Bevel Gears.

What are Bevel Gears?

Bevel gears are conically shaped precision gears used to transmit power, motion and torque between intersecting shafts, most commonly at 90°. 

Straight tooth bevel gears feature radially aligned teeth that meet at the gear’s apex, delivering positive engagement, predictable backlash control and efficient right-angle power transfer. If you’re looking for even smoother, higher-load and quieter operation, explore our spiral bevel gears for premium performance.

How Bevel Gears Work

In use, two mating bevel gears mesh on intersecting axes; as one rotates, its teeth drive the other, changing the rotational direction and speed according to their gear ratio. With straight teeth, contact travels rapidly across the tooth face, making them ideal for moderate speeds, precise positioning and robust right-angle drives.

In a compact right-angle gearbox on a packaging conveyor, for example, a pair of straight tooth bevel gears turns the motor input through 90° to drive rollers. Engineers choose straight bevels here because they’re easy to set up and service, offer higher mechanical efficiency than worm drives and provide repeatable positional accuracy during frequent starts/stops and reversals.

Materials Bevel Gears Are Made From

At Accu, our range of gear materials allows you to choose the one that aligns with your duty cycle, environment and maintenance plan:

• Steel (C45): High strength and toughness for general-purpose power transmission; available with surface hardening to improve wear resistance.
• Stainless Steel (304): Corrosion-resistant for wash-down or outdoor use; reliable in food, medical and marine environments.
• Brass: Naturally low friction and easy to machine; favoured for quieter running, electrical non-sparking and compatibility with softer mating components.

Sizes and Types of Bevelled Gears Available

Our selection of options includes gears with 15 to 40 teeth, with gear ratios from 1:2 to 1:3 to tailor speed and torque. We offer H8 bore diameters from 3 mm to 30 mm for precise, slip-fit assembly on standard shafts and assembly distances from 10.56 mm to 119.14 mm to suit compact mechanisms through to larger right-angle drives.

We advise you to select matched pairs to achieve the specified ratio and mesh quality across your chosen centre distance.

FAQs

Q: Why is it called a bevel gear?

A: Because the gear blanks are cut on a bevelled (conical) surface, not a cylindrical one. The pitch “cone” of each gear meets at the point where the shafts intersect.

Q: Where are bevel gears used in real life?

A: Anywhere you need reliable right-angle power transfer: compact gearboxes, conveyors, printing machinery, machine tools, robotics joints and light-duty actuators, to name a few.

Q: Who invented the bevel gear?

A: There isn’t a single inventor. Bevel gear principles date back to antiquity and evolved through early mechanical engineering; modern forms were refined over centuries of gear-cutting development.

Q: Do cars use bevel gears?

A: Yes. Automotive drivelines commonly use bevel-type gears in differentials and final drives. (Many are spiral bevel or hypoid for quieter, higher-load operation; if that’s your requirement, see our spiral bevel gears.)

Q: What are some bevel gear advantages and disadvantages?

A: Advantages: compact right-angle power transfer, high mechanical efficiency vs worm drives, straightforward setup and maintenance and predictable backlash control.
Disadvantages: noisier at higher speeds than spiral/hypoid types, more sensitive to alignment and mounting accuracy and a comparatively limited ratio range.

Bespoke Bevel Gears Manufacture.

High precision, bespoke manufacture of Bevel Gears to customer specification. State of the art facilities specialising in both small batch prototyping and large scale manufacture.