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Title: |
1841 Gay, Silver & Co., Old Gear Cutters |
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Source: |
Machinery, V2, May 1896, pg. 263 |
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Insert Date: |
4/25/2025 7:05:20 PM |
Gear Cutting is always interesting and though we usually think of nothing but cast teeth when speaking of old gears, this is not necessarily the case. In the shops of the Silver & Gay Co., North Chelmsford, Mass., which have been mentioned before, the writer found two old gear cutters, which are interesting in many ways.
The first one shown bears the date of 1841 on its name-plate, but the records show that one was sold to the Stark Mills on July 10th, 1839, so they must have existed earlier than this, but probably in a less complete form.
As will be seen from the illustration, it is practically a universal machine, the head being capable of tipping back for bevel gears, and the large index plate below gives a wide range of divisions for numbers of teeth. A close study of this is interesting to any machinist who handles gear cutters.
Although this machine could not bevel gears, these mechanics (who had, I think, exceptionally good ideas for that time and place, as shown by the tools built and methods employed) saw the advantages of a planed tooth for these gears, and in the early '50's constructed the machine shown in Fig. 2, which I found in one corner of the attic. As will be seen, it was framed of heavy timber, although the wearing portions were of iron. The horizontal timber with the slotted arc in the end of the trunnion plate, held the wheel to be planed, the arc allowing any tilting that might be necessary for the wheel in hand. The tool-block shown just ahead of the gear in upper righthand corner, moves back and forth on the iron way or beam, while the beam was guided at its outer end, the former being shown beneath the hand-wheel at the left. This allowed the use of a large former, with good bearing surface, and diminished instead of multiplied the errors it might contain. The tool-block was of the reversible type, which was so common in the earlier days, but which have been entirely abandoned, and with good reason in most cases. In these blocks the tool made a half revolution at each end of the stroke and presented its cutting surface in both directions, consequently cutting on both the forward and back stroke. There is a framed certificate in their office from the Middlesex Mechanics' Association, bear ing date of 1857, awarding a gold medal to Gay, Silver & Co. (the old name of the firm) for this Bevel Gear Planer. |
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1841 Gay, Silver & Co., Old Gear Cutters
1855 Gay, Silver & Co., Old Gear Cutters
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