quick gear question

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
1

Ok, so I want to drill a hole in the center of either an 84 tooth gear or 30 tooth sprocket so the axles spin through them like a high strength gear’s plastic “free spinning” insert. I know team 323z already did this to an 84 tooth gear (Om-Nom V2.0, at least), but I was experimenting with a piece of wood and various drill bits and I couldn’t make any hole that fit nicely. There was either not enough space or too much “slop,” with the axle shifting.

This question goes out to everybody

Is there a preferred way to drill axle or regular screw-sized holes into gears or lexan? Should I use a hand drill or my magnificent drill press? AND, what size bit would you recommend?

2

Drill press go at it with a #17 ( if you don’t have these sizes 11/64 is the closest smallest) should provide enough clearance. If not work you way up If you don’t want to waste the gear you could always use lexan to test different sizes. But remember the axles themselves will have a small tolerance.

If your towers are under 2" wide I would recommend you use a 2" screw instead.

3

Make sure you use a drill press so that the hole is perpendicular to the surface of the gear so it will mesh correctly and make sure that the hole is centered or it wont work for obvious reasons.