Hey guys,
I'm working on an old aircraft instrument that uses a series of PCB Gears as encoder rings. The problem is that a PCB board as a gear isn't really a great idea. The material isn't strong enough to hold up to regular usage over 30+ years.
Right now I'm working on reverse engineering the gear, which has gone on pretty smoothly. Using the mating gear, I was able to determine all the appropriate measurements for the gear and confirm it (roughly) with a pair of calipers.
The problem I'm having is with the center hole diameter. Since the material isn't that strong, it's been worn down in three general three areas (where the asymmetrical nylon pulleys hold onto the gear) and is no longer perfectly round. This inner diameter is unfortunately critical for the part. There isn't any documentation for the gear and the manufacturer has been out of business for the better part of 20 years. If you guys have any suggestions on how to measure the original diameter (if it's possible), it would be greatly appreciated.
I'm working on an old aircraft instrument that uses a series of PCB Gears as encoder rings. The problem is that a PCB board as a gear isn't really a great idea. The material isn't strong enough to hold up to regular usage over 30+ years.
Right now I'm working on reverse engineering the gear, which has gone on pretty smoothly. Using the mating gear, I was able to determine all the appropriate measurements for the gear and confirm it (roughly) with a pair of calipers.
The problem I'm having is with the center hole diameter. Since the material isn't that strong, it's been worn down in three general three areas (where the asymmetrical nylon pulleys hold onto the gear) and is no longer perfectly round. This inner diameter is unfortunately critical for the part. There isn't any documentation for the gear and the manufacturer has been out of business for the better part of 20 years. If you guys have any suggestions on how to measure the original diameter (if it's possible), it would be greatly appreciated.