Using Rawhide Gears for a Quieter, More Efficient Operation

Osborne Technologies, a division of Mound Tool Company, purchased the Rawhide Gear Division formerly belonging to the Chicago Rawhide Company. With restored original product records dating back 100 years, the company is now able to manufacture gears to the original specifications and item numbers as previously manufactured.

Osborne's rawhide gears are made from water buffalo hide specially treated for maximum strength and shock absorbance. These gears have the strength for most applications, but are able to absorb shock loads in ways that other gear types can't. With minimal lubrication required, rawhide gears mesh smoothly with the mating gear, which eliminates destructive vibrations and the wear and tear normally found on metal gear trains.

Rawhide gears are designed to be the weak link. If an overload occurs, the gears are designed to fail before more costly damage occurs to the larger driven gears. These rawhide gears transmit “cushioned power” at very low noise levels and help make a quieter, safer work environment. Osborne rawhide gears are specially riveted under hydraulic pressure with durable brass flanges. Tooth strength is extremely strong due to the unique processing of the multiple layers of rawhide which retain virtually all of the original fiber strength. Rawhide gears lasting five decades or more are not uncommon.
 
Applications for rawhide gears include punch presses, forging machines, turning drums for tanning vats, printing presses, cable winches, and literally hundreds of other applications that could benefit from the strength and flexibility of rawhide gears.


http://www.osborne-tech.com/

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