Trend Talks: Tim Byrd
The research and development team is sometimes thought of as the bespectacled, wild-haired folks down in the lab who come up for air just...
Q&A with Josh Pocock
Positrol has a very busy R&D department. What have they been working on recently?
We do quite a bit of engineering work here. Our engineers...
Nondestructive Testing and What Certification Fits Your Gear Production Needs
Nondestructive testing (NDT) is a fascinating and ever evolving field prevalent within the gear industry. It is because of this evolution that a need...
Proper Spur and Helical Gear Inspection
In last month's Tooth Tips, we studied finished and pre-finished gears, along with their profiles. Let's move on to some more definitions useful in...
Heat treating is all about using the most cost-effective process
Gears come in all shapes and sizes, made by a myriad of methods: forged, cast, PM, etc. Virtually all methods require heat treating of...
Trend Talks: Tim Byrd
If you gathered all the people in the world who could explain how to broach an internal spline; or the influence of nitrogen on...
Q&A with George Buhaj
How did you get started Avon Broach?
I hired in as a draftsman in 1982. I was going to college for my degree in mechanical...
Grain Size Requirements
For gear material supplied in the intermediate heat treat condition, the capability grain size would be appropriate. The goal is to show (usually on...
Principles of Gear Inspection
Over the next few editions of this column, I’d like to provide an understanding of the principles of gear inspection as they apply to...
Like any problem, a heat-treating difficulty must be dissected into smaller parts
What follows is a true account in a captive heat treat facility with batch integral quench furnaces, one of which was carburizing without a...
Trend Talks: Tim Byrd
In college, I had a part time job promoting CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) for doctors and nurses. I would call a doctor’s office, tell...
Q&A with Bill Mark
What is your position at Penn State?
I’m with the applied research laboratory and graduate program in acoustics, and I’ve been here about 20 years....
Considering As-Heat Treated Grain Size
When reviewing and working to customer steel specifications, it seems to me that one of the most misused and misunderstood gear material requirements is...
Pitch and Pressure-Angle Changes
The engineer has the responsibility for the design of an involute gear set, and the tools that are used to cut the teeth in...
From smaller cold-formed steel, gears can be cold pressed into the final shape and...
All gears begin their lives as a forging, casting, hot-rolled bar, billet, powder metal, and, most recently, directly from 3D printing (additive manufacturing). Depending...
Trend Talks: Tim Byrd
I’m at the AGMA Basic Gear Training class in Chicago, talking to Robert Hamilton of Hamilton’s Industrial Machine Shop, located in Kingston, Jamaica. We’re...
Q&A with Bob Lowe
What is a control system integrator?
Control system integrators design and implement sophisticated control systems for manufacturing and industrial facilities. Using their knowledge of engineering,...
Dealing with ‘Ghost Signals’
During my time in the nondestructive testing field, I have experienced one anomaly continually arise while performing specific ultrasonic examinations of forgings. I’m speaking...
Using the Proper Computational Tool
As a practical matter, audible gear noise is subject to a tortuous path from the gear mesh to the ear. From a meshing gear...
Carburizing, quenching PM gears
Powder metallurgy has been around for hundreds of years, but has only been used for commercialized applications within the last 50 years. And like...
