pic: Madtown Robotics Drive Proto

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Cory I was thinking about this, what if we used a 3/16 face on the first reduction. Then moved up to 3/8 face for the rest, shouldn't that be fine. We are not going to go with an aluminum gearbox yet. In the offseason we will be attempting and testing one out, but for the season it will be steel. I just pointed out that we could anodize if we needed to harden up the aluminum gears(if we used it). I have already checked out your aluminum gearboxes and Cory, if we wanted to make an aluminum gearbox, what steps do you recommend or what is your opinion about creating an aluminum gearbox. We have the time and resources to make one over winter break. But not during the season it we don't make a proto, thanks Cory.

They spent hundreds of hours. Hundreds. If you worked nonstop for a week, that's 168 hours.

You know what your best bet is if you want a nice, light, simple to make gearbox? Make custom sideplates for the AM supershifters, pocket them like you did, and use standoffs rather than the extrusion casing, like you did. It'll be real fast to make, and you *know* it will work and be very reliable. It may not technically be the lightest gearbox out there, but it will be done fast and done right. You could probably drop the 4.6 lb super shifter to at least 3.5, probably closer to 3 if you lighten the gears (but do not, do not reduce the face width unless you really know what you're doing). A 3-3.5 pound, 2-speed, bulletproof gearbox is still pretty light overall.

This is our exact plan on 973. We technically have the resources to make lighter gearboxes (from Steel gears, we won't dabble in aluminum without some serious effort and planning), but it's not worth the additional time and risk in our opinion.