look at the price difference!
07-28-2007, 09:40 PM
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look at the price difference!
Why is a steel idler gear so much cheaper than an aluminum one?
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJJ94&P=ML
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSGZ3&P=7
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJJ94&P=ML
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSGZ3&P=7
07-28-2007, 09:44 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
Aluminum is lighter, which makes for less rotating mass and more acceleration. They make you pay more because they can, just like with everything in this hobby.
07-28-2007, 09:47 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
Will there be that much of a difference? I have see people come extremely close to stripping an aluminum idler, and a steel one would be so much stronger.
see you found a little time to come back to the forums.
see you found a little time to come back to the forums.
07-28-2007, 11:34 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
It's all crap from my perspective. The aluminum idler teeth will wear thin, just like my 3 rip-off aluminum pinions 21-23t that wore thin after ONLY a few months of running the 3.5R geared relatively normal. My ORIGINAL 3 year old 18t steel pinion from my Rustler has yet to show ANY signs of wearing out.
I hope the aluminum idler I got doesn't go poo anytime soon. It's annoying to take apart a transmission....If only my LHS stocked the steel ones. Hell I'd buy 3 steel idlers before buying the alluminum one...
I hope the aluminum idler I got doesn't go poo anytime soon. It's annoying to take apart a transmission....If only my LHS stocked the steel ones. Hell I'd buy 3 steel idlers before buying the alluminum one...
07-29-2007, 12:03 AM
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RE: look at the price difference!
ORIGINAL: PedeBeater
Why is a steel idler gear so much cheaper than an aluminum one?
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJJ94&P=ML
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSGZ3&P=7
Why is a steel idler gear so much cheaper than an aluminum one?
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJJ94&P=ML
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSGZ3&P=7
In fact when working with a gear hobber or an EDM aluminum is more difficult to work with then steel. You will have a lot more parts that will not pass QC. Aluminum is also more expensive then steel. In general you will see greater performance with the aluminum but it is so minimal here as to be almost nonexistent. Aluminum is better to machine with but hobbing and EDM it is different.
07-29-2007, 12:08 AM
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RE: look at the price difference!
In general you will see greater performance with the aluminum but it is so minimal here as to be almost nonexistent.
07-29-2007, 12:21 AM
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RE: look at the price difference!
Yes but the cost difference is not just because of they like to stick it to you. There are real reasons that aluminum costs more. High demand is also a real reason.
07-29-2007, 12:34 AM
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RE: look at the price difference!
ORIGINAL: RURC
Yes but the cost difference is not just because of they like to stick it to you. There are real reasons that aluminum costs more. High demand is also a real reason.
Yes but the cost difference is not just because of they like to stick it to you. There are real reasons that aluminum costs more. High demand is also a real reason.
Not that it may not be "aircraft" grade aluminum, just that telling me that it is made of aircraft aluminum is like telling me the packing foam biscuits in my shipping carton came from the space shuttle insulator foam itself. Big deal. I could care less. So what? If I ever go to Antarctica and am freezing my butt off, I'll rememeber to break out the foam biscuits and fill my coat and pant legs with them... Not gonna happen. But in any case, yeah. Most aluminum parts from my perspective are not much more than overpriced bling, except for the practical purposes of my Emaxx's aluminum rear bulkhead that has put up with more punishment than my stock plastic ones did.
07-29-2007, 06:51 AM
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RE: look at the price difference!
Slo-v-
Did you fully read my first post on the subject? I work using cnc machines so I do understand this. It does not sound like it so here it is again with high lights:
In fact when working with a gear hobber or an EDM aluminum is more difficult to work with then steel. You will have a lot more parts that will not pass QC. Aluminum is also more expensive then steel. In general you will see greater performance with the aluminum but it is so minimal here as to be almost nonexistent. Aluminum is better to machine with but hobbing and EDM it is different.
I was saying that it is not false to charge more for the parts. The costs are higher to work with aluminum. Not just raw materals but in time, both machine and man time that is. The aluminum vs. steel thing is little different then a aluminum vs. titanium thing. Titanium costs more and is even more difficult to work with. I wont even go into the cost difference of casting plastic and steel vs aluminum.
I understand you frustration but there are real reasons for these parts to cost more. It is not just inflated to screw someone over. If you want to see inflated you should buy parts for 1/1 helicopters. My father has a few and the exact part from the same manufacturer will cost hundreds more. Example on my dad's Jet Ranger the fuel pump costs $1800. The same fuel pump with the "H" (for helicopter) removed from the part number that they use on fixed wing craft cost $500. This is one of a thousand parts that I can tell you about. Now even that there is a reason for the extra price. The chopper part has to be certified by the FAA and that part carries a much higher liability then others. So they have to pay for the FAA cert and the extra insurance to cover the liability and you have greater cost to produce. It is crazy that it costs that much but it dose.
Did you fully read my first post on the subject? I work using cnc machines so I do understand this. It does not sound like it so here it is again with high lights:
In fact when working with a gear hobber or an EDM aluminum is more difficult to work with then steel. You will have a lot more parts that will not pass QC. Aluminum is also more expensive then steel. In general you will see greater performance with the aluminum but it is so minimal here as to be almost nonexistent. Aluminum is better to machine with but hobbing and EDM it is different.
I was saying that it is not false to charge more for the parts. The costs are higher to work with aluminum. Not just raw materals but in time, both machine and man time that is. The aluminum vs. steel thing is little different then a aluminum vs. titanium thing. Titanium costs more and is even more difficult to work with. I wont even go into the cost difference of casting plastic and steel vs aluminum.
I understand you frustration but there are real reasons for these parts to cost more. It is not just inflated to screw someone over. If you want to see inflated you should buy parts for 1/1 helicopters. My father has a few and the exact part from the same manufacturer will cost hundreds more. Example on my dad's Jet Ranger the fuel pump costs $1800. The same fuel pump with the "H" (for helicopter) removed from the part number that they use on fixed wing craft cost $500. This is one of a thousand parts that I can tell you about. Now even that there is a reason for the extra price. The chopper part has to be certified by the FAA and that part carries a much higher liability then others. So they have to pay for the FAA cert and the extra insurance to cover the liability and you have greater cost to produce. It is crazy that it costs that much but it dose.
07-29-2007, 11:11 AM
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RE: look at the price difference!
I already understood you the first time, I was just poking fun at the fact that r/c parts and like you said, real vehicle parts can be so jacked up in price just because they have a certain role they fill. Like "simple" right-angled metal pieces with some holes in them i.e. electric motor mounts for nitro conversions cost much more than some angle brackets at Home Depot that could possibly be modified to do the same job (assuming I had the tools to properly drill mounting holes in the brackets). Oh, and those motor mounts just *have* to be made of what else, .. Aluminum, for some damned reason lets use an expensive soft metal instead of a stronger cheaper harder Steel mount...... But yes, I got you the first time.
07-29-2007, 12:52 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
Well with big electric motors come big torque and plastic wont work. It flexes too much and then you loose gear mesh and grind gears.
07-29-2007, 01:02 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
I got the aluminum one only because that is what my LHS had on the rack, I would have got steele if they had it also. I hope the aluminum one doesn't go right away, like slo-v said I hate tearing the tranny out.
07-29-2007, 01:05 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
ORIGINAL: NitroNuisance
I got the aluminum one only because that is what my LHS had on the rack, I would have got steele if they had it also. I hope the aluminum one doesn't go right away, like slo-v said I hate tearing the tranny out.
I got the aluminum one only because that is what my LHS had on the rack, I would have got steele if they had it also. I hope the aluminum one doesn't go right away, like slo-v said I hate tearing the tranny out.
07-29-2007, 01:10 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
ORIGINAL: RURC
Slo-v-
Did you fully read my first post on the subject? I work using cnc machines so I do understand this. It does not sound like it so here it is again with high lights:
In fact when working with a gear hobber or an EDM aluminum is more difficult to work with then steel. You will have a lot more parts that will not pass QC. Aluminum is also more expensive then steel. In general you will see greater performance with the aluminum but it is so minimal here as to be almost nonexistent. Aluminum is better to machine with but hobbing and EDM it is different.
I was saying that it is not false to charge more for the parts. The costs are higher to work with aluminum. Not just raw materals but in time, both machine and man time that is. The aluminum vs. steel thing is little different then a aluminum vs. titanium thing. Titanium costs more and is even more difficult to work with. I wont even go into the cost difference of casting plastic and steel vs aluminum.
I understand you frustration but there are real reasons for these parts to cost more. It is not just inflated to screw someone over. If you want to see inflated you should buy parts for 1/1 helicopters. My father has a few and the exact part from the same manufacturer will cost hundreds more. Example on my dad's Jet Ranger the fuel pump costs $1800. The same fuel pump with the "H" (for helicopter) removed from the part number that they use on fixed wing craft cost $500. This is one of a thousand parts that I can tell you about. Now even that there is a reason for the extra price. The chopper part has to be certified by the FAA and that part carries a much higher liability then others. So they have to pay for the FAA cert and the extra insurance to cover the liability and you have greater cost to produce. It is crazy that it costs that much but it dose.
Slo-v-
Did you fully read my first post on the subject? I work using cnc machines so I do understand this. It does not sound like it so here it is again with high lights:
In fact when working with a gear hobber or an EDM aluminum is more difficult to work with then steel. You will have a lot more parts that will not pass QC. Aluminum is also more expensive then steel. In general you will see greater performance with the aluminum but it is so minimal here as to be almost nonexistent. Aluminum is better to machine with but hobbing and EDM it is different.
I was saying that it is not false to charge more for the parts. The costs are higher to work with aluminum. Not just raw materals but in time, both machine and man time that is. The aluminum vs. steel thing is little different then a aluminum vs. titanium thing. Titanium costs more and is even more difficult to work with. I wont even go into the cost difference of casting plastic and steel vs aluminum.
I understand you frustration but there are real reasons for these parts to cost more. It is not just inflated to screw someone over. If you want to see inflated you should buy parts for 1/1 helicopters. My father has a few and the exact part from the same manufacturer will cost hundreds more. Example on my dad's Jet Ranger the fuel pump costs $1800. The same fuel pump with the "H" (for helicopter) removed from the part number that they use on fixed wing craft cost $500. This is one of a thousand parts that I can tell you about. Now even that there is a reason for the extra price. The chopper part has to be certified by the FAA and that part carries a much higher liability then others. So they have to pay for the FAA cert and the extra insurance to cover the liability and you have greater cost to produce. It is crazy that it costs that much but it dose.
07-29-2007, 07:09 PM
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RE: look at the price difference!
He had a Robinson 44 and he still has the Brantley. The Jet Ranger is a Huey version with the short skids. He is building a Mosquito with a small 80 hp turbine in it. He is also developing a 2 man chopper with a adjustable cg so you dont have to play with weight so much. He had shied away from the Rotorway Exec. Have you red the FAA crash reports on them. Those things crash like 5 times to 1 of the other small choppers out there. My dad and brother are just heding home from Osh Kosh tomorrow. They have been there all week. I left on Thursday after set up.
