plastic gears

[eSCHEn]

well, just managed to order everything i need + spares for prototyping with and came in well under half what i expected to pay. website is firmly in my favourites too.

Sounds like a pretty cool project, glad I could be of service

What stage are you on with the degree of you don't mind me asking?

 

[Max Tucker]

To determine the space needed for the gears, gear ratio, the centre distance, and possible the motor’s horsepower, it is usually better to start working with a plastic gear supplier early in the design process.

• Selecting the right plastic: Always choose the right gear material parts depending on your specific application needs as there are many engineered nylon gear materials on the market. Nylon 6 has limitations such as moisture absorption and swelling resulting in dimensional change and loss of tensile strength. Cast nylon 12 will give high torque transmission, self-lubrication, quite operation, light weight, shock and vibration absorption, long wear, low maintenance, and no corrosion.

• Easy replacement: Each plastic gear application is likely to be different but problem was quite common that is oil leaks in a machine using lubricated metal gears. The machine must be operated for 12 months without failure to complicate matters, as wear components are to be changes only during the annual shut-down.

MOD - advertising link removed

 

[bigegg]

Lego technic?
Might not be enough range of sizes.

There's always www.woodgears.ca - Matthias Wandel's site
You'd just need a fretsaw and some plywood.

 

[fizzy]

You can also get some gears and worm gears out of old DVD/CD rom drives,old video recorders,ect

The Sony C7 was stuffed full of them - and very useful relays and solenoids etc!