Q&A with Curtis Criswell
What do you do with United Tool Supply?
As director of operations, I am involved in virtually every aspect of the business. This includes sales,...
Industry standards for steel cleanness
The correlation of steel cleanness to the performance of parts made from steel has been recognized by engineers for many years. This has been...
The Time-Temperature-Transformation Curve
In the previous column, we discussed the formation of the Iron-Carbon phase diagram. This diagram allowed us to estimate the microstructure under non-equilibrium conditions....
Q&A with Dr. Michael Fish
What’s a typical day like for you at Dontyne?
For me, it’s pretty much a mixture of everything. I’m not just involved in the technical...
Tolerances associated with gears
Have you ever purchased something that cautioned, “Some assembly required” on the packaging, only to learn later that even with a master’s degree in...
Q&A with Tom Ware
What types of gear tool inspection does Star SU do?
Star SU offers primary inspection of tools through the tool manufacturing process. For most precision...
Surface finishing rotorcraft gearing
Rotorcraft gearboxes are designed with the utmost precision to withstand the tremendous demand and loads required to convert thousands of horsepower and RPM into...
The benefits of converting to helical gearing
The simplest-to-design and the easiest-to-use gearing design is that of the spur gear. It has teeth that are parallel to the shaft axis, and...
Back to basics on heat-treatment of steel, underlying metallurgy
In this article, and future articles, we will discuss the basics of the heat-treatment of steel and the metallurgical reason behind it. We start...
Q&A with Marc Vonderlage
What does Wickert do for the gear manufacturing industry?
Wickert is a technical leader in the field of fixture hardening equipment and pressing systems. Our...
A primer on backlash, its purpose in gear designs
If gears are designed with a standard tooth proportion and are operating on a standard center distance, they would mesh ideally and would neither...
The state of the art of wind turbine gearboxes
Much has been written here about the global growth in the wind turbine industry. Today, more than 341,320 wind turbines are operating worldwide. In...
Heat treatment of powder metallurgy parts
The use of powder metallurgy (P/M) for the production of near-net shaped parts has increased in recent years due to performance gains, as well...
Q&A with Maeve McGoff
What do you do with Cincinnati Gearing Systems?
My responsibilities include marketing, video production and graphic design, product videos, company videos, print and web advertising,...
Future of gear design relies on overcoming present
Increasing application demands and the need for higher performance mean the future is coming fast for gear designs. The next generation of gear engineers...
Safe operation of endothermic atmospheres
In the last column, we discussed the importance of making sure that the endothermic atmosphere was the right composition to ensure proper heat treatment....
Converting to linear motion using rack and pinion
As the summer heat builds, we all look forward to the annual family vacation. Whether the trip takes us to the mountains, or to...
Q&A with Curtis Dick
Tell us about Riverside Spline and Gear Inc.’s place in the gear manufacturing industry?
We consider ourselves the industry leader in the job shop arena....
Worms and worm wheels – a primer
First published in 1973, the novel How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell tells the story of Billy and his desire to win...
Endothermic atmospheres used for heat treating
During heat treatment, the part experiences different temperature regimes (Figure 1). Atmospheres are used in heat treating to protect the part from scaling at...
