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#1
04-30-2015, 06:51 AM
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Help! Sourcing Machine Gears.
I'm prototyping a new design for a tuning machine, but having a difficult time finding a source for the worms and worm gears I need. My guess is that with dozens of companies knocking off cheap tuning machines every day, there must be a company or two that supplies these gears.
Do any of you know where I might be able to find a source for these gears? Is there a company out there that sells replacement worms/gears for repairing broken machines? I'm hoping to find 14:1 or 15:1 gearing or something in that vicinity. Any info would be greatly appreciated!! 
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#2
04-30-2015, 07:19 AM
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............
__________________
Unimogbert Last edited by unimogbert; 03-07-2023 at 10:33 PM.
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#3
04-30-2015, 08:36 AM
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Indeed, cheap tuners are made by the millions. That said, I don't know of anybody actually repairing cheap tuners because replacement costs so little, and interchangeability of parts between manufacturers is a pipe dream.
Unless you need something dimensionally unusual, you'll find that buying sets of cheap tuners and salvaging the gears is the economical way to go. If you do need special stuff, like long shafts on the worms, I'd bet that modifying salvage parts would be easier than other alternatives. Stewart MacDonald makes the Waverly gears and all the components in-house, I believe, but I've not heard of anybody getting gear parts from them for repair. I did talk to them about it at one time, and was told that "maybe there's a possibility, but we'll have to see." For a variety of reasons, I did not follow up on that. A while back, my pal, Michi Matsuda needed some special tuners with really long tuning rollers for an unusual slotted headstock. I made some 1/2" longer shafts to replace the ones on a regular Waverly set. It was a challenging machining job (for me, at the time anyway) to hold the tight tolerances Waverly uses.
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Cheers, Frank Ford
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#4
04-30-2015, 10:16 AM
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Quote:
https://www.smallparts.com.au/ http://www.sdp-si.com/estore/coverpg/gears.htm etc... there's a ton of gear makers out there. i don't know the extent of your departure from conventional tuner design, but it might be easier to raid some repair guy's junk box for parts to get some prototyping going on then take it from there. one of the things you'll encounter though is the economics of scale. much cheaper per unit to have a large bulk order then to order 6 or 12.
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#5
04-30-2015, 11:51 AM
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Quote:
Some Taiwanese producers are making nice classical tuners nowadays for dirt cheap. Perhaps they are making steel string tuners that you could take parts from...?? (Ebay)
__________________
---- Ned Milburn NSDCC Master Artisan Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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#6
04-30-2015, 12:23 PM
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If you are not machining your own gears, what part of the tuning machine are you designing? Is your contribution mechanical or aesthetic?
__________________
"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon
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#7
05-01-2015, 06:03 AM
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Local machine shop would be my first call. You are better off having someone make what you need on spec than trying to modify other parts of perhaps dubious quality or used stuff that was replaced.
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#8
05-01-2015, 03:15 PM
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i've machined many gears. it's not easy work. the op will need to find a "local shop" that actually has a hobbing machine (needed for worms) and someone who knows how to use it, or a shop with cnc machinery willing to breakdown production to make 6 or 12 gear sets.
aside from high volume production work (molded plastic, die cast, and cnc milling/grinding), small lot gear cutting is a dying trade and the veterans left are often very cranky folks  could get lucky though, there are certain areas in towns that have small shops tucked away. Last edited by arie; 05-01-2015 at 03:45 PM.
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#9
05-09-2015, 11:44 AM
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Another possibility not mentioned is to 3D print the parts you need.
Shapeways.com is able to print parts out of brass, bronze, steel, etc. You can even have them print high-res castable wax that you could use to investment cast your own parts. The problem with contracting with a local machine shop is they will have a minimum number of parts you'll need to order that may be above your available budget. 3D printing allows low-production number to keep costs within reason. Shapeways, for example, allows you to print single parts that you can use to prototype your tuners, then gear up, pardon the pun, to the numbers you need.
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| Tags |
| gears, machine gears, tuning machines, worm gears, worms |
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