You might think the U.S. has lots of gear-making capacity, so why would a start-up envision a factory capable of more of the same? The answer lies in the size of the gears planned by Vela Gear Systems CEO Noel Davis. Gears required in the wind industry can be in excess of 6 ft in…
Re-building a better gearbox
As OEMs build larger wind turbines, they push the bounds of what’s possible for a 20-year service life. Occasionally, the boundaries push back with failures, often of gearboxes. Technicians at Broadwind Services, a division of Broadwind Energy in Abilene, Texas, say they can fix those broken gearboxes and make them better than new in a…
Excel Gear Announces Two Key Appointments
Excel Gear, Inc. of Roscoe, Illinois announces the appointment of Denis Bermingham as the manager of manufacturing engineering and special projects, plus William “Bill” Powers as the company’s marketing manager. Both appointments were made by company president N.K. “Chinn” Chinnusamy, who noted these hirings were made as the result of the company’s recent growth and…
High Precision Large Scale Gear Inspection
With improved specifications and additional size availability, the new Leitz CMM from Hexagon Metrology Inc. is used for high precision inspection of extremely large components such as gears used in the windpower industry. Unlike some gear inspection products, the PMM-G does not require a rotary table, which should aid in part loading and unloading. It…
Think drop forging for large gear blanks
Canton Drop Forge, Canton, Ohio, says it is a complete machine shop so it can meet all of a client’s forging needs, including die sinking. These capabilities, along with the skills of its personnel, ensure precision, consistency, and control of forging dies, all of which are instrumental in meeting production schedules. The need to find…