Posted by Marcus on January 28, 2012 at 06:04:03:
In Reply to: Will a gear always mate with itself? posted by Marcus on January 26, 2012 at 14:20:48:
Gents,
Thanks for all your your replies.
OK the two gears I have have been designed to run together in a gearbox are both helical cut spur gears. Z1=17, Z2=58. (definition of a Pinion gear noted!)
The question is really this:
Is it possible to design an idler gear that would mate properly with both of these gears or do the gear profiles need to be re-designed to run with and idler in the middle.
My hope was that I could use a copy of the Z=17 gear as an idler gear without re-designing or re-specifying the tooth profiles (other than the hand of the helix)
Marcus