Involute gear cutter set, if you could only have one

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What diametrical pitch would you choose if you could only have one, maybe two, sets of involute gear cutters? There's a local guy selling several sets, 1 through 8, and I would like to pick one or two up.

I think he has 4 or 5 different DP to choose from.
 
Tyler,
That is a hard question to answer. If you have a lathe and need change gears you could check the DP size that you will need. How much is he asking for a complete set? Complete sets of involute gear cutters are good to have. Do you have a dividing head for your mill?

Mike
 
2, 4, 6, and 8.
I had a boat load of involute gear cutters given to me years ago. In most of the sizes, there were cutter numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8. I found that interested. Some of the sizes, there all of the numbers, or no. 1 was missing from most. You being in Houston, I hope that's not the same batch of cutters. They were in good hands of a good friend of mine up on the north side just off of Veterans Memorial parkway and West Mt. Houston.
 
I do have a dividing head, missing a few pieces but i'm getting that sorted out. (anyone have a 5" 3 jaw 1 1/2 -8 chuck? or a bs 7 center?)

I've got a Yuasa (NEWS) dividing head but need to find a center which i think is B&S 7 taper. and it doesn't have a center which I thought might be MT2 but doesn't appear to be.

Anyway, cutting gears would be fun. I can't really afford to buy the guy's whole lot, so wanted to make a smart decision. His prices are reasonable about 100 per set depending on a few variables.
 
If he has five sets and is asking $100 per set then it might be worth offering him $300 - $350 for all of them. If it were me I'd seriously consider such an offer.
 
14 DP 14 1/2 deg is pretty common and 20 dp with 20 degree also popular.
 
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What brand are the cutters? Are the sets, a complete set, by the same manufacturer? What size is the arbor (hole size)? The most important is what DP sizes are available? If you tell us what size you have a chance to purchase, a better recommendation on which ones are "more usable"

I bought a set of 4DP cutters, 1-1/4" arbor hole but they are mixed manufacture (all U.S. made) for $108 shipped, from eBay. Just bought a 16 DP brand new China made with a 7/8th arbor hole $68 delivered. I haven't used the china set yet but I would have preferred something made in Europe or North America with a 1" or 1-1/4" arbor hole.
My VN universal dividing head needs gears for various rate of twists, these appear to be 16DP, so is the worm wheel in my Stihl cultivator. So sometime in the future, I will have a need for the 16DP cutters.

What I'm getting at is that your friend is asking a very fair price, buy what you can afford but know that unless you have a real need the cutters will just sit in your tool box. If you are like me and watching your tooling pennies you need to buy wisely. With that said, complete involute cutter sets don't come onto the market very often. Maybe you should buy all that you can now, instead of kicking yourself a year or two from now.

Mike
 
I agree with the others, get them all if you can.
I picked up a set of old USSR cutter from the Ukraine. Some pretty good stuff came out of the Ukraine during the cold war and three is a lot of it available as new old stock
 
I'm looking for some in 10 DP + 14 1/2 degree , I'm planning on making new gears for my Rockwell drill press. The table lift and head lift. If I remember right it's 34 teeth . I think logan gears are the same pitch too.
 
i got a picture of these from the seller. They have the usual laser engraved designators such as DP 20 14 1/2 No 1 ...and then the most unsavory word of them all: "CHINA"

That took the wind out of my sails as I try my hardest for avoid china anything. I'll probably still get one full set, so I can cut my lathe change gears should I ever break a tooth.

If anyone wants a set let me know and I can buy up more and pass them along.
 
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