I know I posted this last night, but it was fairly hidden in the Tirpitz build thread & I thought I would send it out for a little extra exposure. Basic gears theory says a gear must be a little separated from its mate or it will bind. It so happens that (in my experience) hobby gears must be 1 paper's thickness apart. So when I'm setting up a tranny, I set the gears together (loosely, so there is still some play... remember to use threadlock!!!) then I get a piece of paper (usually a receipt); and put the side of the paper right where the two papers mesh. I roll the gears, and the paper is drawn in between the gears. The width of the paper separates the gears 'just right, so good'. With the paper firmly stuck in the system, I torque down on the screws so the gears will no longer traverse away from each other. Then (the fun part) just spin the gears until the paper comes out & vol la! perfect gear mesh!
