INSCO re-creates legacy and obsolete gears from a physical sample, with no original drawings required. We've spent decades rebuilding complex gear systems for critical industrial equipment when the original source is long gone.
Industrial equipment often outlives the company that built its gears. When a machine goes down on a failed gear and the original maker is out of business, or just won't support the part anymore, the owner is stuck with an expensive choice: scrap a working machine, or find someone who can re-create the gear from the worn or broken sample.
We've handled that for industrial customers across a lot of industries over the years. Our engineers study the physical sample, work out the original gear geometry through measurement and calculation, and manufacture an exact replacement, which gets the equipment running again and adds years to its service life.
Our in-house engineering staff has decades of combined gear experience, backed by SolidWorks with GearTrax and gear-mesh simulation software. We can check the re-created geometry by virtually "rolling the gear train together," which exposes any clearance or interference problems before we cut metal.
We support customers from a single one-off replacement through establishing an ongoing supply of spares for aging equipment fleets.
Submit the worn or failed gear sample to INSCO. Provide any available context: machine model, application, operating conditions. No drawings needed.
INSCO engineers measure the sample using CMM, analytical gear inspection machines, and gear measuring instruments. Tooth geometry, pitch, lead, pressure angle, and module are determined.
A complete gear data sheet and manufacturing drawing is created from the measurement data. Material analysis and hardness testing determines the original heat treatment specification.
The replacement gear is manufactured to the documented specification, fully inspected against the derived drawing, and delivered with inspection documentation. The drawing is retained for future re-orders.
INSCO has the measurement equipment and manufacturing capability to reverse engineer and reproduce all common gear types:
External spur and helical gears, the most common reverse engineering requests. We measure and document pitch, pressure angle, helix angle, lead, and profile.
Worm and worm wheel sets. We measure lead angle, thread form, and pitch diameter from the sample.
Internal spur gears for planetary systems. We use the CMM to capture internal tooth geometry and bore features.
Sprockets, splines, serrations, and non-standard tooth forms measured and reproduced to original geometry.
Multi-gear assemblies reverse engineered as a system, so the replacement set has the right mesh, center distances, and backlash.
Accurate gear reverse engineering depends on precise measurement. INSCO's inspection lab is equipped to fully characterize gear geometry from physical samples:
| CMM | Zeiss Contura G2 with direct computer control |
| Analytical Gear Inspection | M&M, Penta analytical machines; Vari-Roll VR-D-2 ultra-precision checkers |
| Gear Checking | Mahr parallel axis checker; Alina gear checker with recording |
| Dimensional | Micrometers to 36", precision sine plate, gauge block sets |
| Hardness Testing | Rockwell, Brinell, Wilson Tukon micro-hardness |
| Cylindricity | Federal Formscan cylindricity checker |
| Bore Gauging | Sunnen PG-700 hole gauges, .000050" accuracy |
We keep all reverse-engineered gear drawings on file, so repeat orders need no re-measurement. Just reference your part number and we'll run it again.
Send us your gear sample description and our engineering team will respond with an assessment and quotation. Rush service available for critical downtime situations.