Posted by OSCAR on 1, 2001 at 6:21 PM:
In Reply to: It could be done... posted by Cryofax on 1, 2001 at 12:08 AM:
That is a good idea, but remember that spur gears naturally try to "pull apart" when they are moving. This separation force is caused by the pressure angle of the teeth. The standard pressure angle for a spur gear is 20 degrees (sometimes 25 in the U.S.). The pressure angle resolves into a separation force of approximately 35% of the force used to rotate the gear, and acts perpendicular to the gear shaft.
Hence, the faster or harder you spin the steering wheel (pinion), the greater the force you are causing perpendicular to the spinner (gear) shaft. While this perpendicular force may not be great enough to damage the shaft, it definitely could cause it to bind or scrub against the bearing/bushing. I’m not a tribology expert, but I would recommend a dab of bearing grease on the spinner shaft to minimize the binding/scrubbing.
It would be important that the steering wheel shaft is mounted solid, such as you mentioned with a harness box. This would keep the gears in place and help eliminate tooth interference at the pinion/gear pitch point.
When spur gears are set up properly, they work great!
--OSCAR