How To Make A Clock From Gears

Here's a fun video for a Friday! An engineer named Alan Parekh has uploaded to YouTube his method for creating a cool-looking clock out of CNC-cut gears. It's pretty impressive. I know I want one in my shop, now.

Via Crunch Gear

Gearbox Failure Common in Subaru Impreza WRX?

AutoSpeed has a really awesome breakdown of a widely known problem with the Subaru Impreza WRX and Liberty RS: Namely, that the five-speed manual gearbox is prone to failure. They note,

Keenly driven WRX/RSs with engine mods are likely to experience gearbox failure. This is largely due to the immense traction of the Subaru all-wheel-drive system, which (on a dry road) doesn't allow engine torque to be dissipated into wheelspin. Furthermore, those mechanically tweaked Subarus with an aftermarket (ie non-slipping) clutch will trap even larger stresses in the driveline. Without doubt, an up-rated clutch is a big contributing factor to gearbox problems.

They go on to note that the gearbox has a common point of failure; the teeth are stripped from the first and second drive gears. The article poses a few possible reasons for this failure, and suggest an aftermarket product, the Middleton Rally Team’s heavy-duty dog gearset. The only major downside to the MRT gearset is its noise-level, which is somewhat fierce.

Until a helical cut dog box comes along, we'd have to say that the MRT gearset is only for those drivers that like to play on weekends - there's no way you could put up with the noise of a dog box in an everyday vehicle. Motorsport - such as rally, circuit and drag racing - is this product's biggest outlet. Apparently 80% of MRT's present dog box sales are for rally cars - where, obviously, gearbox noise is of no importance.

The whole article is worth a read.

Bevel-Helical Gears Drive Huge Floating Conveyor In Hungary

At a mining plant in Hungary, SEW-Eurodrive has constructed a huge floating conveyor belt powered by parallel shaft helical and helical-bevel gear units. The plant floats on a lake in Hungary, about two hours from Budapest. It is over 200 meters long and descends to depths of up to 50 meters in the 40,000 square meter lake. The conveyor-plant apparatus transports gravel across eight stages to a nearby plant at a rate of up to 200 tons per hour.

Even though there is no ground beneath the conveyor, it is completely stable and rigid as it floats on pontoons. The bevel-helical gear-driven belts start and stop jerk-free with a 30% excess of power. The whole rig was completed after a very brief six-week construction period. It now supplies construction and filling material from the lake.