What are Imperial Gears?
Imperial gears are gears that use diametral pitch (DP) as the unit of measurement for their tooth size.
The word "Imperial" is derived from the British Imperial System (yard-pound system).
Imperial gears are currently used only in a very limited number of countries, such as the United States, while many other countries use metric gears which uses module as the tooth size unit.
Naturally, because of the difference in tooth size units, imperial gears and metric gears are not interchangeable and cannot be meshed with each other.
Imperial gears are also called DP gears or Inch gears due to their tooth size units and the yard-pound system.
| Module (m) Metric Gears |
Circular Pitch (CP) CP Gears |
Diametral Pitch (DP) Imperial Gears |
|---|---|---|
| 0.39688 | 1.24682 | 64 |
| 0.5 | 1.57080 | 50.8 |
| 0.52917 | 1.66243 | 48 |
| 0.6 | 1.88496 | 42.33333 |
| 0.79375 | 2.49364 | 32 |
| 0.79577 | 2.5 | 31.91858 |
| 0.8 | 2.51327 | 31.75 |
| 1 | 3.14159 | 25.4 |
| 1.05833 | 3.32485 | 24 |
| 1.25 | 3.92699 | 20.32 |
| 1.27000 | 3.98982 | 20 |
| 1.5 | 4.71239 | 16.93333 |
| 1.59155 | 5 | 15.95929 |
| 1.58750 | 4.98728 | 16 |
| 2 | 6.28319 | 12.70 |
| 2.11667 | 6.64970 | 12 |
| 2.5 | 7.85398 | 10.16 |
| 2.54000 | 7.97965 | 10 |
| 3 | 9.42478 | 8.46667 |
| 3.17500 | 9.97456 | 8 |
| 3.18310 | 10 | 7.97965 |
| 4 | 12.56637 | 6.35 |
| 4.23333 | 13.29941 | 6 |
| 4.77465 | 15 | 5.31976 |
| 5 | 15.70796 | 5.08 |
| 5.08000 | 15.95929 | 5 |
| 6 | 18.84956 | 4.23333 |
| 6.35000 | 19.94911 | 4 |
| 6.36620 | 20 | 3.98982 |
| 8 | 25.13274 | 3.175 |
| 8.46667 | 26.59882 | 3 |
| 10 | 31.41593 | 2.54 |
Comparison of various pitch measurements