Worm Gear Drives

While our main business is manufacturing complete German and fork mounts, we do offer the same drive gears that we use in our mounts. These fine pitch worm gears are available in aluminum or bronze, both with a stainless steel worm. Each drive gear includes the worm gear and worm mounted in a precision housing. The worm housing uses class 7 shielded bearings with a threaded thrust nut to eliminate end-play.

As an option, each drive can be fitted with a Pittman 9000 series servomotor. This motor can be used with the Servo II control providing full computer control of your telescope. We strongly recommend using modern servomotors and controls, rather than outdated stepper or synchronous motors that were common in past decades.

Aluminum Worm Gears

 

12-inch aluminum worm gear with stainless steel worm

 

Bronze Worm Gears

Diameter	Diametrical Pitch	Teeth	Thickness	Center Hole	Worm/Shaft Diameters
12-inch	30	360	.56	7.0	1.22-inch, .500 inch
15-inch	30	450	.56	8.0	1.22-inch, .500 inch
20-inch	30	600	.64	10.0	1.48-inch, .625 inch
24-inch	30	720	.72	12.0	1.48-inch, .625 inch

15-inch bronze worm gear with stainless steel worm

 

Stainless steel worm in sealed bearing housing

 

Slip Clutches

Installing a particular drive gear on the axis of your telescope normally requires a gear hub or a clip clutch. This component can often be made at a local machine shop. As an option, we can provide custom hubs and clutches, but we will need a precise measurement of the diameter of your telescope axis. Please contact us with your particular requirements.