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Unread 07-11-2016, 23:38
KyleDavidKruege KyleDavidKruege is offline
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Re: Custom Gearboxes

We have made a few Custom gearboxes in the past that are always based on AndyMark ToughBoxes. They already come with replacement gear sets to make pretty much any reduction you might want (as long as it's only 2 stages). But if you want more stages or simply need to change the layout so it fits better into the bot we have make new "sideplates" with the hole spacing, which I would also suggest milling (a CNC can place them with enough accuracy, but we would always CNC them a bit small and then fit them to the bearings by hand). Then you can even use the same shafts and everything else that the ToughBoxes use. if you need more than two stages simply buy multiple middle shafts and tie those together, although then you need to make sure that your gears aren't touching each other (eg. if all three reductions use the exact same reduction then you will end up meshing the output gear of the first reduction with the input gear of the third reduction) you can also get around this by making the gear box three gears wide, but then you need to machine your own shafts, which we have also done. overall...

Avoid making parts that you can make a small tweek to your design and buy online (would a COTS gearbox work?)

Fit Bearings by hand (as stated above)

Lay everything out on paper or in CAD and have multiple people look over it. Include the gears, shafts, spacers, any mounting holes, how it will be held together, motor(s), and mounting holes for the motor(s) and any sensors or the output (I have designed and built gearboxes only to realize that it was impossible to attach the motor because the motor mounting holes were not accessible when the gearbox was assembled)

I should also probably mention I am by no means an expert in this area, I'm only sharing what I've learned (usually by failure myself)
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