Building a new extruder

[REdington]

My idea is to build a inclosed gearbox and mount it on the motor. Then make a extruder gear out of 1/2 inch steel rod (would make it out of 303 stainless if I had some here) with a 4-40 or a 6-32 gun tap. I think by going to a little larger diameter on the gear, I'll have more area for contact on the filament. I'll machine a mount out of alum the will hold the bearing against the filament that will be spring loaded.

The gearbox

Last winter I had to make some gears, so I while I had the mill setup, I made several different racks in 40 and 32 pitch and a few different teeth count.

I'll use a 32 pitch gears with a 15 tooth gear on the motor and a 36 tooth gear on the out put shaft.
I'll post pictures as I build this and will start on it next week.
Rodney