rack and pinion gear

[Builder1]

Hello All,
I've been searching all over for rack and pinion gears on the internet for my robot and ran into an unexpected problem. All of the companies that I came across only deal with you if you are an employee of a company, they don't sell to just any individual. Is there a site out there that will sell rack and pinion gears to individuals not associated with any company? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance for your help.

[airman00]

how big of a rack and pinion gear?Need info like  dimensions , material , etc.

[Builder1]

Hi there Airman,
Thanks for responding to my post. I'm looking for a metal gear rack with dimensions of about 1 ft long, 1/2 inch high, 3/8 inch wide. The gear teeth could be any size it does not matter, and the dimensions of the rack do not have to be exactly the same as what I've just listed. Also the rack and pinion gear could be made of any metal. Thanks again for replying.

Builder1

[airman00]

hmmmm

your dimensions don't look like the type hobby roboticists would use in their robots ( they would use like cheap plastic ones that are maybe 6" long , like Lego has)

For your specifications you need to look into taking it from some machinery that uses this rack and pinion gear. I think Windshield motors might use rack and pinion gears ( don't take my word on it though , do some research of your own)

[Steve Joblin]

did you try http://sdp-si.com/index.asp?

[airman00]

did you try http://sdp-si.com/index.asp?

looks expensive     

[Builder1]

Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for all of your responses. I have looked at the site that you've given me Steve and I like how easy it is to shop for what I was looking for. How ever their products are rather expensive, I wish there is another site that offers similar products for much cheaper prices. But thank you for your effort to help, I really appreciated it. For right now I am probably going to do what Airman had suggested, I'm going to go find a rack and pinion gear at a junk yard and take one from a windshield wiper.  Thank you everyone for all of your  help.

[airman00]

are u sure windshield wipers have those gears? Look it up as I am not certain.

[Builder1]

Hi Airman,
I have looked it up and rack and pinion gears are indeed used to move wiper arms.

[Gertlex]

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Just look up Rack and Pinion.

The racks are roughly 20$ for 2ft of length.

[DroidCommander]

Thanks RobotOverlord McMaster has exactly what I wanted and only 40$