Gear-Shaft

Gears and transmission components are designed to transmit power efficiently, and every hole drilled in them serves a specific purpose. I have drilled thousands of oil holes in gear teeth, lubrication passages through transmission shafts, and weight-reduction bores in gear blanks. The challenge with transmission components is that they are heat treated after machining. The drilling has to be done before heat treatment (while the material is still machinable), or with special tooling after heat treatment. ...

Helical gear shafts are used in industrial gearboxes, automotive transmissions, and heavy equipment drive trains. Many of these shafts need a through-hole for lubrication oil to reach the gear meshes or bearing surfaces. In my experience, the drilling quality directly determines whether the gearbox runs quietly for 10,000 hours or fails from oil starvation after 500. Common Gear Shaft Materials and Dimensions The shaft is typically 200-600mm long with a 10-30mm through-hole. The material is usually case-hardening steel like 20MnCr5 or 17CrNiMo6. The drilling is done before heat treatment when the material is soft, around 200-250 HB. ...