old gear mounting

[Jules Richardson]

Is this likely to be machined from a lump of steel, or is it cast:

(Obviously it's two separate pieces, with the toothed portion staked to the hub section).

It's about 16" in diameter; I found it in our woods and the plan was to paint it and mount it above the door to the (timber) workshop - if it's machined then I should be able to drill through it close to the outer edge on opposing sides and run a couple of long bolts through the wall frame to support it (it's reasonably hefty, weighing a shade over 40lbs).

If it's cast though then I'm not sure if it won't crack if I try drilling it, and I might not be better off making a bracket for it somehow.

The splined section's been repaired at some point in the past, but I suppose there are people around who can reliably weld castings...

cheers

Jules

[Andrew Mawson]

Definitely cast imho

AWEM

[The Other Mike]

Definitely cast centre, but with four round holes, albeit in the wrong orientation around the splined hole, can't you just use them to fix to a bracket?

Mounting over a door doesn't seem like a really good idea though.

[Nightjar]

There is no doubt that the centre is cast, but the outer gear ring may be wrought iron heated and shrunk on, in the manner of a wagon wheel tyre.

Colin Bignell

[meow2222]

Surely it can be mounted without drilling. I also wouldn't put it above a door :)

NT

[newshound]

Don't see the problem with that personally *as long as it is securely mounted to something solid enough*.

Cast iron normally drills easily and safely, as long as you drill somewhere sensible. Talking about good quality stuff like this of course. Sash weights may be full of all sorts of slag, but they don't need any real strength.

[Andy Dingley]

I'd mount it on a dummy shaft: probably steel pipe, welded to a steel plate that I can bolt to the shed. Weld a crossbar and nut inside the tube and then a bolt and washer holds the gear onto the shaft.

[Bill Wright]

Why don't you mount it on an axle?

Bill

[Andy Champ]

Good spot. hence the three pins around the rim, to be sure it doesn't spin on the wheel.

Jules, why don't you stick an axle through the middle?

Andy

[Dave Liquorice]

Or just a couple of big wrought hooks to hang it on through the holes between the spokes.

Meh, provided the support is strong enough what's the problem? With my hooks they'd be quite deep, tips cominmg up to about the boundary between ring gear and wheel, so highly unlikely to "bounce" off.

Wonder where the rest of the machine is?

[Jules Richardson]

I was staring at it after posting (and after AWEM's quick reply came in saying it was cast) and wondered about something like that, too - although my thought was for a crossbar which sits in the slots that are cut into the hub (and which originally allowed the gear to be clamped onto the splined shaft). The crossbar would be welded to a bit of threaded rod which then runs all the way through the wall (and through the pipe/plate 'carrier' behind the gear which takes all the weight) and is secured by a nut on the other side of the wall.

Having just measured it, the splined shaft would take a piece of pipe

1-15/16" OD, so I'll have a look around and see if anything "just happens" to match that. The slots seem to be 1/8" and I know I have some steel plate of that thickness which the crossbar could be fabricated from. Carrier plate bolts maybe 1/2" in diameter?

The only downside is the need to run five bolts through the wall (four for the carrier and then the threaded 't-piece'), where a drilled solution could get away with two - but it's not really a big problem. I've got open access to the other side of the wall, and can easily remove the interior cladding boards so I can run frame members between the building's existing verticals.

cheers

Jules

[Jules Richardson]

I was staring at it after posting (and after AWEM's quick reply came in saying it was cast) and wondered about something like that, too - although my thought was for a crossbar which sits in the slots that are cut into the hub (and which originally allowed the gear to be clamped onto the splined shaft). The crossbar would be welded to a bit of threaded rod which then runs all the way through the wall (and through the pipe/plate 'carrier' behind the gear which takes all the weight) and is secured by a nut on the other side of the wall.

Having just measured it, the splined shaft would take a piece of pipe

1-15/16" OD, so I'll have a look around and see if anything "just happens" to match that. The slots seem to be 1/8" and I know I have some steel plate of that thickness which the crossbar could be fabricated from. Carrier plate bolts maybe 1/2" in diameter?

The only downside is the need to run five bolts through the wall (four for the carrier and then the threaded 't-piece'), where a drilled solution could get away with two - but it's not really a big problem. I've got open access to the other side of the wall, and can easily remove the interior cladding boards so I can run frame members between the building's existing verticals.

cheers

Jules

[Jules Richardson]

I was staring at it after posting (and after AWEM's quick reply came in saying it was cast) and wondered about something like that, too - although my thought was for a crossbar which sits in the slots that are cut into the hub (and which originally allowed the gear to be clamped onto the splined shaft). The crossbar would be welded to a bit of threaded rod which then runs all the way through the wall (and through the pipe/plate 'carrier' behind the gear which takes all the weight) and is secured by a nut on the other side of the wall.

Having just measured it, the splined shaft would take a piece of pipe

1-15/16" OD, so I'll have a look around and see if anything "just happens" to match that. The slots seem to be 1/8" and I know I have some steel plate of that thickness which the crossbar could be fabricated from. Carrier plate bolts maybe 1/2" in diameter?

The only downside is the need to run five bolts through the wall (four for the carrier and then the threaded 't-piece'), where a drilled solution could get away with two - but it's not really a big problem. I've got open access to the other side of the wall, and can easily remove the interior cladding boards so I can run frame members between the building's existing verticals.

cheers

Jules

[Jules Richardson]

I was staring at it after posting (and after AWEM's quick reply came in saying it was cast) and wondered about something like that, too - although my thought was for a crossbar which sits in the slots that are cut into the hub (and which originally allowed the gear to be clamped onto the splined shaft). The crossbar would be welded to a bit of threaded rod which then runs all the way through the wall (and through the pipe/plate 'carrier' behind the gear which takes all the weight) and is secured by a nut on the other side of the wall.

Having just measured it, the splined shaft would take a piece of pipe

1-15/16" OD, so I'll have a look around and see if anything "just happens" to match that. The slots seem to be 1/8" and I know I have some steel plate of that thickness which the crossbar could be fabricated from. Carrier plate bolts maybe 1/2" in diameter?

The only downside is the need to run five bolts through the wall (four for the carrier and then the threaded 't-piece'), where a drilled solution could get away with two - but it's not really a big problem. I've got open access to the other side of the wall, and can easily remove the interior cladding boards so I can run frame members between the building's existing verticals.

cheers

Jules

[Jules Richardson]

... an idea obviously so good that my newsreader decided to post it four times :-( (although it said that it hadn't posted at all, and then promptly crashed, so I suppose four copies are better than no copies)

(fingers crossed this just posts the once!)

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jules Richardson submitted this idea :

It is cast apart from the outer ring, which appears to be staked with three pins, to stop it turning on the centre casting. Cast drills absolutely fine. The inner splines appear to be intended to be clamped tight onto the male splines via two bolts.

[The Other Mike]

Yep

The reason I think that about mounting it over a door is just because shit happens - I once had a 'lucky' horse shoe drop on me from over a door.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Cast, then machined. It might be forged, but I don't think so.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

There is one consideration - with this, there will be no half-measures when the fixings fail and the subsequent enquiry will exonerate Jules, I'm sure.

[harry]

It is a casting, looks like iron cast in sand. You can drill it. How hard it is depends on whether it was"chilled". (ie turned out of the mould when still hot). This makes the iron harder.

Sometimes they are reheated to stress relieve them. It has already been machined so probably quite soft.

Best done with a pillar drill it will be hard going with a pistol drill.