Do you ever wonder how a piece of machinery works?
After all, machines are complex mechanisms, designed using a wide range of engineering and parts. Most people take machines such as small engines for granted until there’s a problem. But if you ever take the time to look inside any type of machinery, you’ll be amazed at what you discover.
That’s because you’ll likely find a world of different gear types, including a shaft gear and several types of worm gears.
What is a worm gear? Good question. Fortunately, this article provides the answer. Here we take a look at worm gears in order to provide insight into this underappreciated and incredibly useful machine part.
What are Worm Gears?
In the most basic terms, this is a type of gear that consists of a shaft gear that engages a wheel. Worm gears are one of the older gear types and are found in both the most simple and complex machines. The shaft gear is the worm, and it’s designed to turn the wheel.
The Basics of How Worm Gears Work
When an electric motor applies power to turn the worm, the worm will then cause the wheel to rotate. And as the wheel rotates, it is pushed against the load to do the work of the machine. This is a simple yet incredibly ingenious example of engineering that has an endless number of uses.
The Metallurgy of Worm Gears
Most types of worm gears are made of steel and the wheel is made of brass. Why these choices of materials? Well, the wheel is made of brass because it’s designed to be sacrificial and is, therefore, cheaper to replace than the worm.
Common Uses for Worm Gears
The main benefit of using worm gears is the reduction ratio they provide. In other words, you can greatly increase the amount of torque or greatly reduce the speed of the gear by simply adding circumference to the wheel.
Be sure to check out this resource where you can find gears for any type of project.
Lubricating Worm Gears
It’s important to understand that worm gears require plenty of lubrication. That’s one of the reasons why you might choose to use standard gears rather than worm gears.
The need for lubrication is primarily due to the fact that there are no rolling components in worm gears because the movement is entirely sliding, which creates viscosity.
A Guide to Understanding the Worm Gear
You don’t have to be a mechanical genius to appreciate how things work. This includes everything from a wristwatch to small engines. Fortunately, this guide to understanding the worm gear provides a bit of insight into how even the smallest parts help make the world go round.
This blog is designed to be used as an informative resource for readers from every type of background across the country.
