Author Topic: Having trouble finding cheap worm gear(alreadySearched Forum,PartsList,Google,et  (Read 2498 times)

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Offline greywanderer012345Topic starter

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I'm trying to replace 2 worn out worm gears on an old train engine. I know that the easiest thing to do would be to just buy a new engine, but since I want to get this experience for robotics sake anyway, I figured I'd take this opportunity to learn something.

Replacement parts specifically for the train are not sold.(Actually, I even needed to do some dremel cutting just to open everything up.)

The worms themselves are intact, but I figure buying a set would be safer than trying to find worm gears to match the worms. The gears have 14 teeth and sit on an ~3mm axle. I haven't figured out the pitch yet.

I've searched a few sites I found in other forum posts, but cannot find any where you can sort by price. I can throw together some values, but every product I get to ends up being ~$60, when I'm definitely looking for something $2-$8 at the most.

I find extremely cheap sets on ebay, but they are all replacement parts for something specific, and do not include stats like # of teeth / pitch / axle diameter. Many of the listings I find are only a worm, without the gear. I'm not asking someone to take the stats and find something for me, but rather a pointed finger in the right direction. What key words (material, etc) should I be using to find better results for my price range and purpose? Thanks everybody!
« Last Edit: February 10, 2013, 10:28:40 PM by greywanderer012345 »

Offline greywanderer012345Topic starter

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Giving up for the night.

Figured out that the particular motor setup is the tyco/mantua MU 430.

I'm about ready to build my own chassis for the damned thing and set it up with belts instead of gears...

Offline jwatte

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You can find most mechanical parts you need at McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) It's not cheap, though.

Another option would be to hob your own gears. A manual gear hobber isn't that expensive, but it does take some patience to operate...

If you can find the pitch and pressure angle of the gears, you are pretty likely to be able to find replacements somewhere on the 'net, but you have to be pretty specific with the measurements.

Another option would be to take the thing to a hobby shop (or two, or three,) and see what they have to say.

Offline waltr

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A good place for replacement gears and worms for trains is NWSL.
http://www.nwsl.com/

They also, have some good articles on gears and how to change them.
If you get totally stuck then email them with what engine you have and they should be able to suggest parts.

PS.- If you asked this question on one of the Model train forums then you'll get many good answers. Try:
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/
as my two favorites.

 


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