Hamilton Gear has been around for many years. Are there any new products?
Hamilton Gear has been manufacturing gear products for the industrial marketplace since 1911, and yes, Hamilton Gear does have new products. The long-proven designs have not changed but Standard Machine has added new technology to their products, such as ground gearing, oil dams, and stronger, longer-lasting materials, bearings and seals. All of these combine to give you a newer "longer service life" gear drive.
How do Hamilton Gear drives compare to other competitive brands?
Hamilton Gear competes regularly with other major drive brands for new drive projects. Several aspects of a gear drive must be carefully considered for proper comparison with other brands, and Hamilton Gear's best successes have been when our customers have compared our drives with those of our competitors. We will be happy to meet with you to discuss achieving a true comparison based on the type of gearing, mounting and dimensional considerations and design criteria, such as AGMA versus DIN specifications.
I have an old Brand X reducer that needs to be changed out. We don’t have a spare gear drive and cannot stop the equipment long enough to repair it. Can you help us?
Yes we can. Hamilton Gear has an excellent engineering team that will design a new drive to match the application’s demands for ratings, and for its dimensional footprint.
Hamilton Gear can supply you an exact drop-in replacement reducer that will save you money by eliminating down time, and by reusing your existing mounting base and couplings.
Our company has been using another brand of reducer. Why should we switch?
If your current product is worn out or too expensive to repair, or just not giving you the service life you expected, then consider switching to Hamilton Gear. Our products are available with either a superior cast or fabricated housing, the option of either high AGMA-quality carburized and ground or through-hardened and ground gearing, and ratios to suit your application. With a reputation as one of the best products available in the market, and being "Made in Canada", Hamilton Gear should be your first choice.
How can I be sure that I am buying a properly rated gear drive for my application?
As the customer, you have the responsibility to ask the right questions to get the proper information. A few suggestions: Ask about the standards that they are rating their drive on. Ask whether they can supply a drive without an expensive oil cooling system. Ask if they can fit their drive to the exact dimensions of your existing drive, or if you will need to change your drive base or couplings.
Can you recondition my existing gear drive back to OEM or better standards?
Standard Machine operates a "Complete Gear Drive Reconditioning" facility, right here in Canada. For years, our customers from major industries have relied on Standard Machine for their gear drive repairs, and since we manufacture all the gearing ourselves, our quality control on repair work is second to none. We handle all brands, all makes and models, and all sizes, all with our standard One Full Year Warranty on defects or workmanship.
Are spare parts still available for older Hamilton Gear reducers and are they as good quality as the originals?
Yes, all parts for original Hamilton Gear reducers from 1911 to current are still available and will continue to be available. They are manufactured to the original Hamilton Gear drawings, including dimensions and tolerances, materials and heat-treating. All gearing is also available with higher capacity ratings than the original designs.
Many companies claim to supply replacement parts for Hamilton Gear reducers. Some even claim to have drawings. Are they being truthful?
In 1995, Standard Machine purchased all of the engineering drawings, serial number records, patterns, trademarks and non-machine specific tooling from the receivers. Even the name, Hamilton Gear, is owned by Standard Machine. Therefore, if other manufacturers do posses drawings, they are most likely a result of reverse engineering a reducer that has been sent to them for repairs. However, even with these reverse-engineered drawings, they are unable to supply individual gears that will accurately mate with existing Hamilton Gear gears. They would have to supply a complete gear set and even then, they would not have the same mechanical ratings of the original parts.
Can Standard Machine and/or Hamilton Gear manufacture custom gear drives for my specific application?
Yes. Even though we have a complete catalogue line of products, we have been manufacturing application-specific custom drives for many years. Our engineering department has many years of experience in designing specialized drives for almost every type of application industry has to offer. Using highly advanced design software and CAD/CAM manufacturing on state-of-the-art equipment, we can supply speed reducers and speed increasers for virtually any application.
How can I be sure that I am getting ‘genuine’ Hamilton Gear replacement parts and that they are the correct parts for my Hamilton Gear unit?
Standard Machine/Hamilton Gear is the only manufacturer capable of supplying genuine Hamilton Gear replacement parts for your existing unit. To ensure that you are getting the correct parts, we need only the serial number and model number of the unit. This information is located on the nameplate of every unit.
There is a nameplate on my unit that does not appear to be the original. How can I be sure I am ordering the correct parts?
Quite often, if a non-authorized repair shop has repaired a reducer, they will attach their own nameplate to the reducer or simply remove the original Hamilton Gear nameplate. If this is the case, special precautions must be taken to identify what changes have taken place. As genuine Hamilton Gear replacement parts (gears) will not mate with other manufacturers’ parts, we must perform a complete inspection of this unit to determine which parts are not original and recommend a course of action. A good indicator of whether or not non-Hamilton Gear parts are involved is to check the output speed of the reducer with a tachometer. As competitors are unable to match our ratios exactly, we can determine if the gears are original by verifying this output speed.
At some point in time there were changes made to our original reducer. Do you keep records of these changes?
Yes. If design changes are made by Standard Machine/Hamilton Gear, we record this information and file it according to serial number. Speed, ratings, shaft dimensions and bearing changes, as well as the addition of certain options such as cooling fans and lubrication systems, are all common design changes which may occur over the long life of a Hamilton Gear unit, and we keep records of these changes dating back to 1911. By contacting our plant or one of our sales offices, we can confirm this information for you.
When comparing different gear reducers, there are several brands that seem to be more compact in design but offer the same mechanical ratings. How do I choose the correct one for my application?
Over the last few years, there has been an industry trend of purchasing "lower cost" equipment in an effort to minimize capital expenditure and reduce budgets. Therefore, manufacturers have been developing new products to try and meet this demand. Gear reducers are no exception. Several gear manufacturers have introduced new product lines that incorporate different materials and heat-treating methods to allow for these more compact designs and in some cases, lower priced units.
Standard Machine has also developed a new line of reducers that competes with all of these designs, however, it should be noted that not all manufacturers use the same design standards. All of our designs, both original and new, are manufactured to the most recent AGMA (American Gear Manufacturers Association) specifications. The other common specification standard is DIN, which is predominantly a European specification. While these two design standards have some common criteria, there are many differences that greatly affect the duty cycle and service life of a reducer. Our technical sales representatives will be happy to discuss these differences with you and recommend the best selection for your application. You can also find more detailed information on these different design specifications by referring to the catalogue. This way you can ensure that you are getting a true comparison of products to assist you in your purchasing decision.
What is the difference between through-hardened gearing and case-hardened or carburized gearing, and which is better for my application?
Through-hardened gears start with a specific grade of material, and are heat-treated to provide a specific hardness which goes all the way through the gear. Case-hardened or carburized gears use a different grade of material and are heat-treated so that the surface of the teeth is harder than with through-hardened gears. Following heat-treating, the gear teeth must be ground to rectify the distortion caused by this process. This hardness, however, is only a few thousandths deep (case depth) and varies depending on the design characteristics of the tooth form. By creating a harder surface, more torque can be transmitted by a carburized gear than a through-hardened gear given the same size envelope.
One of the major application-specific differences is the "shock load factor". While carburized gears can transmit more torque, they are less forgiving in high shock load applications due to their higher, more brittle hardness. Continued shock loading can result in stress cracks in the tooth, which will eventually lead to a broken tooth or teeth. If a broken piece should fall into the gear mesh, the result is a catastrophic failure. Conversely, through-hardened gearing is more forgiving due to the "softer" material and deeper hardening depth, giving it the ability to withstand this shock loading for much longer periods of time. Through-hardened gear teeth are not as likely to crack and break out as carburized teeth, and tooth wear can be monitored to allow for a planned shutdown.
What kind of service life can I expect from my reducers?
There are many factors that affect the service life of a reducer. However, assuming that it is properly selected, applied and maintained, it is not uncommon to expect 20-30 years of trouble-free service.
What are the most common causes for premature failure in gear reducers?
Common causes for premature failure of a reducer include:
• improper selection for the application;
• changing the motor horsepower or speed;
• incorrect alignment of couplings;
• improper lubrication;
• lack of regular maintenance;
• related (attached) equipment problems; and
• not using "genuine" Hamilton Gear replacement parts.
In almost all cases of premature failure, it is determined that one or a combination of these problems has contributed to the failure.
How can I determine what caused my reducer to fail prematurely?
In all cases of failure, it is important to review all aspects of the application and related equipment. This is best achieved by having one of our representatives assist you. We will thoroughly examine the reducer, attached equipment and application to determine the prime cause of the failure and make recommendations so these failures can be avoided in the future.
If Standard Machine has in-house heat-treating facilities for carburized and hardening, do they handle nitrating?
There is no nitrating in-house. For ground gearing, carburizing is superior as it gives a hard skin with excellent wear capabilities and a tough core.
Some gears require flame hardening or induction hardening due to size. Can you do this in-house?
Flame hardening is a difficult process to control, and is only as good as the operator who does it. Induction hardening is farmed out.
What maximum dimensions can you handle on CNC (4-axis) and other machining, grinding and gear cut operations?
Our CNC lathes swing 42" in diameter and our CNC VTL turns up to 92". Our CNC HBM and HMC handle a variety of sizes up to 7M long x 3M high x 5M deep.
