Dore-Westbury Gearbox Question

Nov 15, 2003 1 Replies

Hi there all, I have recently aquired a part finished Dore-Westbury mill which I believe it to be the Mark II version although the drawings supplied with it do not indicate Mark II anywhere. Included in the box of bits to finish off the machine are some 'straight cut' spur gears for the epicyclic reduction gearbox. I seem to remember reading about these gears being noisy and a design change was made by Model Engineering Services to 'helical cut' gears running in an oil bath. Does anyone know whether I can just substitute helical gears for the straight cut spur gears? and what changes were made to allow the gears to run in an oil bath? If anyone has the drawing details for the revised gearbox I would appreciate a copy (cost of copying + P&P provided) Many Thanks, Roger


Having got the cast iron castings for a (mk1) Dore Westbury seasoning in the garage, I can say that there should be no problem using helical cut gears. That's what I was planning to do. I hadn't thought of an oil bath but now I suppose I must :-(.

The original design used myford changewheels, these are noisy. If the ones you have aren't changewheels (14.5 deg PA, keyway etc) then they may be quieter anyway.

Looking at the general arrangement of the gearbox, it looks as if a fairly minor re-design should make it possible to retain oil in it while it's spinning 'round. More things to do!

Mark Rand RTFM

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