[masraum]

Haha. Because that's not my goal. I don't actually think the pinion would fit through a paper towel roll. It's 40mm think for most of the shaft.

But I have been doing more brain storming. I'm pretty sure that at work we have a bandsaw and a drill press. I think that if I could buy the raw Al that I could shape it (not round, but maybe octogon or something) and drill a hole in the middle of it and possibly use the nut that would normally go on the end to attach it to the pinion.