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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Default Some of you make chips bigger than these gears...

    Had to set up a hobbing job today for some tiny brass helical gears; 2 mm bore, 5.1mm OD, 3.5mm wide including shoulders, 15 teeth.

    No fancy CNC, just a Swiss mechanical computer

    PXL_20201123_045139613.jpg

    Back end gear train; spindle speed on the right, indexing on the left

    PXL_20201123_013340540.jpg

    Front end gear train: basic feed on the right, differential feed for helicals on the left

    PXL_20201123_043446917.jpg

    5° 51'...or as close as I can figure it without a vernier scale. A few minutes either way on something like this isn't going to make much difference

    PXL_20201123_012651196.jpg

    It's a tight fit in there with the deburring tool

    PXL_20201123_045114964.jpg

    1 down, 2999 to go

    PXL_20201123_045259976.jpg

    And with some swarf from the lathe across the walkway for scale

    PXL_20201123_045522522.jpg

  2. #2
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    Dec 2005
    Location
    South Australia
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    1,656

    Default

    You working for a watchmaker now!

  3. #3
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    Default

    Not quite, but we are instrument makers so I suppose watches could fall under that

    That's not even as small as we can go, I have a gear that we used to make for the old mechanical power meters; 2.4mm OD, 0.8mm bore, 10 teeth.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
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    6,440

    Default

    Hi Elan, Guys,

    Just don't drop it on the floor you will never see it again !
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    South Australia
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    Default

    Interesting when you see the tiny machines watchmakers use it is testament to the accuracy of those big machines and I the guess the bloke setting it up has a bit of input also.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    near Rockhampton
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by elanjacobs View Post
    Had to set up a hobbing job today for some tiny brass helical gears; 2 mm bore, 5.1mm OD, 3.5mm wide including shoulders, 15 teeth.
    You have not put the keyway in yet.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
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    6,446

    Default

    Hi Elan, nice work.
    Seeing it certainly brings back memories of my dad.

    On jobs like these, the first step is to fix the bottom of an apron to the base of the machine and the the loop around your neck.

    My late father,a watchmaker had such a set up on his work bench.

    If you don't have such insurance ,the miniscule part is almost guaranteed to leave your fingers and jump to where it can't be found.

    The smaller the part is, the greater the chance of it taking an unplanned trip to the floor. Don't ask me how I know.

    Grahame

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by China View Post
    Interesting when you see the tiny machines watchmakers use it is testament to the accuracy of those big machines and I the guess the bloke setting it up has a bit of input also.
    Mikron (the manufacturer of most of our small hobbing machines) was actually started by a watchmaker specifically for the watch industry. It's quite amazing that, once warmed up, these machines will stay within 5-10 microns all day, even 50+ years after being built, and all without a single computer chip. We even have a couple of electro-hydraulic hobbers from them that are able to run totally automatically, including load/unload, with nothing but micro-switches and solenoids. Well, they would if we had all the parts...

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