The Brief
A machinist had a vintage lathe with a stripped gear set that's been out of production for decades. No replacement parts available anywhere. They sent me the broken gears and asked if I could reproduce them.
What I Did
- Measured the original gears with digital calipers and a profile gauge
- Modelled the gear tooth profile in Fusion 360 using involute gear calculations
- Printed a test set in PLA to verify mesh and fit
- Final parts printed in Nylon (PA6) for strength and wear resistance
- Included 5% dimensional compensation for nylon shrinkage
The Result
The replacement gears have been running in the lathe for over two months with no signs of wear. Total cost was a fraction of what a custom-machined set would have been.