I just put the 4.8:1 gears in my Fathom 25N and am surprised at how rough and noisy they are. Now it sounds like a coffee grinder Newell.
Is this normal for new s.s. gears?
Will they smooth out a bit?
Yes and yes to your questions. You can smooth out the noise a bit by adding grease to the main gear and pinion. But stainless on stainless will be noisier than stainless against brass thats the trade off on having stronger gears.
I did grease them LOL .
There's nothing wrong with them. As you mentioned, I've concluded that it's just a characteristic of stainless/stainless gearing.
Looking forward to putting them to the test! :)