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[CERES]

 :)Further to my question regarding the fixing of the Paddle Wheels I would like to know if there has to be a clearance between the worm as attached to the motor shaft and the Gear Wheel. My own thought is that a tight mesh would create additional  friction.

Many thanks. Ceres.
 

[RickF]

When I built the drive for my sternwheeler (which has a worm drive) I fixed the motor end of the worm shaft (which is about a foot long and passes aft through the transom) but left the worm end free. I slid a brass bearing on the shaft, encased in a wooden block approximately the right size and applied some adhesive.

I then engaged the worm and wheel, ran the motor and clamped the wooden block in position, positioning it for minimum noise and maximum speed. Once the glue had set, I stripped it all down, slid some brass tube onto the worm shaft so that it made a bearing in the transom and that was that. Not the most elegant engineering solution, but it seemed to work well enough.

Rick

[Bee]

If your worm shaft has say a brass bearing and you can make that out of a bit of brass bar with the hole drilled ever so slightly off center and then mount that bar in a brass tube (keep with me) then rotating the bearing in the tube alters the position of the hole. This can be used to make fine adjustments to the meshing depth. Not a hack, it is used industrially eg in clocks.
Don't forget the worm shaft will also get a end thrust on it as it turns. You need a low friction thrust bearing to allow for this too.

[CERES]

 :)Bee & Rick,
Many thanks to you both for your answers which I understand OK. However I forgot to mention that the Worm & Gear is a plastic set as purchased from Maplins.
This was purchased along with the 375 motor as used by Glynn Guest on the Phantom I am building. Regards Bernard.