Cast Iron Selection For New Gear

It's an art, and one I have had only limited success with. I knew a guy who was an old hand at Crucible Metals who was a whiz at it. He tried to teach me, and part of it stuck. Color is a big part of of it, but the breakout of the sparks I think is very telling and maybe more important. You could still do pretty good, even with limited color vision, I believe.
 
Do a little filing on the broken gear. Then try to file some cast iron on the same machine. Either the filing will be the same or they will be different. If the filings are dusty or powdery, it is cast iron. If the filings have shape to them, like filing a piece of steel, then it is steel. Let us know what you determine.
BTW- as I said in my post on the other thread, let me know about the cast iron or if you want to use ductile iron, I have a source for getting my hands on just about any size anyone would ever need. And you won't have to pay Speedy metals prices or shipping! Ken
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I am going with the G2 Dura-bar from 4gsr. The rest of the gear train all is in reasonable shape, sans some honest wear. To be honest, I don't have a problem making all the gears if necessary. Based upon the grain structure of the broken areas of the teeth on the original gear, I believe them to be cast iron. In any case, I appreciate all the feedback. One thing for sure, when I get this old girl back into service, she won't be doing any massive production work. I will be working her, but nothing dramatic.................and unless I have a brain cramp, I don't expect to "crash" it either! This will be my first attempt at cutting a gear, so I am looking forward to the project.
 
Back
Top