Pinion gear chatter
 

HI,

I am getting some noise and vibration when I jog the machine. What I think is happening is my teeth on the pinions are bottoming out on the rack and causing vibration and chatter in the cuts. If I disconnect the springs and and tap the motor plates down just a little the sound goes away and so does the vibration. I am not exactly sure what to do. I am doubting the quality of my racks. I should note that the racks could be taped straighter under the rails. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Justin

So this is what I tried,

I took the pinion off the y axis and with a hack saw cut the valleys (dedendum) deeper. Then with a cordless drill i spun the pinion and sanded the tips of the teeth with 80 grit sand paper, also sanding the the opposite direction. This did not remove much.

I then remounted the pinion and the noise and chatter was significantly reduced.

I should note that before I did all of this I took the pinion off the motor and with my thumb held the pinion against the rack and rolled it back and forth. It seemed to not roll as smooth as (I guess) it should.

My reasoning for all this came after I discovered that if I backed off the spring tension and jogged the pinion back an forth the vibration and chatter noise reduced significantly.

Justin, interesting work and results.

Where did you buy your racks and pinions from? THere must be a couple of defective ones out there.

Justin: I too would like to know where you got your racks and pinions as I am just about to order mine. Thanks Joe

I ordered pinions and racks from McMaster Carr. The pinions are Boston Gear. If anything I would say I suspect the racks not the pinions. I should also note that I am running 35 tooth pinions. I modified the pinions because that was the easier thing to try.

Justin,

Please supply rack Mc Carr part number and BG part numbers.

Thanks