Plastic gears are everywhere
today - throughout your car, at
the oceans' lowest depths, in deep
space. The question, when is a
metal gear a candidate for plastic
conversion, can be addressed in
three words, i.e. what's the application?
Since we began publishing in 1984, Gear Technology's mission has been to educate our readers. For 31 years, we've shown you the basics of gear manufacturing as well as the cutting edge. We take our educational mission quite seriously, and we go through steps that most publishers don't have time for or wouldn't consider.
Here is some history that bears repeating - or at least re-reading. So take a few minutes to give it up for a long-gone Brit named Henry Maudslay
(August 22, 1771 - February 14, 1831) - also known as "A Founding Father of Machine Tool Technology." You might
also consider him an early leader in inspection, as he also invented the first bench micrometer capable of measuring to one ten-thousandth of an inch.
Gears with a diametral pitch 20 and
greater, or a module 1.25 millimeters
and lower, are called fine-pitch or low-module gears. The design of these gears has its own specifics.