I’m thinking of getting some custom sprockets laser-cut out of stainless steel – does anyone know if they’ll be good enough as they are, or is hardening needed?

Can’t find any definitive answer online 😉

You’ll need some fairly exotic stainless to be able to harden it effectively. Normal austenitic such as 304 and 316 won’t harden with heat treatment and it would damage the corrosion resistance. Martensitic grades would allow precipitation hardening, but you may struggle to get small quantities at a sensible price. How about a carbon steel, through hardened then electroless Nickel plated?

Surly make some stainless chainrings which presumably are ok in the normal condition, but smaller sprockets would see much higher forces and wear.

Not a bicycle engineer, but I’d consider it as…

depends on the material grades available to you and how hard they are. stainless steel could be anything from 304 to Duplex steels or even something cut from 17-4 P/H bar.
compare this to what you know about existing sprockets and how long they last
how much does the hardening process add to the cost?
is this a worthwhile upgrade to the customer?

That’s true – it’s normally 304 I use for other applications. Having to harden it would probably make the idea too difficult/expensive.

Though now pondering TiN coating.

Hmm, I think this idea might not be a goer. Thanks…