ABSTRACT
Wooden pegs set in a hub were the components of the first operational gears. Lubrication was not considered a necessity even though these wooden gears would have benefited from lubrication. Later, metal gear teeth replaced these wooden pegs and hubs. Originally, animal fats were smeared on the gearing to reduce excessive wear and minimize noise. During the industrial revolution many more demands were placed on gearing to transmit power reliably and to provide a relatively long service life for the equipment. Consequently, mineral oil gear lubricants were produced and additive packages were developed to meet these needs. Today the need for even higher productivity and greater efficiency in operation has placed severe demands on the lubricants that can no longer be met by mineral oil products in many of the applications. To meet
these extreme demands on the lubricant synthetic gear oils were developed.
