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Originally Posted by Greg Perkins
waterjets are able to cut anything...to a point. a machine shop i used to work in just purchased a cnc waterjet, and i was there for the test cut after installation. the technician took a peice of 2-1/2" thick stainless steel, and cut a biohazard logo out of it.
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Something you should be aware of is precision in deep cuts. For gears, you don't have any room for slop in construction, because of the way that the teeth roll off one another.
Water jets are reasonably precise, don't get me wrong. I just got finished with a manufacturing class last semester, and one of the things you need to be aware of is that water jets tend to cut wider in thicker material, it sort of funnels out. If you're trying to make any sort of thick , fine pitch gears, you may want to make sure they'll hold your accuracy.
In addition, gears are often heat treated, surfaced hardened / coated to increase their lifespan. Typically, I think that gears used in FIRST robots take a lot of untraditional abuse to begin with, so you may want to think about your application.
Good luck!
Matt
Comments and Documentation: Use them! You would never believe how fast you will forget how something works, especially when things are flying at you so fast. Other/future programmers will understand what you did and why you did it. - BigJ [more] 
08-04-2004, 01:35
Re: Lasercutting Spur Gears?
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