I’m supposed to be ordering gears for a gearbox my team needs (not for the drive train) and I’m trying to find Aluminum gears, or something lighter than steel. Any idea on where I could find such a thing? Also, I’ve noticed some are made of Acetal, what is it and would you consider using them?
smallparts has em too
You can also try MSC (www.mscdirect.com). We deal with them and they are very good, and in most cases you get your order the next day. From what I’ve been told acetal is a type of plastic. I’ve also seen nylon gears. I’m not sure of what you’re doing with them but just make sure that they’re strong enough (hold up) for what you’re going to do.
I concur. Make very certain that the gears will be strong enough. Aluminum might be strong enough for what you’re trying to do, but you might want to make some calculations first. If it’s not strong enough you’ll strip gear teeth really quickly.
Here’s a link to Martin Sprockets with everything you should need to figure out the allowable torque for a gear.
Martin Sprockets
materials for gears:
steel- used for high tourqe high speed operations
aluminum - used for less strain all around use
plastics - used for low power and general opperation many for wet enviorments
in most places you can buy gears there are strenth/ speed ratings check those vs the opperation they are for before buying
Thanks for the quick response, you helped a lot 