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Gears & Gear Boxes — Parallax Forums

Gears & Gear Boxes

dcgalldcgall Posts: 3
edited 2010-08-24 13:20 in Robotics
I'm new to the robotic scene and I need to build some gear boxes for my project. What is a good resource for materials. The usual hobbyist sites are very limited. thanks in advance. DCG

Comments

  • Spiral_72Spiral_72 Posts: 791
    edited 2010-08-05 14:38
    Jameco has an assortment of gears AND gearboxes

    Pitsco has some REALLY nice and not-too-expensive units including the brushed motor(s)... Some of them are 4 speed!! 4speed independent!! and various others. They also have gears, but I think those are a little expensive for some reason.


    Both of those use the typical hobby motors mounted on gearboxes. If you have a larger 12V or so motor you're trying to fit a gear unit to, I don't think they'll be much help.

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    "puff"...... Smile, there went another one.
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2010-08-05 14:38
    Saying you "need a gear box" is like saying "I need a joint". It doesn't really tell us much.

    What kind of gearbox (reduction, change in direction, change in rotation, on in/two out, differential? How much torque, how fast, how big/small?

    You won't find much in terms of "generic" gearboxes at the hobby level. Most of the stuff built in this size (meaning relatively miniature) is either in sufficient quantity to warrant custom molded parts, or of high enough cost to allow custom machined parts. This needs to be done in order to keep the size small.

    There are a few "toy" gearboxes, and the Lego "Technic" series of parts.

    Going beyond that, check out radio control and model railroad supply houses. They will have some stuff in the "parts" areas, but finding meaningful specs will be a challange.

    The next step up is going to commercial gear suppliers. The secret here will be finding someone who has stock sizes, and then going from there. One example is Stock Drive Products.

    For the actual "gear box", you'll probably need to do some custom machining and fabricating, although this can be as simple as carefully drilling holes in some brass (or even aluminum) blocks. It may be easier to make a gear box as a number of pieces, and fasten them together, rather than trying to machine a solid piece of material.

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    John R.
    Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
  • dcgalldcgall Posts: 3
    edited 2010-08-05 15:28
    Thanks for the advice and sorry I wasn't specific. I wasn't specific because I haven't gotten far enough in my project yet and it was a general resource question. I assumed I would have to build the gearbox myself, which is no issue, I was just hoping that there would be a resource for a variety of gears (on the hobbyist level). I'll check your suggestions. thanks,
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2010-08-12 01:52
    Smallparts.com has gears if you really want to build an entire gear box from scratch...
  • ZootZoot Posts: 2,227
    edited 2010-08-12 07:58
    http://www.mcmaster.com/ under "Power Transmission" for everything under the sun.
  • fltcmdrfltcmdr Posts: 14
    edited 2010-08-20 19:47
    Plastruct has several gearsets with axles as well as individual gears and gears with racks.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-08-20 21:24
    This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. I discovered it while perusing their catalog in my ... um ... reading room. Perhaps it will work in your project.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-08-24 13:20
    Big cheap gearboxes & servos at http://vigorprecision.com.hk/index.files/BO.htm but sourcing them in small quantities is problematic. That BO-26 is a torquey beast. Slow loading webpage, wait for it...
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