Standards in terminology for gearing
LOL, BRB, and LMAO are some of the terms that you might text to your teenager if you want to seem cool with their...
Parallelism, perpendicularity, and misalignment
Sometime around your 12th birthday, the trip to the dentist resulted in a discussion about the misalignment of your teeth and the need to...
Heat-treating gears improves surface durability
A common question asked of gear manufacturers by their potential customer is, “Is this gear strong enough for my application?” Without qualifiers, this question...
When someone gives you the shaft
Did you ever have someone “give you the shaft”? This insult is defined as ignoring or putting someone down. In gearing, giving you the...
The key to a proper fit for keyways
Did you ever have someone tell you that you cannot fit a square peg into a round hole? This common phrase is misleading because...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Increasing surface contact with ground gears
Older drivers probably owned a car during a time when most automobiles in the United States had a manual transmission. For those people, learning...
Cones are not just for ice cream
At this time of year, as we are transitioning from the doldrums of winter through the rebirth of spring and the eventual sunshine of...
Is it Strong Enough?
While walking through a field of wildflowers one might find a feather nestled amongst the flora. The feather is light, airy and delicate. Beneath...
What Are You Made Of?
If you have ever sat down for Sunday dinner in an authentic Italian-American home, you know not to question the red sauce known as...
Making the best selection
In today’s online dating world, you are asked several pointed questions in order to determine your perfect match. Just like human relationships, gears work...
The Zen of Gear Design
The feeling of Zen is one that we all can aspire to. Through practice and self-reflection, we can work toward being centered and grounded....
Pitch-Perfect Gear Design
The pitch of a gear is defined as the distance between two identical points on two adjacent gear teeth. Ideally, it is measured at...
Under Pressure
The pressure angle of a gear is defined as the angle formed by the radial line and the line tangent to the profile at...
Calculating the Weighted Average Load and Life for Bearings
In most gearbox applications, there is not one single torque and speed that the gearbox operates at but a series of torques and speeds...
A Brief Overview Of Splines
Splines provide a connection between two shafts or other components that transmit torque and rotation. Splines may be straight sided, tapered, or have an...
