hacksaw.  I tried 
> inserting a 1/4" circular plate, and welding.  After two 
> attempts, I realized I couldn't weld them perfectly straight 
> using the wooden jig I made, so I asked a friend to 
> fabricate them from scratch.  Less balancing issues, one 
> piece, no worries about welds giving out (I don't weld as 
> good as most), etc. 
> 
> A competent machine shop can spline both sides. 

There is a far easier way to do this, it will not be as neat but the result will be a much straighter shaft and it will be stronger too. You make up a sleeve of the right thickness slide the shafts into the sleeve and weld the sleev onto the shafts at the two ends. The two shafts are joined by the sleeve or coupling if you want to call it that. No need for gigs or do you have to worry about a warped weld. You must try for as tight a fit as possible before welding
If you have two different sizes of shafts you can make each side of the sleeve to the coresponding size of the shaft. 

Pedro