I want metal gears and gear-looking items, like bicycle derailleurs, to make some art. Where can I get them cheap? What are the secret sources of that sort of stuff? [more inside]
posted by A Terrible Llama on Nov 1, 2009 - 14 answers

Sewing Gear Filter: I have a number of sewing machines that have nylon or plastic composite gears that have broken. Some of them I can have replaced, some of them are no longer made. I am wondering about DIY bionic sewing machine parts. [more inside]
posted by Tchad on Jul 1, 2009 - 10 answers

mechanical gears question - what is the efficiency of simple plastic set of small mechanical gears [more inside]
posted by edtut on Jun 2, 2008 - 6 answers

I have a really squeaky printer. I tried WD-40, but the squeakiness comes back. One of my engineering friends suggested that I needed something similar to sewing machine oil, but perhaps a little thicker, since the gears are plastic. Any ideas on what kind of lubricant I should get? And where I could get it? Aside from the squeakiness, this REALLY is a good printer (Canon MP130), and I really don't want to get another one.
posted by ssnickerer on Sep 27, 2007 - 14 answers

Help me find a motor to really make time flee! [more inside]
posted by provolot on Apr 23, 2007 - 22 answers

What's going on with my girlfriend's car? [more inside]
posted by InsanePenguin on Oct 23, 2006 - 16 answers

I'd like to use my bike to power simple household items, such as our hand-cranked coffee grinder or the electric chargers for my cell phone and laptop. I'm thinking of this as a home-build project which I could use with my regular road bike. Where would be a good place to find mix & match machine parts, such as gears, chains, or axles? Does such a catalog exist, or would it be necessary to go to a real machine shop and get parts made? As a kid, I was handy with Lego Technic, and I'm looking for something at about that level of difficulty (adjusted +16 years for age, of course). 80-20 and a simple training stand would do part of the job, but I'd still need gears and axles.
posted by migurski on Oct 2, 2006 - 7 answers

I have a 1994 Grand Cherokee with a 318 and NP249 transfer case that needs to be replaced as the chain is beginning to slip. I'm thinking about putting in an NP242 as a replacement. Does anyone know if this would be a direct swap, and if not, what is involved?
posted by c13 on Jan 13, 2005 - 4 answers

[BikeFilter] Two questions about basic bike design:
(1) I understand gear ratios, but does the actual size of the gears make a mechanical difference?
(2) Why aren't the seatposts on bikes square? [more inside]
posted by LairBob on Jul 11, 2004 - 20 answers

Every manual transmission car I've ever driven makes a strange high pitched whining noise when going in reverse at more than about ten miles an hour. They don't make the same noise at the same revs in any forward gear. So why the difference? These are UK / European transmissions if that makes any difference.
posted by twine42 on May 21, 2004 - 15 answers