A Brief Overview on the Evolution of Gear Art: Design and Production of Gears, Gear Science

Gear art has a long history of evolution as gears have been used by human beings for many centuries. At the beginning, gears were produced by smart handicrafts without any theoretical analysis of the gear design. Therefore, the origin of gear art is associated with the manufacture of gears. Practical men were able by various empirical means to get gears adequate for their needs, at least until early nineteenth century, when the mathematician's work was translated into practical language. Neither special methods of cutting the gear teeth, nor the gear-cutting tools of a special design were necessary to manufacture wooden gears used in ancient gear transmissions. At that time, smart craftsmen were governed solely by common sense and by previously accumulated experience when designing and making wooden gears and gear trains. The history of gear-cutting mechanisms, as well as of gear-cutting tools, begins in the early sixteenth century, and may be even associated with some of Leonardo da Vinci's drawing.