Hi Tagger,
I have calculated that the maximum deflection of the shaft
using the area moment method which is 0.02658216611"maximum and this deflection occurs at 20.0061" from the end with the 7.5" long reduced diameter.
As my calculation is a graphical method I did a check to see
what deflection the shaft would have if it was all the same diameter ie:- 4 7/16" dia
from machinery's handbook case 3 (simply supported beam load
at any point)
defl= W*a*v^3/(3*E*I*l)
v = point on beam of max deflection (20.4935"

from 6"
reduced diameter end.
a = short span between load and end support = 19.5"
I = 19.03370627"
This gives a deflection of 0.02768" If the beam was the larger diameter throughout.
This shows my calculation to be incorrect at 0.02658216611"
as one would expect the stepped shaft to deflect more than this, however it appears to be in the order and e could say the shaft will deflect in the order of 0.030".
I think stel8 is incorrect in assuming that the slope of the beam is zero under the load and the machinery's handbook seems to confirm this.
In addition His deflection of the shaft in comparision with
a shaft of 4 7/16" throughout its length is out by a factor of 2.
regards desertfox