Cage Gears

[OldMcDonald]

Thanks guys, but the more I think about this the more I want to use the old cage and crown drive. Belts and pulleys need to be bought. Vehicle diff gears were the first thing I considered, but need to be found and then removed. Not so easy where I live. The time and cost involved in sourcing either would be better spent making what I need at a cost of time only - and time on the farm is a lot more valuable than time off the farm. No disrespect to everybody, but when I am here I can keep an eye on what is going on, often allowing the animals to graze nearby on odd patches of ground where they need to be "supervised". I suppose my lifestyle is alien to a lot of people around the world and I do not expect them to understand it. I am a peasant. An educated peasant, but still a peasant, who likes the simple things in life - good food, wine and a lot of rest time. I am happy to make what I need, I just thought that some folks on TBN would already have done it and had some suggestions.

 

[sparc]

If you want to experiment check out this website for a gear calculator.

www.woodgears.ca

But be prepared, if you go there you might not get out for a couple hours.
Very interesting site.
Check out the marble mazes too.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Thanks sparc. I already knew about that one. It does seem that cage gears are more commonly made out of wood than metal, although I have heard that at least one US manufacturer of seed drills did you use them. I have not had a chance to search yet.

 

[sparc]

Yes, his gears are in wood but I was thinking it would be worthwhile to try out different gear ratios and diameters to get just what you wanted then you can create templates you can use to layout your gears on wood or metal. For a cage its pretty simple, not like cutting a toothed gear, but still helpful.

 

[OldMcDonald]

sparc, I agree with you. I work with someone else on these things and he is far more technical than me (actually makes his living from graphic designing via computers) and he led me to the site. Unfortunately he is presently on an assignment in London and I am not inclined to bother him unless necessary. He knows what I am planning to achieve though and I am running with the notion of a cage gear in metal at this stage. I am almost at the experimental stage, but not quite. Time is always short, but especially in springtime.