Highfield Gears is a specialised gear manufacturer in the UK offering a complete range of high-quality gear manufacturing including custom, spur, helical, bevel, worm, etc. to the UK and internationally.
Whether you are searching for ‘gear manufacturer near me’ or ‘gear manufacturing near me’ we can offer reliable and cost-effective manufacturing of custom, helical, bevel, worm, and double helical gears to suit any type of industrial power transmission machinery.
At our in-house gear cutting workshop in Huddersfield, we are proud to offer a complete start-to-finish process for gear manufacturing with the industrial power transmission industry. We have been manufacturing gears since we opened our doors back in 1927, meaning we are one of the longest-serving British gear manufacturers in the UK, manufacturing a full range of high-precision machined parts, gears, shafts, gearcases, motors and drives to customer specifications at competitive prices.
Important things you should know about gear failure
Gears usually fail because of normal problems caused by use or maintenance. Over the lifespan of any piece of equipment, components will wear and eventually fail without proper maintenance and upkeep. The following are some of the most common reasons for gear failure and what you can do to prevent it, and how gear manufacturing companies like us can help.
Moderate wear and tear
Moderate wear causes gear failure due to contact patterns that are favoured in the dedendum and addendum areas. This damage is caused by repeated use of the gear and is mostly inevitable. You can reduce the damage caused by moderate wear and tear by keeping your gearbox sufficiently lubricated. Scheduling regular inspections to catch potential contact damage early is also beneficial. Contamination of the lubricant can also result in contact patterns that are altered from the original design. Be sure your lubricant is of high quality and clean.
Excessive wear and tear
Excessive wear results from moderate damage that is never addressed and causes periodic problems. This wear results in pitting on the surfaces of the gear. Pitting causes vibration within the gearbox, which increases noise and damage to the gears. Eventually, this issue could result in total equipment failure. The best way to avoid excessive wear and tear on your gears is to address small issues early, so they don’t become big problems later.
Abrasive damage
Abrasive wear appears as radial scratch grooves and other marks that identify contact wear. Like moderate wear, abrasive wear and tear happens when the lubrication is contaminated. The lubrication causes abrasions to the gear surfaces, which can result in increased noise, efficiency downgrades, and even gearbox failure. This type of gear damage can be prevented by replacing the lubricant and keeping the lubricant clean. Ideally, you should use a filter to catch foreign bodies like rust and other metal particulates before they enter the gears and cause failure.
Corrosion
Corrosive wear is a type of chemical breakdown process that can cause gear failure. When lubricants are broken down, the chemical detritus that remains eats away at the metal in the gears and can cause corrosion. Corrosive wear usually presents itself as fine, uniform pitting across the surface of a gear. Corrosion can be prevented by using new lubricants that prevent oil from breaking down.
Frosting
Frosting is the appearance of micro-pits on the surface of a gear. This issue is caused when the heat breaks down the lubrication film. Regular inspection, maintenance, and temperature checks are critical for preventing frosting.
Spalling
Spalling is a type of extreme pitting. The pits are wide in diameter and shallow. Spalling is present in high-contact areas within the gear. This issue can be prevented by addressing wear and tear as discussed above.
Pitting
There are two types of pitting issues that can result in gear failure. Initial pitting appears as small pits and is an indication of gears not fitting together well. Destructive pitting, when pits occur in large diameters, indicates an issue with surface overload. Both types of pitting can be prevented through regular inspections and maintenance schedules to check gearbox operations.
Breakage
Breakage occurs when a tooth or teeth break away. You can find evidence of breakage in the focal point of the wear that resulted in the break. Breakage can occur due to high stress, excessive load, or insufficient lubricant.
Gear manufacturing
Our gear manufacturing facility comprises a comprehensive range of machine tools housed within our 16,500-square-meter workshop. Along with manufacturing gears complete, we also carry out gear cutting and gear grinding on free-issue material or blanks. We can either gear cut only and return to the customer to finish off parts or finish the required machining operations in-house.
Where no engineered drawing exists, Highfield Gears are equipped to produce products from submitted samples. Full-engineered drawings can be produced from essential information gained from the customer followed by rigorous measurements and calculations enabling a like-for-like product to be manufactured helping gear manufacturing companies build their IP.
All the parts we manufacture undergo complete quality assurance checks. We pride ourselves in supplying our customers with a finished product of the highest quality. Each of our manufacturing processes is checked before moving on to the next operation and a final check of items is made prior to despatch. If you have specific needs regarding the levels of quality control that you require, please get in touch to discuss them with quality gear manufacturers.
Get high-quality industrial gearbox maintenance and repair
By choosing an experienced industrial gearbox repair company, you can expect concrete results that help protect your gears from failure. If you are looking for a reliable service provider that understands industrial gearbox services, gear manufacturing and specialist CNC Machining, call Highfield Gears & Machining Ltd in Huddersfield today.
UK gear manufacturers
We are specialist gear manufacturers for the following gears plus many more:
Helical gears
A helical is a round, toothed gear with teeth built into the outside surface of the gear at a slanted angle. When used in a system with other helical gears, contact begins with the teeth touching, with engagement building gradually as the gears rotate. At the end of the rotation, the two gears will be fully engaged.
Spur gears
A spur, or spur gear, is a simple toothed gear wheel, with straight-edged teeth projecting directly from the wheel’s axis. Spurs are used in almost every mechanical device, including motors, screwdrivers, door locks, alarm clocks, washing machines and stationary engines.
Bevel gears
Bevel gears are used to connect shafts whose axes lie at an angle to each other, although in most applications the shafts are at right angles. The tooth profile is basically the same as used for spur gears except that the tooth gets progressively smaller as it approaches the apex of the projected cone.
Worm & wheel
A worm and wheel are generally found in a transmission with a high gear ratio. The worm gear has a screw-like form and is generally produced out of steel, this increases the life of the worm gear and causes the wheel to wear rather than having equal wear, meaning the wheel will need replacing rather than a pair of gears needing replacing. The worm wheel is usually made from brass or bronze material, this has a form like a helical gear.
Planetary Gears
Also known as epicyclic gear trains, planetary gears comprise a set of two gears that are mounted so the centre of one revolves around the centre of the other. The two gears are connected by a carrier, which rotates the ‘planet and sun’ gears. Planetary gears are typically used to reduce speed. With the load being shared across multiple ‘planet’ gears, the contact area is significantly larger, and planetary gears are therefore able to produce a lot of torque.
Need a gear manufacturer to supply a replacement worn or damaged part, or a complete batch of gears?
Our experience and knowledge of gear manufacturing and gear cutting allows us to offer various levels of service.
From cutting and griding free issue material, to CAD-CAM drawing of sample gears we can carry out the whole production of bespoke or replacement items for any industrial gearbox and other transmission-related components.
Whatever your requirements, Highfield gears and Machining Ltd will advise on the best process to get the job done.