Gears and shafts are essential to most industries.

Between Gears and shafts, the shaft should come first because pulleys and gears are usually mounted on a shaft. The shaft is normally circular and elongated and rotates while transmitting power across the different parts of the machine structure. The shaft could also communicate power after it is produced mechanically by a machine that absorbs the power.

Between the two varieties of shafts, counter shafts and also line shafts transmit power between the sources that produces power to the machine that is absorbing the power. On the other hand, machine shafts are different because they constitute a part of the machine itself like crankshafts.

Common sense indicates that a huge manufacturing industry is busy each day to produce the different kinds of shafts essential to the efficient running of machinery. Mild steel is the material used in making the usual shafts. Shafts of greater strength would be made of alloy steel such as nickel or nickel-chromium. Chromium-vanadium steel may also be used. The processes involved in making shafts are hot rolling, while finishing to size requires cold drawing, turning and grinding.

Just like shafts, gears are also common machine parts used in everyday life. Gears help to change the rotation rate of a shaft in the machine. Gears also help to change the direction of rotation and can transform the rotary movement into linear movement. Depending upon patterns, sizes, designs and uses, we have spur gears and helical gears, worm gears, etc. Some other gears are internal and external gears which are very important too and serve a variety of purposes.

Internal gears have teeth on the inner cylinder which is hollow and offers low sliding and high-stress loading. They may be used in rollers and timing applications.

External gears have teeth on the outer surface of the cone, a popular and simple gear system. Mining and paper-making equipment use them.  Gears and shafts are the like the nuts and bolts of machinery.