opnspaces wrote:
Another thought while the machine is down. Consider taking the hard to replace sprocket to a machine shop to be replicated. It may not be cheap figure $200 - $800. But if it's your business income it might be worthwhile to have a replacement made.
When I say it's basically impossible to replace, what I mean is that in order to get the one, I called every place I could find in the US on Google, and every place I could find through word of mouth.
I finally found a place that makes custom sprockets and they made me one. But it took them about six months to get it done, and only then did they've mention that normally, although they make custom sprockets, they make runs of a few hundred or a thousand, and it was really a big hassle for them to make just one. It was a kindness.
I have told them how grateful I am, but I can't ask them to do it again.
Of course if I'd known, I would have asked them to make me several, but by the time I found out the difficulty, they had already taken the machinery apart again, and reset it for the next job.
When I say that the drive sprocket is easier to replace, I mean that I could probably buy one somewhere....maybe.
