Alternate source for gears

[hoofvet]

Well I'll try one more time, I wrote this once and it got lost. Anyway I have a micro/mini lathe from HF that has a drive gear with broken teeth. I ordered the part from them well over a month ago, apparently it has to ship from overseas(I assume this means China). I spoke with them yesterday and of course they haven't even received it yet, so I may get it by Christmas! Does anybody have a source they know off that might actually be on this continent.
I also have a 8 x 12 mini lathe, that I need a quick change tool rest for. Apparently they are selling the lathe, but the rest is discontinued. Does anybody have blueprints for one that I could make? I have also been trying to find a 4 jaw chuck that attaches to the back plate with 3 instead of 4 screws. I should have known to buy the top of line machines. Oh well I am still learning a lot from these as I try different things each time I use them. Live and learn as they say.
Any help is appreciated!
Jonathan Cohen DVM

[andyz]

That lathe may be sold by different companys with different paint and decals. You might try Grizzly,MSC etc. and see if they have the same machine.Is the gear a standard size? You might be able to buy a stock gear and machine it to fit.

[Neal Nicholson]

You might try Boston Gear.

http://www.bostongear.com/

Neal

[ralph]

Try Little Machine Shop (http://www.littlemachineshop.com/)

[bobadame]

There's a company called Rush Gears Inc. that makes gears to order.
1-800-523-2576
www.rushgears.com

On your quick change tool post, an axa size clone would probably work. They can be found on eBay or Enco for cheap.

[Gene Newcomb]

Jonathan,
We have actually repaired cast gears here but generall they have 1" tall teeth. We have regarded them as a temporary fix but we have a temp fix we did 8 or so years ago on a 100 ton OBI press that we use every day.
You grind the broken tooth down flat. Drill and tap along where the gear was, put cap screws the approximate length the gear was, fill between and around the cap screws, make a template from the good teeth, use the template to carefully grind the welded gear back to fit the template.
I am not sure how big you gear is but if the teeth are 1/4" you might want to give it a try until HF gets you a replacement. Knowing HF the fix might be tougher than the mating gear so make sure it is right or you'll have another broken gear.
It may sound nuts but it can work.
Gene