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Gear cutters
- Thread starter Brento
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2017
- Messages
- 2,138
There are several sources for US made cutters. They all have in common their being horrendously expensive. I acquired a set of 16DP 14.5PA a while back from eBay. Actually acquired several sizes, some from China, some from Eastern Europe, some from Russia. I don't remember which source was for the 16DP set, they were all "second grade" stock that will work for plastic and aluminium. I did acquire several sets for small gears, but those were for model building. I don't expect to work iron or steel so saw no need for the high end cutters. Nor do I expect to do commercial grade or "job shop" work.
I did check several US sources, MSC, McMaster Carr, and a few others. They all stocked the cutters but were all beyond my means. I am not a "poor man", but I am unwilling to spend money where it is not needed. Making gears for my own use falls into that catagory.
As an aside on a related subject, I was interested that the general shape of a 14.5 degree gear is similar to ACME threads.(29 Deg) I experimented for a while using a 10TPI ACME tap to hob worm wheels. I still haven't got it right yet, but the problems I am seeing are from my fixturing, not the cutting.
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I did check several US sources, MSC, McMaster Carr, and a few others. They all stocked the cutters but were all beyond my means. I am not a "poor man", but I am unwilling to spend money where it is not needed. Making gears for my own use falls into that catagory.
As an aside on a related subject, I was interested that the general shape of a 14.5 degree gear is similar to ACME threads.(29 Deg) I experimented for a while using a 10TPI ACME tap to hob worm wheels. I still haven't got it right yet, but the problems I am seeing are from my fixturing, not the cutting.
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- Joined
- Feb 13, 2017
- Messages
- 2,138
I must admit, my search for gear cutters was several years back. I have searched pretty much since I'net search has been available. What usually turned me off was the price. I would look them up, the price was beyond my means, and I would terminate the idea.
I ran a search of MSC this AM in response to your question. MSC seems to have "cheapened" their stock a great deal. Likely in response to a merger or buy out. That conversation would drift into a political discussion very quickly so I won't go there. Although beyond my reach, the MSC stock stuck in my mind because of the broad selection.
I don't use Google search, again for political reasons. I use a search engine called "DogPile". I include a link where I searched for [Involute Gear Cutters]. I didn't follow up beyond checking that my wording was appropriate, it may have "hobs" as well as individual cutters. Further, I haven't looked to see what, or whom, is making them. Whether a US manufacturer, European, or whatever. You can follow up each link for yourself.
I am not the most appropriate person to follow up on commercial machine work. I am a model builder, retired from a different discipline, and occasionally get some wild, hairy idea that I may or may not follow up on. Price is a very large part of my hobby, reliability falls way down the list.
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I ran a search of MSC this AM in response to your question. MSC seems to have "cheapened" their stock a great deal. Likely in response to a merger or buy out. That conversation would drift into a political discussion very quickly so I won't go there. Although beyond my reach, the MSC stock stuck in my mind because of the broad selection.
I don't use Google search, again for political reasons. I use a search engine called "DogPile". I include a link where I searched for [Involute Gear Cutters]. I didn't follow up beyond checking that my wording was appropriate, it may have "hobs" as well as individual cutters. Further, I haven't looked to see what, or whom, is making them. Whether a US manufacturer, European, or whatever. You can follow up each link for yourself.
I am not the most appropriate person to follow up on commercial machine work. I am a model builder, retired from a different discipline, and occasionally get some wild, hairy idea that I may or may not follow up on. Price is a very large part of my hobby, reliability falls way down the list.
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