I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

I got curious about using the silent Ramsey-style chain but cannot find
anywhere that retails the chains and the cogs.

Ramsey being a brand-name of the drive chain that looks like this-
http://www.ramseychain.com/index.asp

I don't need to use Ramsey in particular, I'd just want to buy the same
brand of chain & cogs, since they aren't guaranteed to be perfectly
compatible across manufacturers.

There is lots of different companies that make this stuff, but nobody
seems to retail it at all that I could find in a couple hours of looking
online. I get a few places in the USA that make it, a whole bunch of
places in China and India that make it, and people selling replacement
motorcycle transmission drive chains on eBay.

I have looked for variations of "silent drive chain", "inverted link
chain", "metal belt drive chain" and so on, and got nothing.

Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?

On 4/18/2011 6:03 AM, DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.



well nuts,,,,,,,

there's car timing chain kits like this for only $40 a set. :P

only problem is the chain might be a bit too short, so i may need to buy
another chain and lengthen one somehow. if the stuff comes apart, that
is.... ?

DougC wrote:

On 4/18/2011 6:03 AM, DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.



well nuts,,,,,,,

there's car timing chain kits like this for only $40 a set. :P

only problem is the chain might be a bit too short, so i may need to buy
another chain and lengthen one somehow. if the stuff comes apart, that
is.... ?

Bulk chain, connecting links and sprockets are available in many sizes
from many sources. Online you have McMaster, MSC, Surpluscenter and many
others, retail you have Tractor Supply and similar.

DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

(...)

Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?

Try Stock Drive Products:
http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg...Components.htm

No connection other than as a very happy customer.

--Winston

On 4/18/2011 8:36 AM, Winston wrote:
DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

(...)

Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?

Try Stock Drive Products:
http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg...Components.htm

No connection other than as a very happy customer.

--Winston

they don't have it at all, they only have roller and ladder chain

On 4/18/2011 8:00 AM, Pete C. wrote:

DougC wrote:

On 4/18/2011 6:03 AM, DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.



well nuts,,,,,,,

there's car timing chain kits like this for only $40 a set. :P

only problem is the chain might be a bit too short, so i may need to buy
another chain and lengthen one somehow. if the stuff comes apart, that
is.... ?

Bulk chain, connecting links and sprockets are available in many sizes
from many sources. Online you have McMaster, MSC, Surpluscenter and many
others, retail you have Tractor Supply and similar.

Neither McMaster, MSC or Surpluscenter sell any chain or gears for
silent belt-link chain.

It looks like this:
http://bikemanperformance.com/snowmo...nt-chains.html

It doesn't go on "sprockets", it goes on specially-made gearwheels.

On 4/18/2011 6:03 AM, DougC wrote:


Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?


Okay, I have found one (USA) place that does sell them:

http://www.motionindustries.com/moti...mii/index.html

I don't know if they're eager to do retail or not though. And they don't
offer "online" sales, but a location is pretty close.

I may just buy the $50 timing gears & extra belt and see what I can do
with them first.... I can't imagine that the individual chain & gears
would cost me less than that.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 06:03:02 -0500, DougC
wrote:

I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

I got curious about using the silent Ramsey-style chain but cannot find
anywhere that retails the chains and the cogs.

Ramsey being a brand-name of the drive chain that looks like this-
http://www.ramseychain.com/index.asp

That indeed looks hard to find. I just surfed Mcmastercarr nothing
there. Do you have super high torque needs? Otherwise, take a look at
heavy duty XL timing belt and pulleys

DougC wrote:
On 4/18/2011 8:36 AM, Winston wrote:
DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

(...)

Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?

Try Stock Drive Products:
http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg...Components.htm

No connection other than as a very happy customer.

--Winston

they don't have it at all, they only have roller and ladder chain

I see in your other replies that you require a
completely different animal than SDP can supply.

For applications below say 1/20 HP, the
SDP chain drives work great.

--Winston

On Apr 18, 5:03*am, DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

I got curious about using the silent Ramsey-style chain but cannot find
anywhere that retails the chains and the cogs.

Ramsey being a brand-name of the drive chain that looks like this-http://www.ramseychain.com/index.asp

I don't need to use Ramsey in particular, I'd just want to buy the same
brand of chain & cogs, since they aren't guaranteed to be perfectly
compatible across manufacturers.

There is lots of different companies that make this stuff, but nobody
seems to retail it at all that I could find in a couple hours of looking
online. I get a few places in the USA that make it, a whole bunch of
places in China and India that make it, and people selling replacement
motorcycle transmission drive chains on eBay.

I have looked for variations of "silent drive chain", "inverted link
chain", "metal belt drive chain" and so on, and got nothing.

Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?

From looking at the site, I believe the market they are attacking is
the OEM one. They're not doing onesies unless they're engineering
samples. If you're doing that sort of work, give their engineering
folks a call.

How much torque are we talking here? A lot of what would formerly be
done with chains and sprockets has transferred to cogged timing-type
belts. Even Harleys use them, so it's not just for fractional horse-
power. Any reasonably-sized city should have one or more
distributors of same.

A lot of the problems with chains are caused by wear, with wear you
get stretch, with stretch you need some method of taking up slack.
Don't have that to that extent with cogged belts. That's kind of what
those Ramsey chains look like, metal cogged belts.

Just another thought.

Stan

On 4/18/2011 10:12 AM, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 06:03:02 -0500,
wrote:

I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

I got curious about using the silent Ramsey-style chain but cannot find
anywhere that retails the chains and the cogs.

Ramsey being a brand-name of the drive chain that looks like this-
http://www.ramseychain.com/index.asp

That indeed looks hard to find. I just surfed Mcmastercarr nothing
there. Do you have super high torque needs? Otherwise, take a look at
heavy duty XL timing belt and pulleys

It's not even the strongest there is. Looking at the car timing chain
sets, pretty much all the heavy-duty ones are precision double roller
chain.

The "silent" inverted-tooth belts are only recommended for OEM or mild
performance use, but they ARE the /quietest/, though.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:44:44 -0500, DougC
wrote:

On 4/18/2011 8:36 AM, Winston wrote:
DougC wrote:
I need a chain drive: a ~3 inch cog driving a ~6 inch cog, with 7 or 8
inches in between them. I would only need one set.

(...)

Is there anyplace online a regular person can actually buy this stuff?

Try Stock Drive Products:
http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg...Components.htm

No connection other than as a very happy customer.

--Winston

they don't have it at all, they only have roller and ladder chain

Try Cogswell Cogs, Inc. They have everything.
Just ask George Jetson, the Spacely Sprockets engineer.


Most industrial motion suppliers carry these, so look for companies
like www.MotionIndustries.com in your area.

--
If only he'd wash his neck, I'd wring it.
-- John Sparrow

On 4/18/2011 10:07 AM, DougC wrote:

I may just buy the $50 timing gears & extra belt and see what I can do
with them first.... I can't imagine that the individual chain & gears
would cost me less than that.

I bought a timing chain kit & extra chain, as I knew the timing chain it
came with wouldn't be long enough for what I want.

Long story short:

1) Breaking and re-joining this stuff isn't really possible without the
equipment designed for it.

2) Chain that is the same size can have the leaves woven different. So
if you need ten feet and already have five feet on hand, you still need
to buy another ten feet (& a joining pin for the ten feet) since there's
no guarantee that whatever you by will link up properly with what you
already have. ....The two different chains I bought cannot be joined, as
the weave pattern of the links is different.

:/

On Apr 21, 11:30*am, DougC wrote:
On 4/18/2011 10:07 AM, DougC wrote:



I may just buy the $50 timing gears & extra belt and see what I can do
with them first.... I can't imagine that the individual chain & gears
would cost me less than that.

I bought a timing chain kit & extra chain, as I knew the timing chain it
came with wouldn't be long enough for what I want.

Long story short:

1) Breaking and re-joining this stuff isn't really possible without the
equipment designed for it.

2) Chain that is the same size can have the leaves woven different. So
if you need ten feet and already have five feet on hand, you still need
to buy another ten feet (& a joining pin for the ten feet) since there's
no guarantee that whatever you by will link up properly with what you
already have. ....The two different chains I bought cannot be joined, as
the weave pattern of the links is different.

:/

And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw

On 4/21/2011 11:21 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
....
And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???


Motorcycle chain would work, but car and motorcycle transmissions with
chains inside them don't use motorcycle chain. Silent chain is much
stronger, quieter and wears a lot longer.

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058


I have a small mill/drill and a rotary table with B&S plates.
No shaper though....
I guess it would be possible to use the quill plunge and RT as a
"manual" shaper, at least for the ~2.5 inches of the quill's travel.

What I do /not/ have is a suitable attachment for shaping with the
mill.... (scribbles down another project...)

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw\

I will probably just use some double-strand roller chain & sprockets
from McMaster-Carr. The places that sell silent chain all seem to be
commercial-sales-only, or too busy to answer an email.

On Apr 21, 6:59*pm, DougC wrote:
On 4/21/2011 11:21 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:

....
And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???

Motorcycle chain would work, but car and motorcycle transmissions with
chains inside them don't use motorcycle chain. Silent chain is much
stronger, quieter and wears a lot longer.

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058

I have a small mill/drill and a rotary table with B&S plates.
No shaper though....
I guess it would be possible to use the quill plunge and RT as a
"manual" shaper, at least for the ~2.5 inches of the quill's travel.

What I do /not/ have is a suitable attachment for shaping with the
mill.... (scribbles down another project...)

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw\

I don't have a shaper either. I milled the spline grooves with this
shop made cutter:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...96150338607922
The other end of the bit is a close enough copy of a tooth in the
sprocket bore that I could jam the shaft into the hardened sprocket
with a hydraulic press. I cut the grooves slightly deep to avoid an
interference fit where it didn't help, the shaft OD was easier to fit
snugly.

I will probably just use some double-strand roller chain & sprockets
from McMaster-Carr. The places that sell silent chain all seem to be
commercial-sales-only, or too busy to answer an email.

Are you going to enclose this drive and run it in oil? Roller chains
work fine exposed with only occasional lube.
BTW my old Honda 350 used a roller chain to drive the camshaft.

jsw

On Apr 22, 7:15*am, Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Apr 21, 6:59*pm, DougC wrote:
...

Before I get too far into this, do you realize you are putting 5 HP
into a 1 HP chassis? I've paced a 5 HP go-kart at 80 MPH.

My sawmill uses a 5.5HP motor driving the motorcycle wheels at ~50 MPH
and has enough excess power at that speed to saw foot thick oak.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...53242652915618

jsw

On Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:59:25 -0500, DougC
wrote:

On 4/21/2011 11:21 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
....
And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???


Motorcycle chain would work, but car and motorcycle transmissions with
chains inside them don't use motorcycle chain. Silent chain is much
stronger, quieter and wears a lot longer.

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058


I have a small mill/drill and a rotary table with B&S plates.
No shaper though....
I guess it would be possible to use the quill plunge and RT as a
"manual" shaper, at least for the ~2.5 inches of the quill's travel.

What I do /not/ have is a suitable attachment for shaping with the
mill.... (scribbles down another project...)

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw\

I will probably just use some double-strand roller chain & sprockets
from McMaster-Carr. The places that sell silent chain all seem to be
commercial-sales-only, or too busy to answer an email.


Out of curiosity, what is this chain going to day and how much power
does it have to transmit?

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

On Apr 21, 12:21*pm, Jim Wilkins wrote:
On Apr 21, 11:30*am, DougC wrote:



On 4/18/2011 10:07 AM, DougC wrote:

I may just buy the $50 timing gears & extra belt and see what I can do
with them first.... I can't imagine that the individual chain & gears
would cost me less than that.

I bought a timing chain kit & extra chain, as I knew the timing chain it
came with wouldn't be long enough for what I want.

Long story short:

1) Breaking and re-joining this stuff isn't really possible without the
equipment designed for it.

2) Chain that is the same size can have the leaves woven different. So
if you need ten feet and already have five feet on hand, you still need
to buy another ten feet (& a joining pin for the ten feet) since there's
no guarantee that whatever you by will link up properly with what you
already have. ....The two different chains I bought cannot be joined, as
the weave pattern of the links is different.

:/

And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw

13 splines- sounds like my motorcycle. The first few years of the
honda XR600R had a 6-spline sprocket, later years had a 13.


Dave

On 4/22/2011 7:31 AM, J. D. Slocomb wrote:
On Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:59:25 -0500,
wrote:

On 4/21/2011 11:21 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
....
And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???


Motorcycle chain would work, but car and motorcycle transmissions with
chains inside them don't use motorcycle chain. Silent chain is much
stronger, quieter and wears a lot longer.

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058


I have a small mill/drill and a rotary table with B&S plates.
No shaper though....
I guess it would be possible to use the quill plunge and RT as a
"manual" shaper, at least for the ~2.5 inches of the quill's travel.

What I do /not/ have is a suitable attachment for shaping with the
mill.... (scribbles down another project...)

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw\

I will probably just use some double-strand roller chain& sprockets
from McMaster-Carr. The places that sell silent chain all seem to be
commercial-sales-only, or too busy to answer an email.


Out of curiosity, what is this chain going to day and how much power
does it have to transmit?

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

I am building an engine; this is a step-down drive for an output shaft.

RPMs would be 2500 tops, pull on the chain might be maybe 100 lbs at the
most.

The final drive will use bicycle chain, so I want to use something much
stronger than that inside the engine's case.

On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:29:53 -0500, DougC
wrote:

On 4/22/2011 7:31 AM, J. D. Slocomb wrote:
On Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:59:25 -0500,
wrote:

On 4/21/2011 11:21 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
....
And motorcycle chain and sprockets won't work because???


Motorcycle chain would work, but car and motorcycle transmissions with
chains inside them don't use motorcycle chain. Silent chain is much
stronger, quieter and wears a lot longer.

Don't do what I did, buy a sprocket that needed 13 splines on the
shaft, unless you have good indexing and milling equipment.
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...48334136663058


I have a small mill/drill and a rotary table with B&S plates.
No shaper though....
I guess it would be possible to use the quill plunge and RT as a
"manual" shaper, at least for the ~2.5 inches of the quill's travel.

What I do /not/ have is a suitable attachment for shaping with the
mill.... (scribbles down another project...)

Bicycle sprockets are easier to mount:
https://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/...33382447691698

jsw\

I will probably just use some double-strand roller chain& sprockets
from McMaster-Carr. The places that sell silent chain all seem to be
commercial-sales-only, or too busy to answer an email.


Out of curiosity, what is this chain going to day and how much power
does it have to transmit?

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

I am building an engine; this is a step-down drive for an output shaft.

RPMs would be 2500 tops, pull on the chain might be maybe 100 lbs at the
most.

The final drive will use bicycle chain, so I want to use something much
stronger than that inside the engine's case.

Does it need to be chain? Vee belts have also been used for similar
types of drives.
Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

On 4/23/2011 7:16 AM, J. D. Slocomb wrote:
...
I am building an engine; this is a step-down drive for an output shaft.

RPMs would be 2500 tops, pull on the chain might be maybe 100 lbs at the
most.

The final drive will use bicycle chain, so I want to use something much
stronger than that inside the engine's case.

Does it need to be chain? Vee belts have also been used for similar
types of drives.
Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

It needs to be a chain, since the drive is taken off the mid-point of
the engine's shaft--which is inside an oil-filled case.