Sources of 1″ bore involute gear cutters..?

[Paul Relf-DaviesParticipant @paulrelf-davies37806]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a selection of involute gear cutters. I have a suitable arbour with a 1" bore (originally bought to use with slitting saws). Unfortunately I'm struggling to find a source of suitable & reasonably priced cutters to fit this arbour.

Ebay seems awash with cutters with 22mm bores in the profiles I need, at around £9 each

RDG sells then with a 1" bore at about £25 each

That seems to be about it in the ME world, as far as I can find – at least in the cutter profiles I'm after (M2.0)

The bottom line is it would be cheaper for me to buy the cutters from eBay, plus a new 22mm arbour, than to buy from RDG (and and use my existing arbour)

So…

1. Are RDG's cutters worth the premium price – given I don't imagine they's see that much use…
2. Does anyone know of any other suppliers of involute cutters with a 1" bore at a more eBay-like price?

I don't object to buying the smaller cutters & a new arbour. or paying extra for the larger cutters, if they represent a significant quality improvement..I'm just interested in exploring as many options as possible

TY

Paul

[Paul Relf-DaviesParticipant @paulrelf-davies37806]

[Anonymous]

Posted by Paul Davies on 14/02/2019 10:30:42:

1. Are RDG's cutters worth the premium price

I'm afraid that the RDG cutters are not at a premium price; they're lower end. I've used RDG cutters for one off uses to prove machining setups. But I'd be wary of using them for gears that are important.

I don't know where you'd get low cost 1" bore involute cutters. I've bought mine secondhand, or from Victornet in New York. For a one off I'd probably make my own.

Andrew

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

For lathe change wheels, just buy the cheapest option. 15 quid a cutter soon buys a 22mm arbor!

As Andrew, if you need real precision. Making your own you could cut for the true DP or MOD tooth count – remembering that the sets of 8 cutters are actually only supposedly accurate for the minimum tooth count for each cutter.

I suspect the RDG items are much like some of the ones offered from China, but at an elevated cost. There may, or may not, be some extra quality control checks on UK-sourced chinese items.

I bought a set of 8 cutters from China for about £55. Cheap and cheerful, but do be careful that you get what you expect – 14 1/2 or 20 degree PA (some pics, for 14 1/2 degree sets actually use a 20 degree pic). Supplied by ‘bang good’ would likely be the bottom of the pile, regarding quality, so I would avoid them (no quality control and worse than useless customer service).

Edited By not done it yet on 14/02/2019 11:27:42

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

unles syou have a horizontal mil then it's easy enough to make an adaptor to go onto the end of a 1" stub arbor to take 22mm cutters, that's what I did.

Lowest ring has shallow 1" bore on the upper side and 22mm spigot on the bottom

[Paul Relf-DaviesParticipant @paulrelf-davies37806]

Thanks all, for your input!

I think a new 22mm arbour & a set of 'eBay specials' is the way simplest forward

They will initially be used to cut the wheels for a simple clock, though I can see change-gear cutting duty i the future too.

cheers

Paul

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Clock gears are normally a different profile from the involute ones.

Brian

[Paul Relf-DaviesParticipant @paulrelf-davies37806]

Posted by Brian H on 14/02/2019 13:14:41:

Clock gears are normally a different profile from the involute ones.

Brian

Indeed.. I seem to recall reading about cycloidal gears…?

TBH,this is purely experimental.. I'm starting from a set of plans for a wooden clock (ie just a cutting list – no explicit specification of the tooth profile on the wheels) and trying to tweak it to meet the limits of the tools & have (the largest wheel on the plan is 12" is diameter – there is no way I can make that!!.

This is more a learning exercise (in terms of machining techniques) than a requirement to build a particular thing…it's be nice to have a 'thing' at the end of the process!

I'm working on the theory that the this point in time, my limitations as a machinist will far out weigh the 'incorrectness' of cutting involute teeth, rather than some other variety (cycloidal?)

cheers

Paul

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

I have both 1 inch and 22mm bore cutters.

For both, I machined 3MT stub arbors (from Arc Euro in my case) By machining the ends whilst located on the Taper, the register is concentric, and can be as long as you require. The clamping washer includes a countersink for the Allen Screws, to maximise clearance under the arbor.

Same technique used for arbors for Slitting Saws.

Howard

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