pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #2

[Tom Ore]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

It's not so much what is essential/non-essential, it's more about how much detail is needed;

You probably mean how many points to use to define the involute. The involute can have a few points like 5 or 6, or many points like 20 or 30. You'll get basically the same tooth form if the CAD software and/or waterjet blends the points together into a single curve. It sounds like the problem you had was too many points along the involute and the waterjet stopped / started before each point.

If anyone is interested in the math, I posted a spreadsheet in CD Media that creates a file to import gears into Pro/E. (It only does full fillet gears - sorry but flat root gears are against my religion.)