Month: October 2026

Catalog Gears vs. Made-to-Order: Choosing Between Boston Gear, Martin Sprocket & Gear, Browning, and Union Gear & Sprocket

If you need a standard spur gear off the shelf in small quantities, a catalog brand like Boston Gear, Martin Sprocket & Gear, or Browning is often your cheapest option. If you need anything changed, a made-to-order gear from Union Gear & Sprocket usually wins on cost, lead time, or both.

That’s the short answer. The longer answer comes down to one question: is your part truly standard, or does it only look standard until you start modifying it?

What are open gearing catalog gears?

Open gearing refers to gears that run exposed rather than sealed inside a gearbox or speed reducer. Think spur gears, helical gears, bevel and miter gears, worms and worm gears, and racks used directly on conveyors, packaging lines, pumps, and other machinery.

Catalog suppliers such as Boston Gear, Martin Sprocket & Gear, and Browning publish standard lines of these gears. Each part has a fixed pitch, tooth count, face width, bore, and hub style. You pick the closest match from the catalog and order it by part number.

Made to stock vs. made to order

The real difference between these suppliers isn’t the gear. It’s how the gear gets made.

A made-to-stock gear is cheap because thousands are produced at once. But the moment you need a different bore, a keyway, a setscrew, a hardened tooth, or a different material, that efficiency disappears. Someone has to pull the stock gear and rework it. Custom work isn’t what catalog companies are built for. Their business is standard, mass-produced, inexpensive gears, so a modified catalog gear tends to be expensive and slow.

A made-to-order gear starts from your drawing. Your bore, keyway, and material are part of the first setup, not a second operation.

When catalog gears make sense

If your gear is a true catalog part, used exactly as listed, in small quantities, buy it from the catalog. Mass production keeps the unit price low, and we won’t beat it on a standard gear at a quantity of five or fewer.

The catch is how little you can change. Once your part needs a modification, you’re either paying the catalog company for custom work it isn’t set up to do, or buying the stock gear and paying a machine shop to rework it. Either way, the low price you started with is gone, and you’re waiting longer.

When made-to-order Union Gear & Sprocket gears make sense

Every Union Gear & Sprocket gear is made to order, so customization is the normal process, not an exception. Changing the bore, adding a keyway or setscrew, specifying a material or heat treatment, or adjusting the face width has little effect on price or lead time. Those details are built into the first setup.

What you get is a part made to your specs, not a stock part adapted to fit them. That matters most when:

• Your design calls for any modification to a standard gear
• You need a non-standard tooth count, pitch, or material
• You’re replacing an obsolete or worn part that no catalog lists anymore
• You need more than a handful of pieces and want consistent, traceable quality

How to decide

Ask two questions before you order:

1. Will I use this gear exactly as the catalog lists it?
2. Do I need five or fewer?

If both answers are yes, a catalog gear is probably your best value. If either answer is no, get a made-to-order quote before you commit. The comparison is often closer than you’d expect, and the made-to-order part arrives built to your spec.

Not sure which side your part falls on? Send us your drawing or the catalog part number with your changes, and we’ll tell you honestly whether a Union Gear & Sprocket gear makes sense. Request a quote at traceygear.com.