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wrote:
On 30 Aug 2005 11:10:18 -0700, wrote:

Don Stauffer wrote:

The thread on millwrights got me to wondering about something.

I have seen one mill (I am sure mechanism was reconstructed) that
actually had wood crown and pinion gears (many mills required a right
angle change in shaft axis). And I see many diagrams of wooden gears in
history of technology books on mills.

Most gear sets I see are metal, from mid to late nineteenth century.

Now, I wonder if there was a complete, sudden transition from wood to
metal gears, or was there a transitional period with what we might call
composite gears- part wood, part metal.

Yes, there is grist mill in Long Valley, N.J. that has a mix of
smaller all metal gears and large metal hubs with wooden teeth - less
noise and more on the spot repairable - but must importantly - Wood
on metal DOESN"T SPARK! In the dust ladent aireof a grist mill a
spark can be spelled B O O M!! No building!

Mixed wood and metal gear sets were used in sawmills for the same
reason. One variation used a composite gear with a cast iron 'cage' that
held wooden gear teeth. Normally this ran against an all metal gear.
Also, as was stated, many were of the bevel or crown gear type to
change angles between the shaftng.

Dan Mitchell
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