Hi Doug, thanks for your replies to my thread. I do appreciate your comments and your approach with a dremel was definately unique and clearly produced some nice gears! Since I`ve gone the route of gear cutting, I`d love to stick to the original plans and try and make the gears - part of the challange now I`ve started it.
Bogs, you were dead right, something had moved. I tried another few teeth on the dead blank and found the same. The full cut on the machine was just too much for such a small machine and it was vibrating loose. I do realise that my tool should be sharp enough to take the cut - or maybe not with just a single point? Anyway, I went with DeereGuys advice and went around first with a slitting saw, obviously of smaller width the cutter tip and to just a few thou short of the full cut.

This removed a good bulk of the metal and as soon as I swapped over to the gear cutter, I could tell cutting the first tooth that cutting was much smoother! The cutter did pick up a bit of a burr (I think perhaps I need to make sure my next cutter is a bit sharper)

I also used a much bigger washer to protect the little spigot but it also supported my teeth more even though it meant cutting into it. I don`t think I needed it actually but still, it seemed to work.

...and then cleaned up and put on some 8mm silver steel for a proud picture

I`m chuffed

So just like the plans call for, a 48 tooth 32dp gear. I just need to make a 24 tooth gear that will mesh with it...I guess that is the real proof of the pudding!
