Borgia II and VE 9-40 Comparisons & Mechanical Restorations

[PeterF]

Thanks for the update. It’s going to be interesting to compare how the fiber and brass gears behave operationally.

[Victrola-Monkey]

I received the L112Y gears for the VE 9-40 loop antenna and am awaiting for the spacers to reduce the bore from .5” to .375”. Otherwise, the gears are perfect. See side by side comparison with the pot metal one in the photo below. They both are 16 DP (diametrical pitch) 20 PA (pressure angle).

The two types of valves came apart easy enough and will clean up nicely with a kerosene washing. Both are pretty basic in design though the VE 9-40 uses 2 ball bearings and springs, and of course has a larger air passageway... just as the VV 8-30’s is compared to the Credenza’s air passageway.

The smaller Borgia II valve’s two gears (G485Y-P & G485Y-G) are an easy replacement for the old pot metal ones. The large VE 9-40 gear is another story. Still working on that one.

[Victrola-Monkey]

Peter,

Just to let you know and even though the steel L112Y gear is the best replacement, I did find and did order a better nylon replacement gear (than the GP1616Y) for the four needed in the VE 9-40 loop antenna mechanism. It still is a Boston Gear Company gear, it’s just a third of the price of steel and it is pretty much the same size and does not need a spacer to reduce the bore size. The model is GP2436Y and is available at:

https://www.mrosupply.com/gears-gear-ra ... dium=Email

I also ordered the 5” gear needed for the VE 9-40 valve. It is ¼” thick versus the ⅛” of the original, which should not be a problem but it has 120 teeth versus 115 of the original. It probably won’t work but it’s the only thing off the shelf out there so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s brass and it is a Boston Gear Company gear also, model G272:

https://www.bostongear.com/ecatalog?pag ... 02&id=G272

[Victrola-Monkey]

The spacers came in for the L112Y steel gears that I need for the VE 9-40 and VE 9-25 Loop antenna bracket mechanism. The spacers hammer nicely into the gears and now need to drill and tap for the #10-32 X ⅜” set-screws.

Btw, the nylon alternative replacement gear has a 35 day back order.

[PeterF]

Ongoing thanks for your continuing efforts Wayne.

If you are so inclined, please install and check the functionality of both sets of nylon gears - both how well they work overall and how they differ in ease of use, and range of motion, for the antenna. I'd imagine you'll want to use the brass gears in the permanent installation, so will try them last.

I'm super curious to learn how the gear diameters and number of teeth change things. Don't laugh, but I used to know how to calculate all that stuff...from the machine design courses I took towards my mechanical engineering degree...but the thought of trying to do it now fills me with dread like I'm 20 again, cramming for a final.

[Victrola-Monkey]

Peter,

For the VE 9-40 Antenna Bracket, I will test the L112Y STEEL gears and much later when the GP2436Y NYLON gears come in, I will test them. I will not be installing or testing the smaller GP1616Y NYLON gears I currently have. The only BRASS gear for the VE 9-40 I will be testing is the large 5" one that has 120 teeth versus the 115 the original has, and I believe you already have your own replacement in this case.

The links to purchase the gears are in the above postings on this subject. The specs for all the gears are available at the links below:

For VE 9-25 & VE 9-40 Antenna Bracket:

https://www.bostongear.com/ecatalog?pag ... l&id=L112Y

https://www.mcmaster.com/8491a664

https://www.bostongear.com/ecatalog?pag ... id=GP2436Y

For VE 9-40 Valve (this one is just for trail purposes and may not work:

https://www.bostongear.com/ecatalog?pag ... 02&id=G272

For Borgia II Valve and the VE 10-50 Record Size Selector Gear Assembly:

https://www.bostongear.com/ecatalog?pag ... id=G485Y_G

https://www.bostongear.com/ecatalog?pag ... id=G485Y_P

[Victrola-Monkey]

Dag gone... so close. The G272 brass Boston Gear Company 5” gear had the right tooth size and other specs but its diameter is slightly to big (5.07”) to fit. I was looking for one that was slightly smaller than the swelled up pot metal one (5.13”) but just not small enough. I now realize the gear size I’m looking for the pot metal replacement is exactly the size of the rotating part of the valve that has teeth built in (4.86”).

[Victrola-Monkey]

I have made a drawing with the right size and sent it in for a quote to have a gear cut by a jet stream of water. If the quote is good and it comes out ok, then I'll ask them to make the hub too that would be screwed or bolted to the gear.

It is interesting to realize that the pot metal gear swelled up 5.5% bigger than original. This is a serious concern when getting parts made using the pot metal originals to go by. This is had been an issue when having cast parts carved in wood for sand castings and even when 3D scans of the originals were made for 3D printing.

[Victrola-Monkey]

I completed, installed, and tested two sets of the four L112 gears today for the antenna bracket, one set later sent to PeterF for his VE 9-40. All went well. To make the gears up you get non-hardened steel versions of the gears and spacers (see links below). The spacers need to be cut down to ⅞” and then slide them into the gears. Then drill #19 set screw holes 3/16” from the end of the hub on the gears. Tap the holes with a 10-32 tap. The original set screws are 10-32 slotted type, but I personally rather use new 10-32 hex type that use an Allen wrench.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Hillman ... 726192-_-N

https://www.mrosupply.com/gears-gear-ra ... ston-gear/

[Victrola-Monkey]

Installed the valve gears (G485Y-G and G485Y-P with some machining) on my Borgia IIs and they work great. It’s interesting how one valve has its ⅜” shaft to slide the larger gear on and the other valve’s ⅜” shaft use a slotted bolt screwed in to it to support the large gear. I used a stainless steel cotter pin instead of a gear pin to secure the pinion gear for purposes of not putting any pressure on the valve assembly now or in the future.