[Chris Hibner]

Back when I was on 308 we did aluminum gears in the drivetrain for two seasons (2001 and 2002). I think we used 24 DP in 2002 and they lasted the entire year until the first match of the world championship finals - then they shredded. Pretty bad timing. I think you can find pictures of the gearbox carnage somewhere on this site. In fairness to those gears, we're pretty sure the shaft shifted leaving only about 60% engagement along the face width.

In 2002, those gears were 1/4 inch face width, but we sandwiched multiple gears together to increase the effective face width. I really wish I could remember the source where we bought the gears. Although, as long ago as that was they may not be in business any more.

One important note: when we were doing tooth stress calculations, I remember that 24 DP was pretty marginal in later stages of the gearbox, so I would expect 32 to not be able to withstand the loads without getting crazy with the face width. Just be sure to do all of the calculations and double check them.

In 2001, we machined custom aluminum gears because we were worried about tooth loads with small gear teeth. I want to say we made them in the neighborhood of 12 to 16 DP. They looked a little weird, but worked great.