Does wider face width reduce noise?
Gear noise often signals poor load distribution or alignment issues that accelerate wear. With years of experience machining precision gears for industrial and robotics applications, small design changes can dramatically impact both noise levels and gear life. Increasing gear face width typically reduces noise by 3-6 dB through better load distribution, but only up to […]
When to use plastic gears?
Choosing between plastic and metal gears isn’t just about material cost—it’s about understanding performance trade-offs that can make or break your design. With years of experience machining precision gears, we’ve seen how the right material choice dramatically impacts noise, wear rates, and long-term reliability. Plastic gears work best in low-to-moderate torque applications (typically under 50 […]
How to calculate gear profile shift?
Calculating gear profile shift correctly can mean the difference between a smooth-running transmission and an expensive redesign. As precision gear manufacturers with decades of experience machining custom gears for engineers across aerospace, robotics, and industrial equipment, we’ve seen how small profile shift miscalculations lead to pointed teeth, excessive wear, or unnecessarily tight tolerances that double […]
How Wide Should Your Gear’s Face Width Be?
Selecting the right gear face width isn’t just about fitting your design envelope — it’s about balancing torque capacity, machining feasibility, and system performance. With years of experience machining precision gears for robotics, medical devices, and industrial equipment, we’ve seen how small face width decisions can dramatically impact both gear life and manufacturing cost. Gear […]
What gear tooth count is too small for CNC machining?
Designing compact gears isn’t just about saving space — it’s about avoiding strength failures and undercutting that make parts unmachinable. When the tooth count gets too low, common design assumptions break down, especially at the prototyping or custom machining stage. Gears with fewer than 17 teeth using a 20° pressure angle and no profile shift […]
How Gear Pressure Angle and Contact Ratio Control Noise?
Gear noise isn’t just a post-production issue — it’s often rooted in pressure angle and contact ratio decisions made early in design. But tweaking these specs isn’t always straightforward. You might gain quieter meshing at the cost of backlash, strength, or tooling compatibility. Lower pressure angles (like 14.5°) and higher contact ratios (CR ≥1.6) generally […]
Do Bigger Gears Always Give More Torque?
Many engineers assume that simply using a larger gear will increase torque — but that’s not always true. This post is written to clear up that confusion and help you make smarter decisions when selecting or sizing gears for torque performance. A larger gear only increases torque when it changes the gear ratio. If the […]
Is DP always in inches and module always in millimeters?
Working with both inch and metric gears can lead to mistakes if unit assumptions go unchecked. This post clears up confusion between DP (diametral pitch) and module, explains their unit systems, and helps you avoid errors when switching or comparing gears. DP is almost always specified in inches, and module in millimeters. These systems are […]
Can I mix DP gears with module gears in one design?
Designing gear systems across imperial and metric standards can quickly get messy. We’ve worked with audio, medical, and industrial clients who ran into sourcing headaches or alignment failures after mixing DP (diametral pitch) and module gears in the same assembly. DP (Diametral Pitch) and Module are incompatible gear sizing systems — they use different units, […]
Do idler gears change the gear ratio?
Many engineers add idler gears to fix spacing or reverse direction—but don’t always know the cost trade-offs. This post clears up confusion around gear ratio, torque, backlash, and support so you can design clean, efficient layouts without overengineering. No — idler gears do not change gear ratio. The ratio depends only on the number of […]
